Preston North End Deepdale
 Division One v Crystal Palace
Saturday, November 24th 2001, 3pm
Lee Roberts

Many years ago I had the pleasure of playing on Preston North End's old artificial pitch and, having been substituted during the second half, I spent a good half an hour wandering around the stadium at leisure.  It was a dark, miserable evening but that seemed to compliment the setting for our match; Deepdale had seen better times and the club was on a downward spiral to the basement division of the League.  Now, almost 15 years later, I found myself driving north to return to Deepdale but this time I was aware that the appearance would have somewhat changed.

Although the traffic on the M6 wasn't too bad for a Saturday, I arrived at the ground a little too late to allow me time to visit the impressive looking Football Museum located next door.  I was still fortunate enough to secure a space in the official club car park directly behind the Bill Shankly Stand and at only a couple of quid it represented good value.  By the time I'd collected my ticket and had a walk around the outside of the stadium I only had enough time to have a peak inside the reception area of the museum but I saw enough to impress. 

The most striking aspect of my inspection of the exterior of Deepdale was the stark contrast between the 3 new stands and the historic Pavilion Stand. The new stands were identifiable by their peculiar looking white frames that protruded onto the adjacent pavements, and they certainly afforded the structures a definite identity alongside the Meccano-style grounds springing up around the country.  The old Pavilion Stand, on the other hand, was noticeable by it's traditional red-brick frontage that was adorned by hedges and ivy creeping up it's walls.  I had not witnessed such a contrast in images within one stadium on my travels thus far, but although I was more than impressed by the outside of the new stands - and couldn't wait to view them from the inside - I felt that the imminent re-development of the Pavilion Stand would be a loss to the game. Yet again, I consoled myself in the knowledge that at least Preston North End are erecting a unique stadium for the future.

With 3 o'clock fast approaching I decided to make my way into the Alan Kelly Stand (also know as the Town End Stand), the newest of the three recently built stands. In fact the entire stand had only recently been opened and I had delayed my visit to Deepdale to allow for the construction to be completed.

 

Quite an atmosphere had already built up, nowhere more so than the stand in which I was sitting which is the predominant home 'end'. I have quite an affection for Preston North End as my home of Southport lies only a dozen or so miles away and I found myself warming to the passion and humour displayed by the locals. My warming to the home side grew during the 90 minutes of action as at times, Preston displayed glimpses of Premiership class and ran out comfortable winners even if the scoreline slightly flattered Palace, who in fact took a first half lead.

The stadium too is shaping up for top flight football and will be a more than appropriate venue for the Premiership high-flyers to visit in the coming seasons  The recently constructed stands are identical in design and size (allowing, of course, for their width).  The stand behind the goal opposite to where I was sitting - the Bill Shankly Stand - housed a sprinkling of home supporters alongside the visitors from London.  Although Palace brought a fairly decent support with them, the sheer size of this stand meant that there were vast chunks of seating left empty giving an slightly eerie appearance from the other end of the ground. The stand to my left, the Tom Finney Stand, ran the entire length of the pitch and sandwiched in between that stand and the Bill Shankly Stand was a viewing gallery inside the Football Museum from where visitors can enjoy an excellent view of Deepdale. The Pavilion Stand, to my right, was the sole remnant of yesteryear. It comprised a small stand - together with an extremely low-slung roof - above a section of open terracing.  The seated stand ran only slightly across the halfway line towards the Bill Shankly Stand, however the paddock terracing continued alone and without any cover from the elements.

With a few minutes left until the final whistle I hurried around to the Bill Shankly Stand, not only to allow a prompt return to my car which was parked a matter of metres from the exits, but to also properly view the Alan Kelly Stand.  Once the final whistle blew I walked back to my car and noticed that there wasn't too much traffic snaking it's way through the crowds streaming away from the stadium.  I decided to go for it instead of my usual tactic of sitting with my flask of coffee, allowing the crowds to disperse whilst listening to Radio 5 Live.  Within only a matter of seconds I was through the immediate set of traffic lights and onto the trunk road towards the M6.  Amazingly, about 5 minutes after the final whistle I was on the motorway and heading home! I made such good time that I phoned my wife, Mel, just south of Birmingham to let her know that I'd be home by about 8 pm (no mean feat considering we live on the Hertfordshire-Bedfordshire border) but my luck on the roads continued as I walked through the front door just after 7.30 pm!

The warm meal she had prepared for me - not one I expected as I anticipated a return home about an hour and a half later - rounded off a cracking day out.  I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Deepdale, and Preston North End are a club seemingly heading in the right direction.  With friends and family so close in Southport, I will return to visit the Football Museum but I can only recommend any visiting fans to combine that with their trip.

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