History of Preston North End F.C.

Preston North End Football Club is an English football club located in Preston, Lancashire, currently playing in the second tier of English league football, The Championship. They were a foundation member of the English Football League in 1888 and were the first English football champions.

In the past Preston were famously successful, being the first winners of "The Double" in English football. In 1888–89 Preston became the first, and only, team to go throughout an entire season unbeaten in both the league and FA Cup — only Arsenal F.C., in 2003–04, have managed to have an unbeaten season in the top division since. They were league champions again the following season, but have not won the title since. Their last major trophy was an FA Cup triumph in 1938.

Origins

Preston North End were founded as a cricket club in 1862, although it would take nearly twenty years after the formation of the club in its original form before their first football match.

The cricket team played their first game in the summer of 1862 at 'The Marsh', a strip of land next to the River Ribble in Ashton; it has been reported they were known for a short period of time as Preston Nelson, but Nelson and North End have played on the same day giving huge doubts to this fact. The club soon adopted the suffix 'North End' as they were based in the north end of Preston.

The club's move to the Deepdale area of the town dates back to January 1875, when land at Deepdale Farm was used. At this point, North End adopted rugby union as a second sport in an attempt to attract enough spectators to offset the heavy costs of the cricketers.

Unfortunately for the side, this proved a failed experiment. By this time, rival side Preston Grasshoppers had been in existence for a number of years, and it proved impossible to compete with the two or three thousand spectators they managed to attract each week.

However, prompted by the success of the sport in East Lancashire, the club gradually adopted association football, and on 5 October 1878 they played their first match, losing 1-0 to Eagley F.C. In May 1880 they made the decision to permanently adopt the association code. The club played ten games that season, including one against Blackburn Rovers on 26th March 1881. It is reported that Preston were beaten 16-0. Preston North End still played cricket during the summer months.

Rise of the Invincibles (1880-1890)

Over the next few years, North End's ground at Deepdale gradually improved its facilities and increased in size. Association football had become a major attraction in the town, and the man at the helm of the club, Major William Sudell, had a clear vision of how to make Preston North End the supreme side of the entire country.

In a nutshell, Sudell's plan was to 'import' top players from other areas, primarily Scotland, rather than rely on local talent like other clubs. They were to be rewarded by being paid match fees and being 'accommodated' with highly paid work in the Preston area.

This led to accusations of professionalism from Preston's rivals. In 1884 for instance, Upton Park, who arrived at Deepdale for a FA Cup tie, complained to the Football Association that their opponents had fielded a team packed with Scottish professionals. The FA expelled North End from the tournament, but a threat from thirty-six northern teams to break away and form a rival football association forced the FA to legalise professionalism in 1885.

And so arrived 'The Invincibles'; mostly recruited from north of the border as was the case with Nick Ross, his younger brother Jimmy Ross, David Russell, John Goodall and Geordie Drummond. There were some local players, such as full back Bob Holmes and winger Fred Dewhurst, but it was Sudell's revolutionary tacticsSpecify|date=December 2006 and emphasis on teamwork as much as the talent available to him that turned Preston into the unbeatable unit they became (see below).

During this time, North End beat Hyde 26-0 in the first round of the FA Cup in 1887-88 – which to this day remains an English first-class football record. [cite web | url=http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/History/Postings/2006/01/FACupHistory_CupHeroes.htm | title=FA Cup Heroes | work=TheFA.com | accessdate=2006-11-27 ]

The Football League was founded in 1888; North End were one of the founder members and went on to make history. In the League's first season (1888-89), North End were inaugural league champions, achieving the feat without losing a match. On top of this, they completed the league and cup 'Double', winning the FA Cup without conceding a single goal, defeating Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-0 in the final.

In 1889-90 Sudell's team repeated the feat in the League, but it wasn't long before rival teams improved. Despite many close calls, North End would never match The Invincibles' feat by winning the Football League Championship again.

Pre-War problems (1891-1915)

Despite the Invincibles team being gradually dismantled, Preston continued to perform well in the league, finishing runners-up first to Everton and then twice in succession to Sunderland. In 1892-93 a second division was initiated, along with the first ever promotion/relegation 'play-off' system. This meant that the top three in Division Two would each play a one-off 'test match' against a team finishing in the bottom three in the top flight.

In 1893-94 Preston plummeted down the league to finish third from bottom (14th), requiring them to beat Notts County in the end-of-season test match to retain their top-flight status. This they did, defeating the Magpies 4-0 at Deepdale.

One suggestion for this decline is that Preston's players desired to earn more money and play for so-called 'bigger' clubs, often in more affluent areas of the country.Fact|date=March 2007 To this end, Nick Ross had signed for Everton, John Goodall went to Derby County and Thomson to Wolves.

However, three more significant events were rather more tragic for the club. First, in 1893 William Sudell lost his control of the club and it was established as a limited liability company. Soon after, he was found guilty of embezzling £5,000 of his employers, John Goodairs', money.Fact|date=March 2007 This money was apparently used in the provision of hospitality at Preston North End. He was handed a three-year prison sentence and later emigrated to South Africa.Fact|date=March 2007

Then two of the legendary Invincibles died tragically at early ages. Firstly, Nick Ross, who had returned to Deepdale from Everton after only one year, succumbed to Tuberculosis. Then, soon after Sudell's imprisonment, Fred Dewhurst died.

North End were finally relegated in 1901. They bounced back in 1904 however, finishing as runners-up to Liverpool in 1906. This yo-yo journey continued however, with them being relegated again in 1912, bouncing straight back up as champions, being relegated in 1914 and promoted again in 1915.

The club's Deepdale ground continued to prosper, and attendances increased several times over.Specify|date=December 2006 Some of the players who entertained these crowds included centre-half Joe McCall, Peter McBride (who is second only to Alan Kelly Sr. in the list of North End's record league appearance makers with 443) and winger Dickie Bond.

The onset of 'The Great War' in 1914 brought a temporary halt to football in the country, with many players enlisting to aid the war effort. Indeed, a Footballers' Battalion was formed in December 1914 and grounds were used as volunteering points.

Between the Wars (1919-1939)

Despite the fact that several regional competitions ran during the First World War, it was not until September 1919 that English league football returned.

North End struggled for the most part of the inter-war period, with the club finishing first 19th and then 16th for three consecutive seasons before finally being relegated in 1924-25.

Relegation coincided with the man who had been at the helm of the club, James Isherwood Taylor, being banned from the club by the FA after he had made illegal approaches for players, although he returned in 1925.

Taylor arrived on the board in 1912, and became an increasingly influential figurehead at Deepdale, at a time when many other clubs were beginning to employ specialist team managers. Indeed, Taylor considered it within his remit to pick the team and select the club's transfer targets!Fact|date=March 2007

However, it was widely believedWho|date=July 2007 that he had an extremely good eye for a player, and this was proven when he secured the signature of Alex James from Raith Rovers for £3,250 in 1925. Although enjoying little success at Deepdale, he certainly entertained the fansSpecify|date=December 2006 until his departure to Arsenal in 1929.

Despite lean times in the league, North End very nearly experienced glory in the FA Cup. After reaching the semi-finals in 1921, they went one better a year later by qualifying to face Huddersfield Town in the final at Stamford Bridge - the last one before the opening of Wembley Stadium.

Unfortunately, as is often the case for Preston North End in showpiece matches, they lost - albeit in controversial circumstances.Fact|date=March 2007 In a poor game, Billy Smith was felled on the edge of the North End box, and despite fierce protests, the referee signalled for a spot-kick.

Smith converted, despite the best efforts of bespectacled goalkeeper J.F. Mitchell to put him off by jumping up and down on his line. The cup was lost.

Unlike before the war, North End found it extremely difficult to bounce back to the top flight. In their first season in League Division Two they finished 12th, followed by 6th, 4th, 13th, 16th, 7th, 13th and 9th, before they finally returned to Division One, finishing runners-up behind Grimsby Town in 1933/34.

At many points during the club's nine seasons in Division Two, relegation seemed quite likely. However, Taylor averted this potential disaster by signing two forwards from Tottenham Hotspur in the shape of Ted Harper and Arthur Rowley in the winter of 1931. In 1932-33, Harper scored 37 goals, a club record which still stands.Fact|date=March 2007

During this period, Taylor also made some notable improvements to the ground. The Pavilion Stand was opened in 1934, housing offices, dressing rooms, boardroom and guest rooms.

On the pitch, the policy of signing players from north of the border continued - Jimmy Milne and Bill Shankly would both prove great servants to the club. With this new injection of talent, Preston once again began to prosper - performing admirably in the First Division and reaching the FA Cup final in 1938. Only three of the team were English.Fact|date=March 2007

Again, the opponents were Huddersfield Town, and it was quite ironic that the outcome should again decided by a penalty, George Mutch firing into the roof of the net after being unfairly challenged by Terriers defender Alf Young in the last minute of extra time.

Cue delirious celebrations in Preston, and the last time North End would win a major domestic trophy. Much optimism surrounded the club,Who|date=July 2007 with the cup winning team and the emergence of a plethora of talent through their two junior sides. One of those talents was Tom Finney.

Unfortunately, we will never know how North End would have fared had the league not been abandoned due to World War Two, but their record in matches in the forties and their success in the War Cup in 1941 would suggest that they may have added further honours to their two league titles and two FA Cup wins.

Finney era (1946-1960)

Although football continued through the war, Tom Finney was 24 years old when he made his official league debut for North End. However, many of the older Lilywhites' players had retired, having been deprived of eight years of their careers. Three North End players, Jack Owen, Percival Taylor and David Willacy were killed during the war.

Despite the setback of relegation in 1949, they bounced back within two seasons, setting themselves up for a prosperous time in the 1950s. Amazingly, they failed to win any further major domestic honours despite coming close on several occasions.

Much is made of Finney's unstinting loyalty to the club and town, but in 1952 North End came agonisingly close to losing their greatest-ever player. English players moving to play abroad had hitherto been unheard of, but the decision of England international Neil Franklin to sign for Bogotá in Colombia in 1950 suggested that First Division stars were indeed attainable.

With this in mind, the Italian club Palermo offered Finney a signing on fee of £10,000, a basic salary of £130 per month, bonuses, a villa and a car. The signing on fee alone represented around ten years of earnings in English football. Finney urged the board to consider allowing him to speak to them, but his request was rejected.

Despite this, Finney continued to give his all to the cause, and the following year he almost reaped his reward. With two games remaining of the 1952/53 season, North End were locked in a three-way title battle with Arsenal and Wolves. As Wolves lost form at the crucial moment, Preston defeated the Gunners 2-0 in an incredibly intense Deepdale clash.

After another win over Derby County in midweek, it all came down to Arsenal's match against Burnley on the Friday. Unfortunately, Arsenal won 3-2, pipping the Lilywhites to the First Division championship by a slender 0.1 of a goal.

A devastated North End managed to bounce back the following season, however. Despite finishing eleventh in the league, they reached the FA Cup final, where they would face West Bromwich Albion. Naturally, everyone expectedWho|date=July 2007 this to be when Finney showed off his mercurial talents to the nation, but the expectation was much too great as he struggled in a 3-2 loss.

At one stage in the Wembley showpiece, North End led 2-1 thanks to goals from Angus Morrison and Charlie Wayman. A disputed penalty conceded by Tommy Docherty and an error by goalkeeper George Thompson turned the game, and for the second time in two seasons Preston were English football's nearly men.

For the rest of the decade the team never managed to quite aspire to these heights, but the Tom Finney-inspired outfit entertained crowds up and down the country with fast, attacking football.

In 1960, with injuries beginning to get the better of him, Finney made the decision to retire. Naturally, the occasion was an emotional one in front of almost 30,000 supporters after a 2-0 victory over Luton Town, with the 'Preston Plumber' making a speech on the pitch and those present belting out a rendition of 'Auld Lang Syne'!Fact|date=March 2007

Fears that the end of Finney's playing career would prompt a downturn in the club's fortunes proved justified when they were relegated the following season. Preston North End have not returned to the top flight of English football since.

Beginning of the decline (1961-1981)

As Dave Russell points out in his book "", one event took place in this period which would make it virtually impossible for North End to find the wages to compete with the elite in attracting top players.

In 1960, the PFA, led by Jimmy Hill voted overwhelmingly to go on strike in an attempt to see the abolition of the maximum wage. In essence, this was inevitable. After all, no other workforce would have accepted such a system of labour relations.

When the Football League finally relented, it brought hardship to many clubs outside of the top flight.Fact|date=March 2007 Wages increased greatly, and young players developed by the smaller clubs as a way around this difficulty were lured away or sold in order to reduce debts.

At the same time, football crowds began to decrease as Britain entered a period of social change where men were expected to perform domestic tasks over the weekend as well as pursue their own leisure interests!Fact|date=March 2007

However, North End still performed admirably in the early part of sixties, reaching the FA Cup Final against all the odds in 1964. Their opponents this time were to be West Ham United, who contained future World Cup winners Bobby Moore and Geoff Hurst. Considering the Lilywhites' Second Division status, they started the game as clear underdogs.

Despite this, and containing the youngest player in FA Cup Final history in seventeen-year-old Howard Kendall, Jimmy Milne's side looked the likely winners for long periods, taking the lead twice through Doug Holden and Alex Dawson. Unfortunately, West Ham proved too strong in the end and a calamitous blunderFact|date=March 2007 by goalkeeper Alan Kelly coupled with a last-minute winner by Ronnie Boyce saw the Londoners home 3-2. Such promise convinced the North End faithfulWho|date=July 2007 that promotion and a return to the top tier was just around the corner, but this never happened. Instead, partly due to a period spent balancing the books and the sales of Kendall, Dawson and Dave Wilson, the club was relegated to the Third Division for the first time in its history in 1970. Gallingly, the final nail in the coffin was hammered home by rivals Blackpool, who in the process confirmed their own promotion.

New manager Alan Ball ensured that North End bounced straight back up as champions. Despite several sticky patches during the season, a final push after Easter ensured promotion, a Ricky Heppolette goal in a 1-0 victory over the then-leaders Fulham sparking the celebrations.

The rest of the 1970s saw a period of yo-yoing between the Second and Third Divisions, seeing relegation under Bobby Charlton in 1973/74 (he later resigned, protesting over top players being soldFact|date=March 2007 – a familiar story!) and promotion under Nobby Stiles in 1977/78, inspired by the likes of goalkeeper Roy Tunks, defender Mick Baxter, midfielder Gordon Coleman and the dynamic strike force of Alex Bruce and Mike Elwiss.

With things looking promising once more, sadly the club's policy of selling its top players proved its undoing. The emerging Michael Robinson was sold for a club record fee of £765,000 to Manchester City, whilst Alan Spavin retired and was never really replaced.

In 1980/81, North End were relegated back to the Third Division in 20th place (on goal difference). Many players left the club along with manager Stiles at this time, with new boss Tommy Docherty making wholesale changes. Unfortunately, they were not for the better and the events of the early 1980s would take the club perilously close to disintegration.

Hard times (1981-1995)

Tommy Docherty's short spell in charge of Preston North End, the club he served so staunchly as a player, was nothing short of a farce – he was sacked in early December 1981 after leading his side to just three wins in 17 league games.

Docherty had brought in a clutch of players including Tommy Booth and Gary Buckley from Manchester City, Jonathan Clark from Derby County and John Kelly from Tranmere Rovers. However, the new men struggled to settle and crowds dropped.Fact|date=March 2007 An embarrassing 4-1 FA Cup defeatSpecify|date=December 2006 and the board had had enough, replacing 'The Doc' with Alan Kelly (on a caretaker basis), before former Everton boss Gordon Lee joined in December 1981.

Lee temporarily stopped the rot, avoiding a catastrophic drop to the basement division by a considerable margin. Amongst the players the manager brought in was loan goalkeeper Martin Hodge, who performed superbly to shore up the previously leaky defence.Fact|date=March 2007

The next season, 1982-83, started superbly with a Steve Elliott hat-trick defeating Millwall 3-2. However, North End's form soon collapsed, leaving them in danger of relegation, until a run of 9 wins from their last 13 games catapulted them into 16th position.

By now, the writing was on the wall. Lee's departure and another close call with relegation left North End badly in the redFact|date=March 2007 with crowds regularly well below the 5,000 mark.Fact|date=March 2007 Alan Kelly again took charge, but the sale of star striker Elliott left the side woefully short of goals, whilst the defence were conceding for fun. 1984-85 saw North End relegated, shipping exactly 100 goals. The side's top league goalscorer was John Kelly with a paltry seven.

North End's first ever season in Division Four was the stuff of nightmares. Tommy Booth had taken over from Kelly during the latter stages of the previous season, bringing Manchester United legend Brian Kidd in as his assistant. Despite an impressive 4-0 win over Torquay United in September, things gradually degenerated, culminating in an horrific 7-3 cup defeat at the hands of Walsall.

Booth soon resigned and Kidd took the reins, but things failed to improve. His record was one win in 17 matches when he too resigned, leaving midfielder Jonathan Clark in charge. He won five games on the trot in March 1986, but by then it was too late. North End had hit the depths, finishing 23rd and being forced to apply for re-election.

After a successful re-election hearing it was all change at Deepdale the following year, with a new synthetic surface being laid in an attempt to bring extra revenue into the club.

The plan seemed to work, as North End, under charismatic new manager John McGrath, stormed to promotion in 1986-87 - finishing second in Division Four behind Northampton Town. The team's home form was superb as the opposition appeared to find it difficult to adapt to the new pitch, and McGrath's new recruits, journeymen such as Sam Allardyce, Oshor Williams, Gary Swann, Ronnie Hildersley and Les Chapman made them an extremely hard team to beat.

In addition, the club enjoyed a magical cup run, defeating Bury, Chorley and Middlesbrough before succumbing to the might of Newcastle United in the fourth round.

Promotion was achieved with four matches to spare, Chapman's winning goal at Orient securing a return to Division Three. John Thomas finished as top scorer with 21 league goals, aided superbly by Gary Brazil.

The next season, 1987-88, was one of consolidation, McGrath bringing in new boys Tony Ellis and Brian Mooney, who would excite the fans for several seasons.

1988-89 almost saw a return to Division Two, as North End finished 6th, only to lose 4-2 to Port Vale in the two-legged play-off semi-final. This proved to be McGrath's last hurrah, as the manager who had resuscitated the club began to struggle, and the notorious 2-0 FA Cup reverse at Whitley Bay pretty much proved to be the final straw.

His successor Les Chapman, not helped by the perennial problems of a lack of funds and the sale of more top players including Ellis, Mooney and Ian Bogie, struggled to build up a head of steam almost from day one, and North End's mediocre league form eventually led to his sacking in September 1992. Despite decent form under caretaker boss Sam Allardyce,Specify|date=December 2006 the board chose to appoint the maverick John Beck as manager on 7 December 1992.

The controversial Londoner made wholesale changes; including laying generous amounts of sand onto the flanks of the plastic pitch. Despite at one stage looking safe, a disastrous run of five successive defeats saw Preston relegated back to the basement.

Despite Beck's long-ball reputation, he certainly contributed to attendances increasing at Deepdale,Fact|date=March 2007 and in his first full season at the club he led the club to Wembley, where they lost 4-2 to Martin O'Neill's Wycombe Wanderers in the play-off final.

The following year, the plastic pitch was removed and in North End's first game back on grass Lincoln City were defeated 4-0. Despite early promise, a run of seven successive league losses saw the fans turn against the manager and in December 1994, Beck stepped down to make way for his assistant, Gary Peters.

1994-95 once again brought play-off disappointment, as a mid-season recovery under Peters, aided by a young David Beckham, who joined the club on a month-long loan spell, ended when Bury prevailed 2-0 on aggregate in the semi-finals.

Preston had, by the skin of their teeth, avoiding going under in a climate of financial uncertainty,Fact|date=March 2007 but they were still rooted in the bottom division. The takeover by local heating firm BAXI brought with it some optimism, but what the club was really crying outWho|date=July 2007 for was some continuity on the management side of things, and some inspirational players. Over the next ten years of resurgence, the supporters would see all of these elements come together to bring a long-overdue period of sustained success.

Leaving the lower leagues (1995-2000)

With the extra funds made available by the BAXI takeover and subsequent share issue, North End began the redevelopment of their Deepdale stadium and invested in two players who would play major roles in them regaining their Division Two (as it had by now been rebranded) status.Fact|date=March 2007

Andy Saville, a much-travelled striker, was signed from Birmingham City for £100,000, whilst Steve Wilkinson was acquired for £80,000 from Mansfield Town to partner him. Despite losing their first game of the season 2-1 at home to Lincoln City, North End then embarked on a 21-match unbeaten run, which included the 6-0 drubbing of Mansfield, in which Saville and Wilkinson each bagged a hat-trick.

In all, Saville finished the 1995/96 season with 29 league goals with Wilkinson and midfielder Simon Davey notching ten apiece. The Third Division championship was secured in late April with a 2-0 win at Hartlepool. The brand new 8,000 seater Tom Finney Stand was opened for the visit of Darlington on 16 March 1996.

Gary Peters kept faith with the majority of his promotion winning outfit, reinforcing his squad at various stages of the following season with players who would be crucial to the club's success in subsequent campaigns. Mark Rankine joined from Wolves, Sean Gregan from Darlington for £350,000 and Michael Jackson from Bury. Slowly the team that had got North End promoted were moved on, as the club looked to build for the future.

In 1997-98, a very inconsistent period of form saw the club move Peters to a new position as Director as the Centre of Excellence and replace him with assistant manager David Moyes. Moyes, who had been an excellent servant at centre-half for the previous few seasons, immediately injected a new zest into his side and the club eventually finished in 15th position, nine points above the relegation zone.

The following year, North End came close to promotion but injuries to key players towards the end of the campaign saw them defeated in the play-offs by a determined Gillingham side. 1998/99 also saw the club lose out in an epic Deepdale FA Cup tie at home to Arsenal in the third round. Kurt Nogan had send the fans into delirium with two first-half goals, until the Gunners fought back (aided by a sending-off for David Eyres) to win 4-2.

In 2000, Preston North End finally made their return to the second tier of the Football League, after an absence of almost twenty years. Jonathan Macken, whom Gary Peters had signed from Manchester United two years previously, had a storming season scoring 22 league goals, his flair being reinforced by the team's solid spine of Teuvo Moilanen in goal, defenders Graham Alexander, Colin Murdock, Michael Jackson and Rob Edwards and a central midfield made up of workhorses Gregan and Rankine.

The championship was confirmed at Cambridge on 24 April, a game which brought North End's seventh, and last, defeat of the season.

Waiting for the Premiership (Since 2000)

Despite many good judgesWho|date=July 2007 predicting a tough time for the club in Division One, they continued to make strong progress, having a storming season to finish fourth, again falling foul of the play-offs in a 3-0 defeat to Bolton Wanderers after beating Birmingham City in an epic semi-final shoot-out at Deepdale. During the 2000-01 season, North End smashed their transfer record in paying £1.5 million for David Healy. The National Football Museum also opened under the Bill Shankly Kop and the Sir Tom Finney Stand.

With Preston beginning to look like strong candidates for promotion to the Premiership, it was no surprise that their talented young manager was beginning to turn heads. In March 2002, both star striker Jon Macken (to Manchester City for £5 million) and Moyes (to Everton), left the club – but it cannot be deniedWho|date=July 2007 that Preston North End FC was in a more prosperous position than it had been in for years.Fact|date=March 2007

Moyes's successor Craig Brown endured a difficult two seasons in charge, never really winning over the fansWho|date=July 2007 with his 3-5-2 formationFact|date=March 2007 and suffering badly with injuries. When his side went down 1-0 at Brighton thanks to a Marlon Broomes own goal in September 2004, Brown was sacked and replaced with his assistant Billy Davies. For two consecutive seasons under Davies, North End lost in the play-offs, at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium to West Ham in the 2004-05 final to a Bobby Zamora winner, and the following season in the semi-finals in a highly-charged two-legged affair against Leeds United.

Soon after this latest close call, the highly-rated Davies left the club to join Derby County, accusing Preston chairman Derek Shaw of not matching his ambitions and of lying.Fact|date=March 2007 In his place came the Carlisle United manager Paul Simpson, who immediately replaced the recently-departed defenders Claude Davis and Tyrone Mears with Sean St. Ledger and Liam Chilvers.

The 2006/07 season started well under Simpson, seeing Preston rise to the top of the Championship in December, the highest league place the team has reached in 55 years. Despite much interest in striker David Nugent, Simpson was able to hold on to the player throughout the January transfer window. On 28 March, Nugent went on to get his full international debut for England, and even managed to score his first international goal in the 90th minute of the match against Andorra. This was the first time a Preston player received a full international cap for England since Tom Finney. It was around this time that Preston went into a decline, which in the end meant the team missing out on a playoff spot in the final few weeks of the season.

During the close season before the 2007/08 season, striker David Nugent left Preston to join Portsmouth for a club record fee of £6,000,000. Simpson, with a much inflated transfer budget due to this sale, brought in Billy Jones, Kevin Nicholls, Karl Hawley and Darren Carter. Despite these signings, Preston's poor form continued from the end of the previous season, seeing the club pick up only three wins before Simpson was sacked on 13 November.

He was then replaced with Alan Irvine, who had been second-in-command to ex-manager David Moyes at Everton, on a 3 1/2-year contract Irvine was able to reverse the club's bad luck, and he was able to get the club out of the relegation zone, and even managed to get the club to finish in a respectable 15th place in the league.

References