Derby County U21

Derby County U21 exists to carry players from that academy toward the first team, formalised as a distinct age-group side under the Elite Player Performance Plan in 2012 and now competing in the Professional Development League. Jake Buxton, appointed Lead Under-21 Coach in July 2023, oversees a group known locally as the Young Rams. The value of the setup shows less in the group's own results than in who has passed through it: Will Hughes progressed through the ranks before establishing himself in Derby County's first team.

The old East Midlands rivalry with Nottingham Forest is inherited rather than built fresh at this level, but it still gives the development fixtures against Forest's U21s an edge the calendar otherwise lacks.