He’s now made his home in Peterborough, but former Preston midfielder Ricky Heppolette tells The One And Only that his first love will always be the Lilywhites.
Heppolette, now 64, joined the Lilywhites at just 15-years-old as an apprentice in the mid-1960s, just after the Club's FA Cup Final defeat to West Ham United.
He spent six years at Deepdale and admits he enjoyed the physical side of the game, telling the matchday programme in an exclusive interview: "It was natural really.
"I loved the times when you mixed it and got stuck in and that was part of my game, I enjoyed that, I enjoyed the running about, I enjoyed the heading, I loved the tackling and it was natural. Was I proud? Yes, I am always proud."
Looking back on his time at Deepdale, Heppolette speaks of the Club with great passion and admits he still has friends in the city as a result of his affiliation with Preston North End.
"Your first love is always your best love," he said. "Preston taught me how to do everything, taught me how to behave as a footballer, what to do, how to walk, to talk, to enjoy everything about it.
"It was wonderful because we were fit and healthy, we didn't get paid lots of money, but we did work really hard and I used to love the physical side, I loved being fit.
"I just loved everything about it, it was great because it was the first love, everything was new and it was just so exciting.
"Preston was a lovely place, everything was great, I had good, good friends and I've still got good, good friends at Preston."
To read more from Ricky, including an explanation of why he only played six games after moving to Peterborough, pick up a copy of Tuesday’s edition of The One And Only.
There’s also an extended interview with assistant manager Glynn Snodin, plus the management staff of John Dreyer, Alan Kelly and manager Simon Grayson all take part in our regular features Desert Island Discs; First, Last, Everything and My Best XI.
We also have all our usual features, including 13 pages of content about Tuesday night’s visitors, all packed into 84 perfect bound pages, on sale from Tuesday from the ticket and retail store and online 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.
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Preston North End supporters can download an individual issue at £2.99 or take out a season pass for £49.99.
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