For National Team fans of a certain age, Preston North End is a club mainly associated with Eddie Lewis. He had 111 appearances for PNE from 2002 to 2005. Another Eddie is now the American in Preston, with Eddie Johnson joining the club on loan from Fulham for the rest of the season.
Why Are We Here?
As is so often the story, an American needs more playing time than he's likely to get at the club that signed him. Eddie Johnson has been with Fulham since 2008, but only has 19 appearances. That's meant loan deals to Cardiff City, Aris, and now Preston North End. He joins the club at a tough time, with PNE currently bottom of The Championship table.
Preston, Lancashire, around ten miles west of Blackburn and a half an hour east of Blackpool. It's in the northern part of the soccer hotbed that includes Liverpool and Manchester. The city itself has a population of around 114,000 and is situated on the river Ribble. In england where these types of designations matter, it was declared a city just a few years ago in 2002.
And The Club?
Preston North End won the first English league title in 1888, the next season they finished undefeated, and were the giants of the early years of English soccer. The 1900's weren't as kind, with the club fighting to stay viable. They're currently fighting to stay up in The Championship where they've been since the 2000-01 season. Currently, they're a club in crisis, bottom of the league and firing their manager at the end of December. New manager Phil Brown has one job, keeping them in the Championship.
How Tough Is The Championship?
Tough for any team, but especially for one struggling like PNE. With so many games and so much physical and direct play, it's very easy for a struggling team to end up in real trouble. That's been the story of Preston North End's season. They're seven points from safety, but seem a long way away from bridging that gap.
The Stadium?
For anybody who has been to Deepdale, it's a wonderland of nostalgia. England's National Football Museum is part of it, housing the FIFA Collection as well as the Football Association archive. Making a museum part of a working stadium seemed like such a good idea at the time. Unfortunately, attendance wasn't where the organizers would've liked it and the museum closed last Summer. Unlike the United States's National Soccer Hall of Fame that also closed due to low visitor numbers, the National Football Museum is expected to reopen this Summer in Manchester.
As for the stadium itself, Deepdale holds 23,408 spectators and was rebuilt stand by stand in recent years as a modern stadium. The last stand was rebuilt in 2007-08. The original Deepdale dates to 1860 with its first soccer use coming in 1878. From 1986-1994 it was one of the few English stadiums with an artificial playing surface.
