"I'm Preston North End rather than Manchester United if I'm absolutely honest," answered England Rugby Union captain Steve Borthwick in a newspaper interview earlier this year. The One And Only found out more about his love for PNE in an exclusive interview for the Crystal Palace programme.
It could have all been so different had Mr Borthwick not moved to Preston from Carlisle in 1989, but thankfully they made the move south and now we can include a genuinely world class sports star into the PNE fanbase.
"I moved to Preston in 1989 and that's when I started going on in the old West stand and then we moved from there with a group of mates to the Town End as that became more popular, not long after the trumpeter moved there.
"I remember when crowds were pretty low, but then John Beck came and got the supporters behind the team and the crowd started increasing and that's when we all started going onto the Town End which was great and really enjoyable and we were always there."
And the 30-year-old is probably not the only North End fan of that generation to recall one of the great Deepdale nights of the mid-1990s.
"I remember the Play-Off semi-final against Torquay and we won 4-3 on aggregate and I remember they had a free-kick in front of the Town End in the last minute and I was thinking they'd better not score and fortunately they didn't."
North End subsequently qualified for the Play-Off Final at Wembley and the 6'6" lock explained how he had been reminded of that day recently.
"I had a great opportunity to play at the new Wembley in a rugby game a month or so ago for Saracens against Northampton and I was doing the interviews and things and I hadn't been to the new one, however. I said the last time I'd been to the old stadium was to support Preston North End.
"I do remember this exodus from Preston down to Wembley that day and you stopped at every service station and there were buses and buses of people all dressed in white supporting Preston. It was an incredible atmosphere and I always think there was a great camaraderie among Preston fans."
At that time Borthwick was establishing himself as a very talented young rugby player destined for stardom and would go on to reach the quarter-finals of the Daily Mail Schools Cup (the national schools rugby competition) with Hutton Grammar School. And he explained how he had a helping hand on that journey by a certain former PNE physio.
"I remember doing some training when I was getting ready for an England schoolboys game with Mick Rathbone the old physio and he did some fitness with me and that was when the Finney Stand had just opened and I was doing sprints up and down the staircases of that stand."
Soon after the initial opening of the Sir Tom Finney Stand in January 1996 PNE won the Third Division Championship under the leadership of Gary Peters and it was certainly not an occasion the current Saracens captain was going to miss.
"I remember when we got promotion in 1996 and going on one of the supporters' buses and seeing them get promoted and that was fantastic, as were the celebrations on the flag market when you couldn't move. The players went on the open top bus, it was fabulous to support the team like that, the way the town gets behind the team is great and there's always a great camaraderie among the Preston fans."
The Town End was the place to be as far as atmosphere was concerned and like most supporters trying to find their way to their fellow fans Borthwick followed a system which may strike a chord with supporters of that era.
"There was always a big crowd of people I'd go with and everyone would get together and you'd have your number where everyone stood and go two thirds of the way back and everyone would gradually filter back."
Almost ten years later Borthwick would be able to call on the widespread North End fanbase when watching PNE at the Millenium stadium but admits that he has yet to meet another North End supporting rugby star.
"There are a fair amount of Preston supporters around and each time I've watched a Play-Off Final I've found some to watch with. For the Play-Off final in 2005 I'd had an operation on my shoulder the day before so I was in quite a bit of pain so I didn't go and I went to the local places in Bath that had it on. It's a real rugby town is Bath, but it turned out there were two or three North End fans in the pub there as well to watch it. You do bump into Preston fans, but they don't tend to be in rugby circles I'm afraid."
Borthwick is one of a number of former Preston Grasshoppers to represent England and moved on to play for Bath in 1998 while studying for a degree at the town's university. And before asking about the links between football and rugby The One And Only wondered if he'd ever played much of the round ball game as a youngster.
"I played on the old plastic pitch with my boys team Hesketh Bank as a kid which was a great thrill. But I soon realised I wasn't actually that good and decided to concentrate on rugby and support football. I just didn't have the talent, the things these guys can do with a ball is incredible, I was never particularly skilled, but tried my very best as a centre half, but decided my strengths fitted better to football. Given my size it was the best position to play, but I was possibly a bit too big. But as a kid to watch North End play and then play on the plastic was a great thrill."
Ice baths, prozone and many more technical advances have made football a changed game nowadays and the former nominee for Zurich Premiership player of the year was quick to point to the impact football has had on rugby.
"Down at Saracens a couple of weeks ago one of the Blackburn Rovers conditioning staff was down there and he was sharing information with us and we saw what techniques are used and while they are often very different there is some crossover in terms of preparation and in terms of how the science works behind it.
"Everyone's looking for that edge and even in terms of software systems there is a fair amount of similarity in terms of the systems that are used. Usually things are in football first before coming to rugby like the old prozone stuff and GPS systems and heart rate monitoring.
"We're always looking to advance things, but obviously there are many differences. There is that crossover, usually sportsmen are really competitive people who want to work hard to get success and absolutely love winning on the pitch and those traits, whether in football, rugby and other sports, are the same."
The physical and mental challenge of playing sport is also the same and the 50 cap England star was respectful of what the modern day professional footballer puts his body through.
"The challenges a footballer faces is incredible; they play twice a week, rugby stays to once a week. Football has its challenges and I have a lot of respect for the work they do and the pressures from outside. There's massive exposure to the game, massive TV interest and massive numbers watch it and there's obviously great pressures on the players.
"The distances they run in a game is immense and speed they cover the ground and the skill levels they have is awe-inspiring - I've got a lot of respect for them. I think it's phenomenal what they can achieve. Football is so competitive and it's so hard for guys to do so well.
"We try to have a kick around as a warm-up for the game, but usually it turns into long ball tactics and late tackles and it degenerates into a rugby game. I'm not sure how many of us would stay on the pitch if we played it! But it's very rarely that the football comes out and is a bit of a reward for us to enjoy to do something other than rugby, sportsmen are sportsmen though and they can get carried away."
But should North End achieve what every lilywhite wants and gets promotion to the Premier League then there's every chance of him getting a bit carried away.
"I only get back once or twice a year because every weekend we've got games, unfortunately the games clash quite a lot. I follow them in the papers, the website and on TV there have been a couple of games as well so I support from a distance, but they're the first team I look for in terms of results.
"Quite a few of my mates are still there and they still go on to watch Preston North End, it's a great club to support and doing well this season and hopefully this can be the season when we go up."
We've got more big names from the world of sport in the Newcastle programme so make sure you pre-order your copy next week for just £3 (plus p&p) from MyPNE.com. You can also order any back editions from this season on our online merchandise site as well.
