Although we first faced today’s opponents in 1894, it was not until 1948 that we played against Birmingham City.
This is because for our first eight meetings with the Bluenoses, they were then named Small Heath after the area of Birmingham in which they were formed in.
They became Birmingham in 1905 and did not add ‘City’ to their title until 1943, so it was not until 1949 that Birmingham City made their first visit to Deepdale.
In their various guises, this is the 42nd time the club have appeared here, but despite winning that first game 1-0, they have only won on four further occasions. We have recorded an amazing 25 wins and 12 draws, outscoring our visitors by 80 goals to 36.
There have only been four goalless matches and quite a few high-scoring results, none more so than our 8-0 win in 1958, which remains our third highest league win ever.
The last time we played Birmingham here before they added the ‘City’ to their title, we won 5-0 and we also had successive 4-1 wins in 1968 and 1969. We lost 3-2 in 1923 and our most recent loss was by 2-0 in 2001.
Andy Saville was our leading scorer in our 1996 Championship side with 30 goals, having joined from Birmingham City where he had spent three seasons. Andy played 66 times for North End and made one less appearance for the Blues, but made a lasting impression at both clubs.
Despite being a regular goalscorer for North End with 17 goals in 38 appearances, Eddy Brown left Deepdale in 1950 and after spells with Southampton and Coventry City, he ended up at St Andrews in 1954. Over the next five seasons, Eddy scored 90 goals for the Blues in only 185 games and after retiring following a spell in London with Leyton Orient, he returned to Preston as a teacher at the town’s Catholic College in Winckley Square.
On This Date
Recent Wigan Athletic manager and former North End midfielder Warren Joyce marks his 53rd birthday today, whilst two notable former players made the debuts on this date in previous years.
Warren signed for PNE from Bolton Wanderers in 1987, having followed his father Walter into professional football. An attacking midfielder, Warren occasionally played as a striker during his four and half years at Deepdale and scored 44 goals in his 210 appearances. He spent a season at Plymouth before returning to his native north west a year later when he signed for Burnley and finished his playing career at Hull City before taking up an equally successful coaching career.
Centre half Graham Hawkins played the first of his 269 games for North End in a 2-0 defeat at Queens Park Rangers.
He spent six years at Deepdale, during which time he captained our third division championship winning side in 1970/71. Graham later moved to Blackburn before returning to his original hometown club Wolves, first as manager and later as chairman.
Teuvo ‘Tepi’ Moilanen donned the gloves for the first time as a North End player in a goalless draw at Lincoln City in 1996, where his team-mates included Andy Saville. Amongst that season’s promotion side. He is now back in Finland working in education in Tampere, where he previously played for FC Ilves.
Last Five Games At Deepdale
Preston North End 2 (Robinson, Hugill) Birmingham City 1 (Adams), 14th February 2017
Preston North End 1 (Reach) Birmingham City 1 (Morrison), 15th December 2015
Preston North End 1 (Parkin) Birmingham City 0, 13th December 2008
Preston North End 1 (Whaley) Birmingham City 0, 6th May 2007
Preston North End 1 (Purse, og) Birmingham City 0, 2nd March 2002