Preston North End urged to avoid Deepdale Stadium move - "I would hate it" | OneFootball

FLW's Preston North End fan pundit has given his verdict on whether or not to develop Deepdale Stadium

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Deepdale has been the home of Preston North End for the entirety of its existence - and it's set to stay that way for the foreseeable future.

As a founding member of the Football League, PNE have been playing their football at Deepdale since the very first season in 1888-89, and for the 10 years prior to the inaugural EFL campaign too.

In the current day, with a capacity of just over 23,000, it is the 17th biggest stadium in the Championship, just ahead of Watford’s Vicarage Road and below Hull City’s MKM Stadium.

A number of rival clubs are looking to either renovate their current grounds or build entirely new ones, including Birmingham City, Oxford United and League One outfit Luton Town.

But there are currently no plans to do anything with Deepdale, which could see Preston fall even further down the table of stadium capacities in the second tier of English football, should they remain where they are with no alterations.

Preston North End urged to never leave Deepdale Stadium

When asked if they see any forthcoming plans for Deepdale, whether that's redevelopment or a move away from the historic site, FLW’s North End fan pundit Darren Watson thinks that it would be a shame if the club ever moved away - and that they should stay forever.

“No, not a chance at all, I mean Deepdale’s been there the longest continuous sporting ground in history,” Watson told Football League World.

“Founder member of the Football League, and Deepdale’s been a staple of English football no matter if you support Preston North End, everyone knows Preston North End, everyone knows Deepdale - one of the oldest football grounds in the world.

“I do believe that back in 2005 there were plans that if we got promoted, the season we lost in Cardiff against West Ham 1-0 - it still haunts me to this day - but there were plans if we got promoted that we would’ve built into the top tiers above the Invincibles Pavilion.

“So it would’ve made our capacity a bit bigger than what it currently is now, but those plans were put on hold after we didn’t get promoted.

“If we got promoted, I’d like to see us spend some money on our own ground.”

Watson has urged Preston to never knock down or move away from Deepdale due to its historic significance, claiming it is a crucial part of their place in English football.

“I wouldn’t like to see us move out of Deepdale because I think, historically, it’s one of the most historic football grounds in England, if not the world. I truly believe that,” Watson added.

“We used to have the National Football Museum too before it got taken off us and went down to Manchester.

“We have a proud, rich history of football, and our roots are deep with not just Deepdale, but English football, and it’d be sad to see Preston move to another soulless ground that’s built like the shape of a bowl.

“Deepdale’s got, on its day, a cracking atmosphere, no matter what anybody says, it’s a brilliant ground.

“I love it, and I’d be sad to see if we ever do move out of Deepdale, or knock it down and rebuild it.

“If anything, we need to add more tiers to places like the Invincibles Stadium, maybe we could make that side bigger.

“But, no, I would hate to see us move away from Deepdale.”

Deepdale is a key part of Preston North End's history - it's hard to see them ever departing

Preston were the first dominant force of English football, and they won their first league titles at Deepdale late in the 19th century.

That gives the stadium a lot of meaning to supporters despite none of them being alive right now to have witnessed those memories, but they are still feats which a lot of other clubs cannot replicate.

So, it will be difficult for any owner to ever move the team to a new stadium, given its importance.

But improvements to the capacity could be made in the future, and promotion to the Premier League, if they earn it, would be a good time to implement those developments.

There is an empty row along the top of the Invincibles Stand which has remained vacant since 2008, and perhaps other stands could be built upon, but for now, with North End never really selling out their tickets at home unless it's a huge match, then there's no real need or reason to think about expansion plans currently.