Cardiff City travel up from the Welsh capital for the 44th league meeting at Deepdale, since their first visit in 1922, and history suggests there might be goals in today’s game.
The 2015 goalless draw was only the third here in those 43 previous games and we have scored 109 goals whilst conceding 47.
Amongst our big wins, we have scored four goals on three occasions, five goals once, together with six and seven goals twice each. However, the stand out match was the final game of 1966, when hat-tricks from Ernie Hannigan and Welshman Brian Godfrey contributed to a 9-0 victory. This is still our second highest score in a league match and it was the first time we had scored nine goals in a competitive game since beating Burton Swifts 9-2 in the FA Cup in 1893 (although we did score 18 the following season against Reading!).
We were 5-0 up at half-time and seemed to take pity on our visitors until a burst of four further goals in a ten minute spell hinted we might reach double figures. That four goal blast included possibly the quickest ever hat-trick by a North End player, with all Godfrey’s goals coming in only five minutes of play.
On This Date
Barry Siddall, whose 63rd birthday it is on Tuesday, only made one appearance for North End, but what a memorable one it was. New manager John Beck was in charge for the first time for the home game versus Port Vale in December 1992, but there was a goalkeeper crisis on the morning of the match, with all the available keepers ill or injured.
Barry was playing for Northwich Victoria after a 20 year career in the Football League, during which he had made 721 appearances including nearly a hundred for Port Vale. He answered the call to fill in, but probably wished he hadn’t.
In only the first minute, he fumbled a shot on the plastic pitch to gift Vale the lead, only for North End to equalise three minutes later. However, things got much worse in the second half and we ended up losing 5-2 after a less than inspiring performance between the posts from the 38-year-old stand in. Not the best way to end a distinguished career, but certainly a memorable conclusion.
Left back Dean Barrick made his debut on this date in 1995, whilst Stevie May and Eoin Doyle made their first North End appearances two years ago today as substitutes in a 2-1 home defeat to Derby County.
We have played 14 home games on this date, winning 11, drawing 1 and losing only 2. The highest scoring match saw us overcome Sunderland 5-3 in 1896, whilst we have scored four goals at home on this date on four other occasions.
Last Five Clashes At Deepdale
Preston North End 3 (Clarke, Robinson, Hugill) Cardiff City 0, 13th Sept 2016
Preston North End 0 Cardiff City 0, 17th Oct 2015
Preston North End 0 Cardiff City 1 (Whittingham), 25th Apr 2011 Preston
North End 3 (Parkin, 2; Brown) Cardiff City 0, 27th Feb 2010
Preston North End 6 (Mellor 2; Parkin, Kennedy (og), Brown, Williamson) Cardiff City 0, 18th Apr 2009