After the decision to grant planning permission for the enabling element of the Ingol project, that will include the development of the club’s new training facility, PNE.Com spoke to supporter John Kelly.
John, who worked tirelessly after the original decision in uniting the fans in their support of the new application by organising the petition that saw over 3,000 signatures within a short space of time, was obviously delighted at the outcome of the Preston City Council Planning Committee’s vote on Thursday afternoon.
He told the official website: “It is a pleasing moment after all the fans came together. I have never seen the fans so united behind one thing at one time. It was mentioned in the meeting about the signatures on the petition being from all over the world and that shows that people care about Preston North End and it doesn’t matter where they live, they are right behind it.
“Hopefully now the club can push on and this can help us bring in the players we need to compete in this division – it shows that if the fans and the club work together, we can get somewhere.”
John and those involved in the fans’ online forum were at the heart of the backing that also saw the Lancashire Post support the club’s ambitions for new facilities and he felt it was a great coming together of everyone connected with PNE.
“The minute we put the petition on, we had five six, seven hundred signatures in a couple of hours. The fans’ forum hasn’t always seen eye to eye with the club on every issue, but this showed that if everyone works together it is for the benefit of the club.
“People can now focus on getting the training ground built, which will help Alex Neil attract new players, being able to show them the plans and push on, so that we can try and get promotion.”