Preston North End

This club has one thing it is very well known for. When the Football League was formed in 1888, North End were founder members. Earlier that year they had lost the FA Cup final, so they were a top team. Then, in the league’s first season, they played 22, won 18, and drew 4. They won the league by 11 points, and they won the Cup without conceding a goal.

One may wonder if people thought, Right, well done to them—not realizing it would be 115 years before anybody (Arsenal in 2003-04) went through a top-flight season unbeaten again. In the next 75 years, only one other club (Aston Villa in 1897) pulled off a league-Cup double until Tottenham did it in 1960-61.

So Preston’s “Invincibles” earned and have their place in history. (Americans need only think of the 1972 Miami Dolphins, still the only team to go unbeaten through an NFL season, including the Super Bowl.)

And since then? Well, they won the league again the next year, finished second three straight years after that, and then were regular top-flight residents through the 1950s. They won lower divisions a few times and brought home another FA Cup in 1938, with future Liverpool manager Bill Shankly making one of 297 appearances for the club. But they haven’t been top-flight since 1961, which is surprising. They seem like a bigger club than that, especially with such a nice stadium.

There were a few highlights along the way. In the 1950s, with the legendary player Tom Finney, they twice finished second in the league and lost a memorable 1954 FA Cup final, 3-2, to West Bromwich Albion. In 1964, as a Second Division team, they got back to the Cup final and again lost, 3-2, this time to West Ham.

A lowlight was in 1986, before promotion and relegation were automatic. They finished last in the Fourth Division and had to apply (successfully, as it turned out) to stay in the league. In the late 1990s, defender David Moyes turned player-coach, and then just coach, taking them to a 2001 playoff final that would have gotten them into the Premier League; alas, they lost to Bolton. Moyes left for Everton, and Preston again lost the playoff final in 2005.

They have spent 21 of the last 25 years where they are now: in the Championship.

About the name—there are no other teams in town, nor have there ever been really, so the whole “North End” thing seems funny. If only there was a Preston South End, that would be a derby!

2024–25 SEASON: 20th in the Championship, 3rd Round FA Cup, 1st Round League Cup

2025–26 SEASON: The Championship (promoted in 2015)

Mainly it’s about Blackpool, which is less than 20 miles to the west. It’s the West Lancashire derby and has been played 97 times in all four top divisions. The 2022–23 season’s two games—each was a win for the home team—were the first since 2013. Unfortunately, Blackpool was relegated to League One in 2023, so it looks like these two only have a chance to play each other in a Cup.

Otherwise, any of the other Lancashire clubs—mainly Blackburn Rovers and Burnley at this point—would raise local temperatures.

Preston North End Women, a very recent creation, play in the North West Regional League Division One North at tier 5. Home games are at Inglewhite Road, the home of Longridge Town FC.

But for a long time there was no such thing, which was dumb. That’s because Dick, Kerr’s Ladies FC, arguably the first women’s football team in the world, was founded in Preston in 1917. They played 833 games over the next 48 years, occasionally beating pro men’s teams in the early days. The name comes from the company whose employees started it, a locomotive manufacturer called Dick, Kerr and Company.

Their 2-0 win over a French team in 1920 is considered the first women’s international. That French tour led to much publicity and then to a crowd of 53,000 for a game at Goodison Park. Incredibly, the Football Association couldn’t take it; they rescinded the Ladies’ certification later that year and banned women’s football from FA club members’ grounds for the next 50 years. Men are pigs. The team changed their name to Preston Ladies FC and played another 40 years on non-FA grounds.

There’s a memorial about this outside Deepdale.

Nothing in particular

Deepdale is an impressive place. There have been games on the site continuously since 1878, making it one of the longest-used football venues around (this topic is a minefield, by the way). But it was all rebuilt starting in the 1990s and today is a modern, cozy, convenient ground that can probably get pretty loud during a big game.

Its capacity is 23,404 in four separate stands. One is named for the Invincibles, and the other three for former players: Bill Shankly (the “Kop,” where up to 6,000 away fans will be), Alan Kelly, and Sir Tom Finney. Each stand even has its own player’s likeness on the seats. Try to sit on the side fairly close to the away fans.

Outside you’ll find a tribute to Dick, Kerr’s Ladies FC, and a statue of Sir Tom Finney that is truly one of a kind. Finney, known as the “Preston Plumber” because that was his non-soccer business, is shown nearly horizontal in a fountain. It’s based on a famous photo from 1954 at Stamford Bridge in a game that would never be played today because of the amount of water on the pitch.

TOURS: None

GETTING THERE: It’s about a half-hour walk from the station through the city center, but you can make it easier on yourself by taking bus 19 (Sharoe Green) to the Football Ground stop right outside Deepdale. Catch it at the bus station (via bus 111 from the train station) or by walking to Lancaster Road in the center.

PUBS: There are some proper old pubs in the center of Preston. The Old Black Bull is one of the oldest pubs in town and in a Grade II historic building, but its status was unclear as of this writing. The tiny and cozy Market Tap may be older than that. The Guild Ale House has a neat atmosphere and great ale selection.

If you fancy a walk by the river, the New Continental has a big menu and lots of beer selections. Out by the ground, supporters will be in the Princess Alice, the White Hart, the Moorbrook (good outdoor seating), or the Moor Park.

GRUB: Some of the above pubs have food, and there’s tasty takeaway from Roast in Orchard Street downtown. The barista at Town House Coffee claimed that North End players occasionally pop in.

But let’s talk about butter pie, two words whose coming together causes no shortage of excitement. It’s your basic pie in structure, but instead of meat and sauce, it has potatoes, onions, and butter. Apparently this goes back to when Preston had a lot of Catholics who didn’t eat meat on Friday. Take out the meat, put in butter? Yes, please. One review called it “pure, unrelenting, delicious fat,” and we agree.

Get one at Deepdale, where fans insisted they be put back on the menu after a local producer folded in 2007.

AROUND TOWN: Avenham Park along the River Ribble is quite nice if you’re up for a peaceful walk. The city center is worth a walk around as well, especially since it’s on the way from the station to the ground. The old Preston Dock area now has some shopping and a couple of pubs, plus a nice walking path. The Harris Museum has art and natural history displays.