Preston North End F.C. facts for kids
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| Full name | Preston North End Football Club | |||
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| Nickname(s) | The Lilywhites, The Invincibles | |||
| Short name | PNE | |||
| Founded | 1880 | |||
| Ground | Deepdale | |||
| Capacity | 23,404 | |||
| Owner | Wordon Limited | |||
| Chairman | Craig Hemmings | |||
| Manager | Paul Heckingbottom | |||
| League | Championship | |||
| 2018–19 | Championship, 14th of 24 | |||
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Preston North End Football Club, often called Preston or PNE, is a professional football team from Preston, Lancashire, England. They play in the EFL Championship, which is the second-highest football league in England.
Preston North End started as a cricket club. They have played at their home ground, Deepdale, since 1875. The club began playing football in 1878 to stay fit in winter. In May 1880, they officially became a football club. Deepdale is now the oldest football ground still used by a league club.
Preston North End was one of the first teams to join the Football League in 1888. In the 1888–89 season, they won both the first-ever league championship and the FA Cup. They won the FA Cup without letting any goals in. They were the first English team to win the "Double" (both the league and the FA Cup). Because they didn't lose any games that season, they are known as "The Invincibles".
Preston won the league again in 1889–90. Their only other big win was the 1938 FA Cup final against Huddersfield Town. Some of their most famous players include Sir Tom Finney, Alan Kelly Sr., and Bill Shankly. Deepdale has stands named after these legends.
Until 1961, Preston usually played in the top league, the First Division. But after being moved down in the 1960–61 season, they haven't returned to the top division. They spent many years in the lower leagues, especially from 1981 to 2000. The club faced serious money problems and was almost closed twice. Preston has been in the EFL Championship since 2015. Their best finish in this league was 7th place in the 2017–18 season.
Contents
Club History and Achievements
Preston North End was first started in 1863 as a cricket club. They played their first games near the River Ribble in Preston. Later that year, they moved to Moor Park and called themselves "North End" because of their new location. On January 21, 1875, the club rented a field across from Moor Park. This is where the Deepdale stadium is today, and it has been their home ever since.
In 1877, the club started a rugby union team for winter exercise. This didn't work out well. A year later, they played their first game using the rules of association football. In May 1880, everyone agreed to fully switch to football. That's when Preston North End Football Club was officially created.
Preston became one of the first professional clubs. They hired players from Scotland, who were known as the Scotch Professors. In 1887, they beat Hyde 26–0 in the FA Cup. This is still the biggest winning score in English first-class football. Scottish player Jimmy Ross scored eight goals in that game. He scored 19 goals in the competition that season, which is also still a record.
In the 1888–89 season, Preston became the first league champions. They were also the first team to win "The Double". They are still the only team to go through an entire season without losing any games in both the league and the FA Cup. They won the FA Cup without letting in a single goal. Most of their team was made up of Scottish players, the Scotch Professors.
The famous player Tom Finney once wrote that the club was known as "Proud Preston." He said the "Old Invincibles" from the 1800s set amazing standards. People also call the team "The Invincibles." Preston won the league championship again in 1889–90. However, they haven't won the title since then. They have finished second in the league six times. This includes three years in a row from 1890 to 1893, and twice in the 1950s when Finney played.
The club's last major trophy was the 1938 FA Cup Final. They beat Huddersfield Town 1–0. That team included players like Bill Shankly, Andy Beattie, and the goalscorer George Mutch.
Preston's most famous player, Tom Finney, joined the club in 1938 when he was a teenager. He couldn't play his first team game until 1946 because of World War Two. He played for Preston until he retired in 1960. People called him the "Preston Plumber" because he had a local plumbing business. Finney is still the club's top goalscorer. He scored 187 goals in 433 games for Preston. He also scored 30 goals for the England national team in 76 games.
A year after Finney retired, Preston was moved down to the Second Division. They haven't played in the top league since. In the 1963–64 season, they had a great run. They finished third in the Second Division and reached the 1964 FA Cup Final. They lost a very exciting game 3–2 to West Ham United.
Preston was first moved down to the Third Division after the 1969–70 season. They quickly got promoted back up. But since 1970, they have spent 28 out of 49 seasons in the bottom two leagues. This includes a long period of 19 seasons from 1981 to 2000. The club faced a very difficult time in the 1980s. They were almost forced to close. The lowest point was the 1985–86 season. They finished 23rd in the Fourth Division and had to ask to stay in the league.
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Under manager John McGrath, the team got better. They won promotion back to the Third Division just a year later. But this success didn't last long. The team spent another three years in the bottom division from 1993 to 1996. The club finally started to improve after a company called Baxi took over in 1994. However, Baxi's ownership ended in 2002.
The team's central defender, David Moyes, became manager in 1998 when he was 34. Moyes was very successful. He led the team to win the third tier championship in 2000. Preston reached the 2001 play-off final but lost to Bolton Wanderers. In the 2005 play-off final, under Moyes' replacement Billy Davies, Preston lost 1–0 to West Ham United.
After Baxi sold the club and Moyes left for Everton in 2002, the team played in the second-tier league throughout the 2000s. More problems came at the end of the decade. In 2010, the club faced a serious financial issue. They were moved down to the third tier in 2011. A local businessman, Trevor Hemmings, helped solve the financial problem. He bought most of the club in 2010. The team was promoted again in 2015 through the play-offs. They have been in the EFL Championship ever since. Their best finish was 7th place in the 2017–18 season.
Deepdale Stadium
Deepdale has been the home of Preston North End since 1875. It is the oldest football ground in the world that a major league club has used continuously. The biggest crowd ever at Deepdale was 42,684 people. This was for a game against Arsenal in April 1938.
When Baxi took over the club, they started a big project to make Deepdale a modern stadium. This happened between 1996 and 2009. The old stadium was taken down and rebuilt in four steps. The last new stand opened in 2008. The stadium now has seats for 23,404 people. The football pitch is 110 yards long and 75 yards wide.
As part of the improvements funded by Baxi, the original National Football Museum opened at Deepdale in 2001. However, it moved to Manchester in 2012 after being closed for two years.
The Splash Statue
Outside the Sir Tom Finney Stand, there is a statue of the famous player Tom Finney. It is called "The Splash" or the "Tom Finney Splash." The statue was made by Peter Hodgkinson and was shown to the public in July 2004. It was inspired by a famous photo taken during a game between Chelsea and Preston in 1956. That game was played at Stamford Bridge in very wet weather.
1913 Incident at Deepdale
In 1913, there was an attempt to damage the Deepdale ground. This was part of the suffragette bombing and arson campaign. Suffragettes were women who fought for the right to vote. They carried out attacks across the country to protest. In April 1913, suffragettes tried to burn down Deepdale's main stand, but they were stopped. In the same year, suffragettes did manage to burn down Arsenal's stadium in South London. They also tried to burn down Blackburn Rovers' ground. They targeted sports that were mostly for men to protest against male control.
Team Kits and Sponsors
Preston North End traditionally wears white shirts with blue shorts for their home games. Yellow is often used for Preston's away kit. Since shirt sponsors were first allowed in 1979, these companies have sponsored the club:
| Years | Sponsor(s) |
|---|---|
| 1979–1984 | Pontins |
| 1984–1985 | David Leil |
| 1985–1986 | Lombard Continental |
| 1986–1990 | Garratt's Insurance |
| 1990–1992 | Ribble Valley Shelving |
| 1992–1995 | Coloroll |
| 1995–2002 | Baxi |
| 2002–2005 | New Reg |
| 2005–2010 | Enterprise |
| 2010–2012 | Tennent's |
| 2012–2013 | Magners |
| 2013–2014 | The Football Pools/Carers Trust |
| 2014–2016 | Virgin Trains |
| 2016–2017 | 888sport |
| 2017–2018 | Tempobet |
| 2018–2021 | 32Red |
| 2021–present | PAR Group |
Team Rivalries
Preston North End's biggest rival is Blackpool. Their stadiums are only seventeen miles apart. The games between them are called the West Lancashire derby. They have played 96 times since 1901 in different leagues and cup games. Preston also has local rivalries with teams like Blackburn Rovers, Burnley, Bolton Wanderers, and Wigan Athletic.
Current Players
Team Squad
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Players on Loan
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Club Staff
Here is a list of the non-playing staff at Preston North End:
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Paul Heckingbottom | Manager |
| Stuart McCall | Assistant Manager |
| Ched Evans | First Team coach |
| Peter Murphy | First Team Coach |
| Mike Pollitt | Goalkeeping Coach |
| Matt Jackson | Head of Medicine |
| John Lucas | Head of Physical Performance |
| Nick Harrison | Academy Manager |
| Andy Livingstone | Head of Academy Recruitment |
| James Wallace | Chief Scout |
| Paul Huddy | Kitman |
Club Records
- Most Goals (Overall): Tom Finney, with 210 goals in 473 games.
- Most League Goals: Tom Finney, with 187 goals in 433 league games.
- Most Appearances (Overall): Alan Kelly, Sr., with 511 games played between 1958 and 1973.
- Most League Goals in a Season: Ted Harper, 37 goals in the Football League Second Division during the 1932–33 season.
- Record Attendance: 42,684 people against Arsenal in the Football League First Division, on April 23, 1938.
- Record Cup Victory: 26–0 against Hyde in the FA Cup, on October 15, 1887.
- Record League Victory: 10–0 against Stoke in the Football League Division One, on September 14, 1889.
- Record Defeat: 0–7 against Blackpool in Division 1, on May 1, 1948.
- Transfer Record (Paid): £2,130,000 for Milutin Osmajić from Cádiz CF in August 2023.
- Transfer Record (Received): £10,000,000 for Jordan Hugill to West Ham Utd in January 2018.
- Youngest Ever Player: Ethan Walker at 16 years and 156 days old.
- Oldest Ever Player: Bob Kelly at 41 years and two months old.
Club Honours
In 1996, Preston won the Third Division title. This made them the third club to have won championships in all four professional English football leagues. Before them, Wolverhampton Wanderers did it in 1988, and Burnley in 1992. Since then, Sheffield United and Portsmouth also achieved this in 2017.
League Titles
- First Division (top league)
- Champions: 1888–89, 1889–90
- Second Place: 1890–91, 1891–92, 1892–93, 1905–06, 1952–53, 1957–58
- Second Division (level 2)
- Champions: 1903–04, 1912–13, 1950–51
- Second Place: 1914–15, 1933–34
- Third Division / Second Division / League One (level 3)
- Champions: 1970–71, 1999–2000
- Play-off Winners: 2015
- Fourth Division / Third Division (level 4)
- Champions: 1995–96
- Second Place: 1986–87
Cup Wins
- FA Cup
- Winners: 1888–89, 1937–38
- Runners-up: 1887–88, 1921–22, 1936–37, 1953–54, 1963–64
- FA Charity Shield
- Runners-up: 1938
- Football League War Cup
- Winners: 1940–41
- Lancashire Senior Cup
- Winners: 1886–87, 1892–93, 1894–95, 1899–1900, 1938–39, 1996–97
Women's Football Team
Preston North End used to have a women's football team called Preston North End W.F.C.. In May 2016, this team changed its name to Fylde Ladies F.C. They are now linked with the National League North team AFC Fylde.
See also
In Spanish: Preston North End Football Club para niños
