This weekend’s edition of The One And Only matchday programme sees defender Andrew Hughes as the cover star.
Little did a teenage Andrew Hughes realise that, as his then Newport side faced Luton Town in non-league in 2011, he would be clashing with Hatters again a decade later in the Championship.
At that time, the defender was racking up the games for the Exiles, having signed for them following his release from Cardiff City aged 15.
He made his debut in the Conference South aged 16 and helped Newport win promotion all the way to the EFL via Wembley, amassing around 150 games for them at a tender age.
Now the 28-year-old has more than 300 professional games under his belt and football is a bit more serious as a more experienced head needed to help North End climb the Championship table.
“I guess as a teenager you are just rocking up and playing, you never imagine where you will be in ten years’ time,” said Andrew, who has a contract until 2022 with PNE.
“I was playing for Newport full-time and had no commitments, I was living at home so I had my family and mates around me so I never really thought about the future, it was quite easy for me as I had the best of both worlds.
“I remember playing Luton in the Conference and they were too big a club to be there, they still had seven or 8,000 fans at games and it was always a big game because of the size of the club.
“I guess we have both climbed up now. To say I have now played over 300 games, it’s gone so fast.
“It’s a bit frustrating for me at the moment as I played a lot of games for Newport and then moved to Peterborough where I played 104 games in two seasons.
“I had never had any serious injuries except the ACL injury at Newport in 2014 which kept me out for a while although I was lucky as I still lived at home to help me to get through that as, if I had been away from home, I think I would have struggled. I had distractions.
“Then, since I have come to North End, I have had niggles. My first season was good but my second season I had a hamstring injury, a hip flexor injury, an ankle injury and a fractured foot which limited me.
“This season started well, but I have suffered two shoulder injuries. The first was when I was pushed into an advertising hoarding against Birmingham in the beginning of January and then, against Millwall, I jumped for a ball and the striker nudged me and I fell awkwardly and injured my other shoulder. I am having injections for that.
“It’s frustrating as a big part of my game is jumping up and heading the ball and, obviously, I need my shoulders to propel myself, but it’s one of those things and I would rather it be my shoulders than a hamstring strain. I am hoping they both clear up quickly.
“I don’t know if the niggles are the fact I am getting older and playing a lot of football, the level I am at or just plain bad luck.”
There’s loads more from the Lilywhites’ No.16, plus interviews with Ben Whiteman, Sepp van den Berg, Greg Cunningham and former loanee winger Aiden McGeady in Saturday’s programme and you can order your 84-pager now – just click here to get yours or to order any missing back copies from the season.
This weekend’s commentary team at Deepdale will see Jonathan Breeze joined by former Lilywhites striker Brett Ormerod on iFollow PNE – you can sign up now for an iFollow PNE match pass, just click here now to purchase your for £10, with coverage beginning at approximately 2.30pm.