Malcolm Woodhouse snr, who passed away after a short illness on Friday 27th March 2009, was an unsung hero in the revitalisation of Preston North End in the early 1990s.

The owner of a Lancaster-based haulage firm became the Club's major shareholder in January 1991 under the banner of the 'MW Group of Companies (Lancaster)', and though he never sought accolades or publicity for his efforts, he went on to invest considerable sums in the Club before handing over his controlling stake to Baxi Partnership in September 1994.

He rarely spoke publicly, but gained the respect of the supporters by meeting with them to explain the Club's position during the troubled years in which he helped to steady the ship prior to Baxi's arrival.

Mr Woodhouse, who was also president of Lancaster City, undoubtedly played a major role at Deepdale under the chairmanship of Alan Jones and Keith Leeming and latterly continued to attend games on a regular basis in his position as a vice president of the Club, with many sources indicating that he handed his shares to Baxi at far less than their true value in order to provide the best possible chance for the Club's new owners to prosper.



This is perhaps testified by the stance he showed in a rare comment attributed to him in David Hunt's book, The History Of Preston North End, where he was quoted as saying: "Preston North End is a love of mine - I want to see it succeed."

Chairman Derek Shaw said: "He was a staunch supporter of the Club, putting in a lot of hard work and commitment over a considerable amount of time to improve and make Preston North End the football club that it is today.

"Even though he was spending large amounts of his own money on the Club, he didn't want it made public; he just did because he loved his Club.

"He never sought publicity and he did a tremendous amount of good work for Preston North End that most people will never have heard about."



Shaw's comments were echoed by those of the Lancashire Evening Post's PNE correspondent, Brian Ellis, who always found his requests for interviews politely declined.

"I'm not in it for the publicity," explained Woodhouse after one approach. "I'm just a fan who was able to help."

Malcolm's funeral will take place on Sunday 5th April, 2.30pm, at St Paul's Church, Scotsforth Road, Lancaster, LA1 4ST.