"Never say never." That was Kev Kilbane's answer to whether he could bookend his career with another spell as Deepdale. The One And Only spoke to the Irish legend about his time growing up in the shadow of Deepdale and playing for the club he supports.
Kevin Kilbane's last trip to Bloomfield Road (before last month) was for Tony Ellis' now famous hat-trick back in 1992. The Irish international winger/left back was back on the Seaside acting as Sky's PNE-biased summariser, alongside Simon Grayson, taking up the Tangerines' baton.
The 32-year-old current Hull City player, enjoyed the experience and admitted to The One And Only that it brought back some good memories: "I've not actually sat and watched a Preston-Blackpool game since I was about 15, when I went to Bloomfield Road for the famous 3-2 win in 1992. That was a great game. Myself and I think Chris Borwick and John Callaghan, who signed YTS with me, went to the game and it was a fantastic game for us. But it was nice to go back and watch another derby.
"We got a little bit of stick from both sides in the gantry! But I think Simon Grayson took the heat off me, he was getting more stick than I was. He was getting it from both sides, so it was quite funny and I think the supporters all enjoyed it.
"I have always followed Preston from the time I left. I have not been to too many games, but I always look for the results. When they are on TV I will watch them, when I can. I have been to a few games over the years and it is a good club. What they have achieved over the years has been really good and they probably now look at what has happened at Burnley and think 'that is where we want to be'. We have come so close on a couple of occasions and it has not quite happened, but I am sure, like every Preston supporter, I hope they can very soon get back into the top flight."
Kilbane, born at Sharoe Green hospital in February 1977, looks back fondly on growing up as a PNE supporter and joining the club he supported: "I am very proud of my roots. It was great to play for Preston. I supported the club as a boy and played for the first team as well and it is certainly very proud to look back and of my time at Deepdale.
"One of my first memories of the club was my dad taking me when I was very young. I don't remember the game, but I was about five-years-old. My dad knew of the stewards and we got on at half-time, for the second half of the game.
"I started going to the games regularly from about the age of 11 through to 16. I went to a lot of the home games when the Astroturf was down. I was a ballboy for the promotion season under John McGrath, when I was at St Gregory's primary school [just across the road from Deepdale]. It was nice to have that success that year and be involved as a ballboy.
"My heroes as a boy were Paul McGrath and Chris Waddle and out of the Preston side it was always Brian Mooney. His ability on the Astroturf was quite frightening. He was a great player when I was growing up, but sadly he'd left in the late 80's, long before I signed as a YT."
Whilst his brother Farrell was also on the road to signing for the Club, growing up across the road from the stadium as a pupil at St Gregory's school, he owed a lot to one of his teachers: "When I was St Gregory's Keith Aspinall [a teacher at St Gregory's - his son Michael, a teacher at Queens Drive now runs the ballboys!] used to run the ballboys and myself and Chris Borwick, who also signed professional with me, both grew up together and went to that school.
"Keith brought us down and got us involved with Preston's U12s, that was my first involvement with the club. We were probably a couple of years below that age group and it all happened from there. David Lucas came from the same Primary School and Keith got him down as well.
"We used to have the school of excellence on the old cinder track pitches behind the old Town End and we used to train every Thursday night with Peter Warburton. When I was 14 it was touch and go whether Preston were going to keep me on, on schoolboy terms, but Peter Warburton had a lot of faith in me and he put in a very strong word to the powers that be and I signed schoolboy terms and only really started to develop after I was 14.
"We were then quite lucky at our high school, Corpus Christie. There was Paul McMenemy, John Callaghan and Chris Borwick who were all in the same year as me at school and we all signed YTS forms together. That was very pleasing for me, to have three of my friends with me. It made it easy for us all to go down and start our new lives at the football club. It was a bit nerve-wracking at first, but it was a great experience and it was probably two of my best years in football - it was really enjoyable.
"Sam Allardyce signed us all at 16. He was brilliant to work with. He was fair to us all; hard but fair. I don't think anyone wanted to cross him, he had that streak where you didn't want to upset him, but he was an excellent coach for us all and guided us on the right path. We only worked with him for a year because he then went on to be Blackpool manager, but it was a fantastic year and we all acknowledged how good a coach he was.
"I remember my debut. It was down at Torquay in October 1995. I had travelled and was on the bench. I was playing a lot of reserve team football earlier on in the season and I travelled not knowing if I would be on the bench, but I went on when we were either three or four nil up for the last 15 minutes [replacing Graeme Atkinson] and it was a great game. It was nice to have such a good win on my debut.
"It was a good time to get involved with the first team. I was around some really good players and characters at that time. David Moyes was still playing at that time, Ian Bryson was captain and we had Andy Saville and Steve Wilkinson up front - real characters throughout the squad. That definitely helped, as I was around the sort of players who helped to get me on the right path and teaching me good habits. They taught me how to behave as a footballer and I developed from there.
"It was a great time for the football club and was the start of where Preston are right now. We were in the bottom tier, or certainly the bottom two tiers, for too long. It was always up and down and something needed to be done and it seemed from that season onwards that the Club was really going places. For me in my first season, to win the championship was unbelievable really. It is still the only medal that I have got of significance in my career. To win a medal like that in my first season, you begin to think that you are going to get that every season, but I found out it is not quite that easy to be winning championships, no matter what level you play at."
Kilbane moved on to West Brom in June 1997 for a club record deal worth £1.25m, but retained his Preston links when he moved to Everton and got the chance to work with the current PNE boss: "I really enjoyed working with Alan. I worked one-on-one with him when he was at Everton. He was a winger too and knew the sort of traits and skills wingers tried to do and he was great to work with like that.
"He probably always wanted to go into management, it was probably his secret desire. Preston were in a bit of a lull when he took over, so it was difficult for him, especially considering the success they had had under David Moyes and Billy Davies. It was always going to be difficult for Paul Simpson to reach the success of the previous managers, but Alan came in and lifted the club again. They are just out of the Play-Offs at the moment and are ready to kick-on again and hopefully get into the Play-Offs again."
He has now made 101 appearances for Ireland, more than 50 consecutively, something that began before he left Deepdale: "I always wanted to play for Ireland as a boy, even though I was born in Preston. When I was selected to play for the Irish U21s that was probably the proudest moment of my career and then when I was selected for the senior side, again it was a really really proud moment. To have played so many times for them is great for me and something I am really proud of.
"When I first got into the squad Alan Kelly was around. Alan was also a Preston lad and we went to the same primary school and he was a really good friend when I first got into the squad. He helped me out a lot and then over the years there have been many Preston connections as the years have gone on. Sean St. Ledger has come in and done very well for us and I am sure Eddie Nolan, over the next few years, will prove what a good player he is as well. It is nice that we have that Preston connection with Ireland."
Finally, looking forward, 'Killer' still has plenty of fuel left in his tank and is not ruling out a return to Deepdale one day: "You can never say never. I genuinely don't know where I'll end up; the powers that be will decide that over the coming years. You don't know where you are going to be or what club is going to be interested in you, but I'll just keep enjoying my football and see what happens over the next few years."
You can buy back copies of all this season's programmes on MyPNE.com for £3 p&p. Remember to snap up your Boxing Day edition from around the ground or by pre-order on MyPNE.com next week as well.
