PNE have announced that they will give away fans the whole of the Bill Shankly Kop for the games against Blackpool and Newcastle next season.

Both are expected to bring large away followings to Deepdale, with the recently relegated Geordies famed for their tremendous visiting support, while Blackpool sold in excess of 5,000 tickets for April's recent derby when the Club took a similar decision to offer the Seasiders a larger allocation than most visiting clubs.

Home season ticket holders in the Kop have been automatically allocated an equivalent seat in the Alan Kelly Town End for the games that take place on Saturday 21st November (Newcastle) and Saturday 13th February (Blackpool), but each season ticket holder in this stand can request a seat in an alternate area for these games by contacting the ticket office.

PNE's general manager Ben Rhodes has explained that the decision has been taken early in order to allow North End fans affected by the move to plan well in advance.

"We want to let all our fans know about this now, rather than drop it on them a couple of months before the games," he said.

"That way, they can make arrangements with the ticket office in plenty of time to move to another area as they wish.

"We did this three times last season - against Liverpool, Burnley and Blackpool - and for the two Championship games we still had seats left in the home stands, so our fans didn't miss out.

"If Newcastle can bring 6,000 fans and Blackpool around 5,000, it provides useful additional revenue, with the Club allowed to keep the whole of the gate money."