Preston North End F.C.
| File:PNE FC.png | |||
| Full name | Preston North End Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Lilywhites, PNE, North End. | ||
| Founded | 1880 | ||
| Ground | Deepdale, Preston, England | ||
| Capacity | 23 408 | ||
| Owner | Trevor Hemmings | ||
| Chairman | Maurice Lindsay | ||
| Manager | Phil Brown | ||
| League | The Championship | ||
| 2009–10 | The Championship, 17th | ||
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Preston North End Football Club (Template:Pron-en) is an English professional football club located in the Deepdale area of the city of Preston, Lancashire, currently playing in the second tier of English league football, The Championship. They were a founding member of the English Football League in 1888 and were the first English football champions. They were also the first team to win 'The Double' of the league and FA Cup.
History
 | This article appears to be slanted towards recent events. (June 2010) |
In the past Preston were famously successful, being the first winners of "The Double" in English football. In 1888–89 Preston became the only team to go throughout an entire season unbeaten in both the league and FA Cup — also with the record of never conceding a goal in the FA Cup. Arsenal F.C., in 2003–04, also managed to have an unbeaten season in the top flight (although Arsenal played 38 games to Preston's 22) but went out of the FA Cup at the semi final stage. PNE were league champions again the following season, and have not won the title since. Their last major trophy was an FA Cup triumph in 1938. Preston were relegated to the Second Division (currently the Football League Championship) in 1961 and have not played in the top division since. They did reach the FA Cup final in 1964, but lost to West Ham United. Preston were relegated to the Third Division in the 1969–70 season. Preston won the Third Division title at the first attempt and so returned to the Second Division.
Bobby Charlton, an England World Cup winner from 1966, was appointed Preston manager in 1973, but was unable to stop them from sliding into the Third Division in his first season and left after two years in charge. A brief respite in 1978 saw them win promotion back to the Second Division, but they went down after three seasons and in 1985 fell into the Fourth Division for the first time in their history.
In 1986, Preston finished second from bottom in the Fourth Division and only avoided dropping into the Football Conference because the other Football League members voted in favour of the division's bottom four teams retaining their senior status.
The arrival of new manager John McGrath saw Preston win promotion to the Third Division a year later, and they were still at this level when McGrath left in 1990. Veteran player Les Chapman took over as manager, but left in October 1992 to be replaced by John Beck. The 38-year-old Beck had only recently been sacked by Cambridge United, where he had achieved two successive promotions and come within a whisker of attaining a unique third. Beck was unable to save Preston from relegation from the first season of the new Division Two. He endured a Division Three playoff final failure before quitting in 1994 to be replaced by his assistant Gary Peters
Peters guided Preston to Division Three title glory in his first full season as manager, and quit in February 1998 to be replaced by 34-year-old defender David Moyes. Preston quickly developed into Division Two promotion contenders under Moyes, reaching the 1998–99 playoffs (losing to Gillingham in the semi-finals before finally being promoted as champions a year later.
2000s
Preston began the new millennium by winning promotion from Division 2 in the 1999–2000 season as champions. They almost made it two promotions a row in 2001 but lost 3–0 to Bolton in the Division One playoff final.
Moyes left for Everton in March 2002, and his assistant Kelham O'Hanlon took over for the remainder of the season. Preston narrowly missed out on the play-offs and in the summer former Scottish national coach Craig Brown took over as manager. Preston were little more than a mid-table side during Brown's tenure, though they were never in any real danger of being relegated. He left in August 2004 to be succeeded by his assistant Billy Davies.
Davies guided Preston to the Championship playoff final in his first season as manager, but they lost to West Ham United. They reached the playoffs again the following year, this time losing in the semi-finals, to Leeds United. Davies then moved to Derby and was replaced by Carlisle boss Paul Simpson, who took over Davies's team and initially carried on where Davies left off. Preston spent much of the 2006–07 season in the automatic promotion or playoff places, however from March 2007 the club slid rapidly down the league. This happened even after holding on to David Nugent in the transfer window and Simpson being allowed to bring in a number of loan signings. The club failed to make the end-of-season play-offs, despite a 1–0 victory over Birmingham City at Deepdale on the final day of the season. They finished the season in seventh place.
On 11 July 2007, Nugent, the first Preston player to win an England cap for 50 years, left the club to join Portsmouth for a reported transfer fee of £6,000,000. Although the club lost only one key player (David Nugent) and brought in several players including Darren Carter, Kevin Nicholls and Karl Hawley, to reshape the team they did not recover from their poor run of form. In August 2007, Simpson banned the playing of Elvis Presley's Can't Help Falling in Love, a song which had been a popular part of the pre-match music at Deepdale for over ten years, stating, "I don't know whose idea this song is at the start, because it seems to put everyone in a bit of a depression. We have to make sure we get something which the players respond to and go out and perform and the fans respond to as well. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we are losing games because of that song. But we have to do whatever we can to generate an atmosphere",[1] a move which angered some Preston fans.[citation needed] After a bad start to the 2007–08 season which saw the club pick up just three wins, Paul Simpson was sacked as manager on 13 November.
On 20 November 2007, Everton's assistant manager Alan Irvine was appointed as Preston's new manager on a three-and-a-half year deal, and he achieved his first objective as manager by achieving Preston's survival in 15th place. The following season he lead Preston to 6th in the Championship after a good run of form towards the end of the season, qualifying for the playoffs. They lost 2–1 on aggregate to Sheffield United after a 1–1 draw at Deepdale stadium was followed by a 1–0 loss at Sheffield United's Bramall Lane. On 29 December, Irvine was sacked after a poor run of results, with the club appointing Darren Ferguson as his successor on the 6th January. Ferguson made his home debut in a 2–0 loss to Chelsea in the fourth round of the FA Cup, however they won their next two games beating Peterborough 1–0 and Ipswich Town 2–0. This was followed by a run of poor results mainly made up of draws and losses and Preston soon became in danger of relegation, but a 3–2 home victory against Scunthorpe United secured their survival in the championship. In the 2009–2010 season Preston finished 17th. On 28 September 2010, Preston North End became the first away team to score six goals at Elland Road. Trailing 4–2 at half time, Preston made a sensational second half comeback to win the match 6–4 with Jon Parkin scoring his first league hat-trick in 5 and a half years but his second hat-trick of 2010 (1st being against Colchester in the 7–0 win on 3 January 2010). On 29 December 2010 Darren Ferguson was sacked following the 1-3 home defeat to relegation rivals Middlesbrough.
Stadium
Deepdale Stadium was built in 1860 and was first used for association football in 1878.
Deepdale is the longest continuously used football ground in the world, in 2011 it will have been used for 135 years. The biggest attendance seen was 42,684 for a Division One clash with Arsenal in April 1938.
In 1933, the Town End burnt down and was demolished and rebuilt.
Following a complete reconstruction between 1996 and 2009, the stadium now holds a capacity of 23,408 seats, and can add extensions by removing the roofs on 3 stands to put up extra tiers for seating, if this is ever done the maximum it can hold will be 50,000 spectators..
The stadium was chosen as the location for the National Football Museum due to Preston being the first-ever winners of The Football League, therefore making Preston the first home of English football. It is also one of the largest football museums in the world, but it is set to move to Manchester in the near future.
Deepdale also appears in the name of the club mascot Deepdale Duck(Mark Butterworth).
The current pitch dimensions are 110x77 yards.
Play-off defeats
Preston have made the play-offs in a record eight seasons and in all 3 divisions, but have not yet been promoted via this route. Preston's first appearance in the play-offs was in 1989 where they were beaten in the 3rd Division (now League One) play-off semi final by Port Vale.
In the third division (now League Two, formerly division 4) they lost in the 1994 final to Wycombe Wanderers 4–2 at Wembley after beating Torquay United in the semi finals, then a year later they were beaten by Bury in the semi-finals.
Preston's next appearance was in the then Second Division (now League One) in 1999 where they were beaten by Gillingham in the semi-final. Following promotion to the 1st Division in 1999/2000, Preston reached the play-offs in their 1st season at the higher level where they beat Birmingham City in the semi-final on penalties before being beaten by Lancashire rivals Bolton Wanderers in the final which was the first to be held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
They reached the play-offs again in 2005 where they once again reached the final in Cardiff after beating Derby County in the semi-final, however once again they were beaten in the final, this time by West Ham United. Preston's 2006 play-off campaign again resulted in defeat, this time at the semi-final stage against Leeds United.
Preston North End reached the playoffs once again on May 3, 2009. To get there, on final day of the season they defeated Queens Park Rangers 2–1. Goals from Jon Parkin and Sean St. Ledger, in the 34th and 74th minutes, helped them to overtake Cardiff City, who lost 1–0 to Sheffield Wednesday, to take the 6th place spot, and ultimately, a chance for top flight football in the Premier League. Preston and Cardiff had the same amount of points and the same goal difference, but Preston had scored one more goal and finished ahead of Cardiff in the league table. In the first leg of their semi-final, Preston and Sheffield United drew 1–1 at Deepdale. In the second leg, however, Preston's hopes of Premier League football were shattered once again, losing 1–0 Sheffield, suffering a 2–1 loss on aggregate. A 59th minute goal by Greg Halford sealed Preston's exit from the playoff stages, with Sheffield destined for the playoff final against Burnley at Wembley Stadium which they later lost 1–0
Managerial history
- Listed Preston managers according to when they became manager:
| Manager | Nationality | Period | G | W | D | L | Win % | Point Av. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vincent Hayes |  England |
1919-1923 | ||||||
| James Lawrence |  Scotland |
1923–1925 | ||||||
| Frank Richards | England |
1925–1927 | ||||||
| Alex Gibson | Scotland |
1927–1931 | ||||||
| Lincoln Hyde | England |
1931–1932 | ||||||
| Tommy Muirhead | Scotland |
1936–1937 | ||||||
| Will Scott | England |
1949–1953 | 163 | 78 | 36 | 49 | 47.85 | 1.65 |
| Scot Symon | Scotland |
1953–1954 | 63 | 30 | 11 | 22 | 47.62 | 1.60 |
| Frank Hill | Scotland |
1954–1956 | 88 | 31 | 17 | 40 | 35.23 | 1.25 |
| Cliff Britton | England |
1956–1961 | 230 | 102 | 54 | 74 | 44.35 | 1.56 |
| Jimmy Milne | Scotland |
1961–1968 | 350 | 126 | 96 | 128 | 36.00 | 1.35 |
| Bobby Seith | Scotland |
1968–1970 | 70 | 15 | 21 | 34 | 21.48 | 0.94 |
| Alan Ball | England |
1970–1973 | 118 | 44 | 36 | 38 | 37.29 | 1.42 |
| Frank Lord* | England |
1973 | ||||||
| Bobby Charlton | England |
1973–1975 | 89 | 29 | 25 | 35 | 32.58 | 1.26 |
| Harry Catterick | England |
1975–1977 | 90 | 38 | 22 | 30 | 42.22 | 1.51 |
| Nobby Stiles | England |
1977–1981 | 174 | 56 | 67 | 51 | 32.18 | 1.35 |
| Tommy Docherty | Scotland |
1981 | 17 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 17.65 | 0.88 |
| Alan Kelly* |  Ireland |
1981 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 00.00 | 0.00 |
| Gordon Lee | England |
1981–1983 | 93 | 32 | 25 | 36 | 34.41 | 1.30 |
| Alan Kelly | Ireland |
1983–1985 | 70 | 23 | 13 | 34 | 32.87 | 1.17 |
| Tommy Booth | England |
1985–1986 | 42 | 11 | 10 | 21 | 26.19 | 1.02 |
| Brian Kidd | England |
1986 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 00.00 | 0.25 |
| John McGrath | England |
1986–1990 | 192 | 74 | 53 | 65 | 38.54 | 1.43 |
| Les Chapman | England |
1990–1992 | 91 | 32 | 19 | 40 | 35.16 | 1.26 |
| John Beck | England |
1992–1994 | 99 | 36 | 20 | 43 | 36.36 | 1.29 |
| Gary Peters | England |
1994–1998 | 159 | 72 | 41 | 46 | 45.28 | 1.61 |
| David Moyes | Scotland |
1998–2002 | 234 | 113 | 58 | 63 | 48.29 | 1.70 |
| Kelham O'Hanlon* | Ireland |
2002 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 50.00 | 1.62 |
| Craig Brown | Scotland |
2002–2004 | 106 | 36 | 30 | 40 | 33.96 | 1.30 |
| Billy Davies | Scotland |
2004–2006 | 101 | 45 | 35 | 21 | 45.55 | 1.68 |
| Paul Simpson | England |
2006–2007 | 58 | 25 | 10 | 23 | 43.10 | 1.46 |
| Alan Irvine | Scotland |
2007–2009 | 111 | 45 | 26 | 40 | 40.54 | 1.45 |
| Rob Kelly* | England |
2009-2010 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 | 3.00 |
| Darren Ferguson | Scotland |
2010 | 49 | 13 | 11 | 25 | 26.53 | 1.02 |
| David Unsworth* | England |
2010-2011 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 00.00 | 0.00 |
| Phil Brown | England |
2011- | 15 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 14.29 | 0.86 |
* Caretaker manager
Honours
In 1996, their Third Division title glory made them the third and last team to have been champions of all four professional leagues in English football, although this feat had previously been achieved by Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1988 and local rivals Burnley in 1992.
League
- Football League First Division/Premier League (first tier)[2]
Cup
- Football League Cup
- Fourth Round: 1963, 1966, 1972, 1981, 2003
- FA Charity Shield
- Runners-up: 1938
- Football League War Cup
- Winners: 1941
Players
- As of 3 August 2010.[3]
Current squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
On Loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Youth Team
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Technical staff
| Manager: | Phil Brown
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| Assistant Manager: | Brian Horton
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| First Team Coach | David Unsworth
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| Goalkeeping Coach |  Darren Ward
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| Head of the Medical Department | Matt Jackson
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| Part-Time Physiotherapist | Mick Rathbone
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| Club Massuer | John Sumner
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| Director of Youth | Dean Ramsdale
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| Youth Team Coach | Jamie Hoyland
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| Assistant Director of Youth | Nick Harrison
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| Youth Development Officer | Darren Finch
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| Chief Youth Scout | Jim McCluskie
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Club records
- Record Attendance: 42,684 v Arsenal, Football League First Division, 23 April 1938[4]
- Record Cup Victory: 26–0 v Hyde, FA Cup, 15 October 1887[4]
- Record League Victory: 10–0 v Stoke, Football League Division One, 14 September 1889[4]
- Record Defeat: 0–7 v Blackpool, Division 1, 1 May 1948
- Most League Goals: in a Season: Ted Harper, 37 in Football League Second Division, 1932–33[4]
- Transfer Record (Paid): £1,500,000 for David Healy from Manchester United, December 2000[4]
- Transfer Record (Received): £6,000,000 for David Nugent to Portsmouth, July 2007[5]
Rivals
Preston's primary rivalry is with Blackpool F.C., and the West Lancashire derby between the two clubs has been contested nearly 100 times across four divisions of league football. Preston also enjoys local rivalries with Lancashire clubs Burnley, Blackburn Rovers and to a lesser extent Bolton Wanderers and Wigan Athletic.
They also still have a small rivalry with Leeds United, after many of the first team players joined Leeds United at the same time, causing a lot of resent towards them. Preston recently beat Leeds 6–4 in which they came back from 1–4 down becoming the first team to ever score 6 goals at Elland Road.
Sponsors
Over the years, the club has been sponsored by many local companies, as well as a few national ones, these have included; Baxi, NewReg, Enterprise Plc and Tennents.
Women's football
The affiliated women's football team is called Preston North End W.F.C., which currently plays in the FA Women's Premier League Northern Division.
Notes and references
- ^ Ellis, Brian (2007-08-28). "Elvis banned from Deepdale". Lancashire Evening Post. Retrieved 2008-03-29.
- ^ a b c d Up until 1992, the top division of English football was the Football League First Division; since then, it has been the Premier League. Similarly until 1992, the Second Division was the second tier of league football, when it became the First Division, and is now known as The Championship. The third tier was the Third Division until 1992, and is now known as League One.
- ^ "Profiles". Preston North End F.C. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
- ^ a b c d e "Milestones" (w). Retrieved 2009-03-13.
- ^ http://www.pnefc.net/page/History/0,,10362~1033911,00.html
External links
- Official Website
- Lilywhite Magic – An unofficial PNE website
- History of Preston North End: 1862–1945
- Preston North End F.C. on BBC Sport: Club news – Recent results and fixtures
- PNE section on Lancashire Evening Post online site
- PNE Video Archive
- Online video footage of Preston North End winning the 1938 FA Cup
- PNE Team Pics
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