In Saturday’s edition of The One And Only, cult PNE hero Andy Saville speaks about his hat-trick against the O’s and winning promotion at Brisbane Road.
The bald-headed front man was the spearhead of North End’s attack in 1996, his 30-plus goals helping the Lilywhites to the third division title and he told the matchday programme that it was ‘the best season of his career’.
He also looked back and remembered the influence of the fans, something he believes can be vital again in 2014: “The fans played a huge part in our promotion,” he said. “When people say the fans are the 12th man, they were not exaggerating that season.
“We had a great following all over the country. Even if we went through a bit of a sticky patch, they were still behind us, week in, week out. They are quite knowledgeable, Preston supporters. I have been to a lot of clubs and they seem to know their football at Deepdale. They are not quick to get on players backs and start booing team, so they were a massive help in us gaining promotion that season.
“If you are going through a sticky patch and you lose a couple of games, if the supporters are still with you and you know they will be with you through thick and thin, getting behind the team, it gives you a great lift and it gives you confidence as well. It can work the other way; if supporters are getting on your back, it adds to the pressure and you start making mistakes and the bad run that you are in seems to continue, but when you have supporters with you, like the crowd at Preston, cheering you on, it gives you extra confidence and they were there through everything in 1996 and played a big part in us gaining promotion.”
You can read much more from ‘Sav’ in Saturday’s matchday programme, where there is also an extended interview with the most recent acquisition and fellow forward, Craig Davies, who says the PNE fans are still to see the best of him.
Alongside that we have interviews with Lee Holmes, Steven James, Chris Humphrey and Kevin Davies talks us through the best XI players he has played with throughout his distinguished career.
Also included are 13 pages of content about Saturday’s visitors Leyton Orient, included a look back to when Russell Slade set up a Wembley encounter with Simon Grayson in our ‘his best day’ feature.
And we also have our latest column from WWE Superstar and North End fantatic Wade ‘Bad News’ Barrett, who has nothing but good news for PNE fans as he looks back at some of his favourite players for the Club.
All this and much, much more packed into 84 perfect bound pages, on sale from Friday afternoon at the Club’s ticket and retail store and then on matchday inside and outside the ground for just £3.
Don’t forget; The One And Only is now available to download on your iPhone and iPad via the Matchday Digital app.
The Matchday Digital App allows you to view the North End programme anytime, anywhere. You can make one-off purchases or take out a season pass so you are subscribed to the whole season. If you can’t make the game, simply download the programme on the Matchday Digital app and be part of the game.
The slick digital version comes with all the content you would have in the printed programme, but with added features including:
• Programmes available to fans any time, anywhere
• Download back copies from past games
• Programmes will be made available for purchase worldwide
• Easy to use curl or slide ‘turn page’ technology
• Keyword search taking you straight to a particular player or feature
• Pinch screen feature to zoom into articles or images
• Add articles to Facebook or Twitter via the social media feature
• The Matchday Digital app is free to download on to your iPhone/iPad.
Preston North End supporters can download an individual issue at £2.99 or take out a season pass for £49.99.
Download the Matchday Digital app on your iPhone or iPad for free now by clicking on the below iTunes App Store icon. Alternatively simply go to the iTunes App store on your iPhone/iPad and search for ‘Matchday Digital’.