For North End fans of a certain age, one of the greatest memories of facing Swansea, will be the 1964 FA Cup semi-final at Villa Park.
It was 14th March of that year and 68,000 crammed into the home of Aston Villa to see the Lilywhites take on Swansea Town, as they were then called.
It was two second division (now Championship) sides who met that day, with the winner going on to face West Ham United and all its future World Cup winners in the Final at Wembley.
Under Trevor Morris’ guidance, the Swans had triumphed over Barrow, Sheffield United, Stoke City and in the quarter-final former PNE legend Bill Shankly’s Liverpool - who went on to win the first division title that same season - to set up the tie with PNE.
The Swans had delivered a 5–1 to North End Vetch Field earlier that season, but it was to be a different outcome on neutral ground.
Despite the fact a number of league games were postponed that same day, due to torrential downpours, the match went ahead. Swansea won the toss, and even under the adverse conditions started the stronger team. A professional foul a yard outside the penalty area prevented Keith Todd from putting the Swans a goal up after five minutes
But their fast open play and first half dominance over North End prevailed on the brink of half-time when Northern Irish striker, Jim McLaughlin, swivelled and hit a low shot into the far corner.
However, the Welshmen's superiority was short-lived. PNE came out after half-time a much stronger, more organised and more attacking team.
They were awarded a penalty 53 minutes into the game which brought them level, Alex Dawson dispatching confidently past Noel Dwyer and with only 15 minutes left on the clock, centre half Tony Singleton scored a superb goal from nearly 40 yards to give the Lilywhites the advantage.
As the game drew to a close Swansea’s attempts at a come-back proved futile - North End had locked and barred the door and nothing could get through and they would go on to a memorable day out in London.