Train £12
Subway £5
Ticket £24
Programme £3
Sainsbury's snacks £1-75
Tea at Preston £1-90
Total £47-65
Today's trip to Preston marked something of a milestone, being the last Football League ground I had to visit in the North West. I have found that Preston is one of those places which you often pass by on the way to somewhere else so it made a change to be travelling to the town itself. I had in fact been to the outside of Deepdale in 2006, when I had attempted to cycle from Preston and up the Fylde peninsula.
Arriving in the town by 2, and ragged from some recent hops, I treated myself to a Subway before heading to the ground. Deepdale is a mile or two from the centre, next to an impressive park. After some external photos, including the impressive Tom Finney statue sliding into a tackle, I headed into the ground. I was in the home end behind the goal, and surveyed my surroundings. The stadium is fully enclosed, with distinctive floodlights on each corner each one resembling a mecano tower. The stand names tipped to past glories - the Bill Shankly Kop, the Invincibles stand.
In today's world, Preston are doing incredibly well in their first season back in the Championship (mid table with no signs of a relegation dog fight). QPR came here on almost level points today so this should be an intriguing one. Like most Championship games this didn't disappoint. The Hoops started most strongly, easily pressing high up inside the Preston half. They took a deserved lead through the muscular Polter, who had been excellent so far. The goal seemed to bring a response from Preston, with Hugill heading over and Cunningham’s effort tipped over. Johnson was a tenacious terrier, proving a handful for the away defence.
The second period was more evenly balanced. Preston’s Robinson produced some superb runs but couldn't create anything clear cut. QPR threatened to double their lead when Junior Hoilett’s shot was caught, and then they had a free kick fired wide. Chery then went clean through for the London side, only for the effort to be well saved by the home keeper. Then much to the consternation (it was more outrage!) of the home crowd, Jermain Beckford had a 50:50 penalty shout which was waved away by the referee.
Just when it seemed as though it wouldn't be Preston’s day, 6 minutes of injury time went up on the board. Volume levels in the stadium shot up. The team responded and Doyle nailed a superb header to make it 1-1. They had fought hard for this point, but it was well deserved. On this evidence they'll be in this league for a while yet.
I headed back to the station with a sense of satisfaction. There is now 1 North West ground left to see, and only actually 3 Football League grounds in the North. (For the moment I am ignoring Fylde's new ground and the likely rise of Charnock Richard, Prestwich Heys to the NWCFL). There's now 1 match left before the clocks change, so this was a day for optimism.
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