Derby recently demonstrated ambitious schemes to World Cup representatives; if successful, Derby County’s owners would achieve their dream of producing a global sporting ‘brand’. It is estimated that the tournament could bring £200m to the region, as the commercial and sporting benefits would extend far beyond the football club.

The journey to the 2018 World Cup will be long for all the cities hopeful of becoming one of England’s 12 venues for staging the tournament. Of course, major London and Manchester contenders are virtually ready-made to host major international events but Derby has serious credentials and should be optimistic of being chosen for the world stage.

Apart from Pride Park Stadium’s central location with excellent access, city facilities and the fervent local support, it has an international pedigree that has hosted England Under-21 and full England internationals.

Derby’s Moor Farm complex is fit to host any international squad and Derbyshire County Cricket Club can provide excellent sporting and corporate facilities. The Racecourse itself has a peerless pedigree; it was the first home of the Rams in the days of Steve Bloomer, and hosted an England game. Football, horse-racing and County and international cricket demonstrate Derby’s early sporting heritage. The Baseball Ground, cramped, claustrophobic and muddy, carried the very essence of English football in its environs for over a century.

Burton too will have a big part to play with the Pirelli Stadium close at hand and the FA’s delayed Development Centre adding to the excellent facilities that make Derby’s bid credible. Rams’ boss Nigel Clough is inextricably linked to Burton Albion’s ascendancy to League football and perhaps one of his current charges Miles Addison will maintain his progress to become an England star in 2018?

The journey to 2018 for Derby County Football Club will be a substantial one too, and the vision of an expanded 44,000-seat stadium with the Rams themselves as an established Premier League club is welcome, though distant from the current perspective.

The core of the squad that Clough inherited, alongside new recruits is battling away to establish a settled team, shored up with temporary loans including promising Premier League youngsters and experienced campaigners.

GSE have owned the Rams for 18 months but season 2009-10, with Clough in charge, seems in many ways like a rebirth now they are putting problems and failures of Billy Davies and Paul Jewell behind them. Once stability is achieved, serious investment will be needed in better players to ensure that Derby could consolidate in the Premier League.

Results so far haven’t demonstrated the progress Clough is making and Derby’s long-term team building and Academy plans - based upon a focussed local catchment philosophy - will require much patience from long-suffering Rams supporters.

Consolidation before real progress looks to be the fayre for this season, however hard that is to take after recent disappointments. Long-term, exciting times could be in store - with a successful side in a World Cup city!

The Trader column is for individual members of RamsTrust to put their point of view across in the media. Although the views will not contravene the principles of the trust, the views expressed are entirely personal to the author and do not necessarily represent RamsTrust policy.