Preston North End

It has been quite the journey for Alan Browne since he joined the club as a teenager from Cork City.

The midfielder had been training with PNE prior to the switch and signed an 18-month contract on 1st January 2014.

Browne made his debut for North End in a 3-1 win over Peterborough United at Deepdale and scored his first goal for the Lilywhites in April 2014’s 6-1 thrashing of Carlisle United.

Overall, the youngster played in nine games for PNE during the 2013/14 season.

Browne has progressed well since that debut season and was a first half substitute in the Play-Off final against Swindon Town at Wembley, making 32 appearances for the Lilywhites in 2014/15.

After an impressive first season in the Championship with North End during the 2015/16 campaign, Browne picked up the both the club’s and the fans’ Young Player of the Year awards.

Browne made 35 appearances the following season, but it was the next campaign that showed even more progress from the promising midfielder under manager Alex Neil. 

The Irishman scored an impressive nine goals from midfield and was a key player as North End finished the season in seventh place in the Championship. 

His impressive displays throughout the season were rewarded when he collected three end of season awards, winning Player of the Year, Players' Player of the Year and Goal of the Season. 

Browne built on his goalscoring tally in the 2018/19 season, ending the campaign as the club's second highest goalscorer with 12 in total and picked up the Goal of the Season award for the second successive year.

Although his goalscoring figures were not recreated over the next two terms, his contribution to the squad certainly did not lessen, and as senior members such as Tom Clarke began to depart, Browney was handed the club captaincy. 

In the 2021/22 season, the Irishman made sure his name would go down in the club's history books, as he became the 27th man to play 300 times or more for Preston North End, reaching that milestone in a home victory over Coventry City.

400 was soon the goal and he became only the 13th man, and the second-youngest, to reach that milestone on 27th January 2024.

The midfielder's performances haven't gone unnoticed by the Republic of Ireland national team, with Browne called up regularly to the senior squad after representing his country at U21 level previously. 

He scored his first goal for his country in a friendly against Bulgaria in 2019, before doubling his account with a great header against Serbia in a World Cup Qualifier.