“The majority of teams aren’t invincible, but some are. The majority of clubs are just clubs. However, some are institutions.”
No, this wasn’t quoted for Arsenal or Juventus’ invincible runs; instead, it was for Preston North End’s incredible run years ago.
Preston North End FC is a club based in Preston, Lancashire, currently playing in the third tier of English football i.e. League One. The North End in the name comes from the fact that it is situated in the northern part of the town. Preston’s history can be divided in the following way
Formation and Domination (1880-1893)
Preston North End was founded in 1863 as a cricket club. But after 15 years of existence, amid financial insecurity and failure in other sports like Rugby, they decided to adopt football in 1878. Its chairman, Major William Sudell, saw the potential in this game and hence brought many good players from Scotland to its stadium, Deepdale. In 1888, the Football League was formed, with Preston one of its leading founders. In the 1888/89 season, Preston became the first ever champions of England and FA cup winners without losing a single game. Preston won the FA cup without conceding a single goal and in the way, achieved a still unbeaten record of a 26-0 victory over Hyde. Thus, they were the first double winners in the world and did it in some style! Preston won the League the next year as well. But that is when their misery started.
Yo-Yo (1894-1914)
After three consecutive 2nd place finishes, the club saw its ownership change hands, death of its 2 great players and many good players leaving for other clubs. This lead to a ‘yo-yo’ era for the club, called so because of the club yo-yoing between the English’s top flight and the Second Division. Preston earned promotion to top flight in 1915 but due to the First World War, the League was suspended until 1919.
Between the Wars (1919-1939)
After the resumption of football in England, Preston managed to stay in the top division until 1925 and only returned 10 years later in 1934, led by the great Bill Shankly. The high point was winning their 2nd FA cup in 1938, their last major trophy.
The Finney Era (1946-1960)
The post war period saw the club produce Preston, and one of England’s greatest legend – Sir Thomas Finney. Finney helped the club achieve 2nd position in the 1952/53 season, denied the trophy only on the last day by Arsenal (Yes, they did win trophies in those times!). But injuries forced Finney to retire in 1960. The following season, Preston slipped to the second division not to return to this date.
Downward Spiral (1961-2000)
This has been the darkest years in the history of Preston. This era saw the club going down to as low as the fourth tier of English league. The main reasons for this were:-
- As mentioned, the retirement of club icon Thomas Finney.
- The scrapping of the maximum wage rule in England.
The maximum wage rule was a rule which did not allow any club to offer more than £10 to any of its players for a level playing field. The abolishment of this rule in 1961 meant that most of Preston’s stars left for better wages elsewhere, since Preston’s financial condition restricted it from offering such wages. This also meant that Preston were unable to hold on to its many promising academy players.
This era saw legends like Sir Bobby Charlton and David Beckham play for 1 season each.
Premier League Calling (2000 – 2007)
The turn of the century saw Preston return to the second division under the management of David Moyes, a former player for Preston. It looked like ‘the Premier League Dream’ was in the pipeline as Preston reached four Promotion play-offs, only to be beaten each time. Also, David Nugent was called for and played for the England squad, the first from Preston since Sir Finney some 50 years ago.
Decline once again (2007- )
A change in chairman, a host of cost-cutting measures and a change in management as many as 5 times meant that Preston once again started struggling to survive again and dropped to the third division once more in 2011.
Being an optimist, I still believe that this fallen giant will be back to its former glory and this fairytale will get the conclusion it deserves……….someday.
As for Preston’s fans, I would like to say
“Golden days don’t last for long, but those golden memories will last forever”.