11-04-2017, 08:52
Huddersfield Town v Preston North End
The Sky Bet Championship
Friday April 14th - 15:00 ko
at the John Smith's Stadium
![[Image: public-drum_basic_article-93712-main_ima...1--650.jpg]](http://media-assets-04.thedrum.com/cache/images/thedrum-prod/public-drum_basic_article-93712-main_images-master.59_0--2x1--650.jpg)
A brief history of Preston North End: Founded in 1863, they moved into Deepdale in 1875, their home ever since. They were original members of the Football League in 1888 and were the first champions, retaining the title in the following season, but have never won it since. They were runners up four times before the outbreak of the first world war.
Also in that first league season, they won the FA Cup, thus being the first team to do the double.
Between the war years they played Huddersfield Town in two FA Cup Finals, losing to us in 1922, but then winning it in 1938. This was their last major trophy.
After WW2 they had Tom Finney playing for them, still the club's all time leading scorer, but when he retired, they got relegated to division 2 in 1961 and have not played at the top level since. That's even longer than us.
They reached their last FA Cup Final in 1964, losing to West Ham.
Since then it's been up and down between the three lower leagues, winning the 3rd division twice and the 4th division once.
The last thing they won was the 2015 League One play offs, beating Chesterfield 4-0 on aggregate and then Swindon 4-0 at Wembley.
![[Image: Fleague1.jpg]](http://spartacus-educational.com/Fleague1.jpg)
![[Image: PRESTONmutch2.gif]](http://spartacus-educational.com/PRESTONmutch2.gif)
The Sky Bet Championship
Friday April 14th - 15:00 ko
at the John Smith's Stadium
Huddersfield Town are at home to Preston North End on Good Friday then travel to play Derby County at Pride Park on Easter Monday. And Town will need to win both of them to silence the over reactions on social media, particularly the Examiner website, where some Town fans make us sound like relegation candidates rather than Play Off certainties. They'll both be tough matches no doubt as they're both chasing that final Play Off spot currently held by the Wendies. Fulham are closest, two points behind, whereas Derby (7 points behind) and Preston (8 points behind) will surely be out of the running should we beat either of them.
A brief history of Preston North End: Founded in 1863, they moved into Deepdale in 1875, their home ever since. They were original members of the Football League in 1888 and were the first champions, retaining the title in the following season, but have never won it since. They were runners up four times before the outbreak of the first world war.
Also in that first league season, they won the FA Cup, thus being the first team to do the double.
Between the war years they played Huddersfield Town in two FA Cup Finals, losing to us in 1922, but then winning it in 1938. This was their last major trophy.
After WW2 they had Tom Finney playing for them, still the club's all time leading scorer, but when he retired, they got relegated to division 2 in 1961 and have not played at the top level since. That's even longer than us.
They reached their last FA Cup Final in 1964, losing to West Ham.
Since then it's been up and down between the three lower leagues, winning the 3rd division twice and the 4th division once.
The last thing they won was the 2015 League One play offs, beating Chesterfield 4-0 on aggregate and then Swindon 4-0 at Wembley.
Head to Head
![[Image: 1425.jpg]](https://www.sportspages.com/media/280x280/1425.jpg)
Town lead in the overall head to head with 34 wins to PNE's 33, with 22 draws.
That's a total of 89 meetings between us, making Preston North End one of our most played opponents.
As mentioned earlier, two of those meetings were FA Cup Finals. The first one was in 1922, the only time to date that we have won the FA Cup. We beat PNE at Stamford Bridge 1-0, with the goal coming from the penalty spot, scored by Billy Smith.
The next one was at Wembley Stadium in 1938 and it was a penalty that won it again. This one was in the last minute of extra time, with the score still at 0-0 when the referee awarded Preston a penalty that clearly was outside of the area. George Mutch put it away and Town have never made it to the final since.
Three future Town managers were playing in the match. Eddie Boot of Town and Preston's Andy Beattie and Bill Shankly.
Not many memorable games since, least of all the game at Deepdale earlier this season which PNE won 3-1. Our old boy Tom Clarke was amongst the scorers, before Nahki Wells got a late consolation.
Town lead in the overall head to head with 34 wins to PNE's 33, with 22 draws.
That's a total of 89 meetings between us, making Preston North End one of our most played opponents.
As mentioned earlier, two of those meetings were FA Cup Finals. The first one was in 1922, the only time to date that we have won the FA Cup. We beat PNE at Stamford Bridge 1-0, with the goal coming from the penalty spot, scored by Billy Smith.
The next one was at Wembley Stadium in 1938 and it was a penalty that won it again. This one was in the last minute of extra time, with the score still at 0-0 when the referee awarded Preston a penalty that clearly was outside of the area. George Mutch put it away and Town have never made it to the final since.
Three future Town managers were playing in the match. Eddie Boot of Town and Preston's Andy Beattie and Bill Shankly.
Not many memorable games since, least of all the game at Deepdale earlier this season which PNE won 3-1. Our old boy Tom Clarke was amongst the scorers, before Nahki Wells got a late consolation.
So what's new at Deepdale? Managed nowadays by Simon Grayson, a legend of both clubs having got us both up via the play offs.
Notable players in their squad:- Jermaine Beckford, who's goals helped keep us up when he came on loan from Leicester in the 2012/13 season. Never popular though with many of the Town supporters because of his previous 4 seasons up the road with Leeds United.
He joined Preston in November 2014, initially on loan, but signed permanent after being released by Bolton.
![[Image: article-0-19662514000005DC-810_634x405.jpg]](http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/04/20/article-0-19662514000005DC-810_634x405.jpg)
There are others in their squad who we know about. Tom Clarke is now the club captain. He came through Town's Academy to the first team, making 97 appearances. He got injured quite a lot in that time and was sent out on loan to Halifax, Bradford and Leyton Orient. Eventually he was released by the club in 2013 and joined Preston.
![[Image: _67734996_pa-13295620.jpg]](http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/onesport/cps/480/mcs/media/images/67734000/jpg/_67734996_pa-13295620.jpg)
Line up for match v Leeds:
22 Maxwell
5 Clarke
23 Huntington
27 Baptiste
2 Vermijl
12 Gallagher
4 Pearson
3 Cunningham
14 McGeady
29 Barkhuizen
37 Robinson
Substitutes
1 Lindegaard
7 Horgan
8 Browne
9 Makienok
10 Beckford
11 Johnson
17 Spurr
Alex Baptiste was red carded at Bellend Road and so will be suspended for this one.
Recent Form: Town are 3rd in the league with 74 points and PNE are 9th with 61.
A brief history of Derby County: Formed in 1884, they were one of the founder members of the Football League in 1888. Moved into the Baseball Ground in 1895, finished runners up in 1896 and made it to three FA Cup Finals, losing them all, to Nottingham Forest in 1898, Sheffield Utd in 1898 and then what is still a record defeat in an FA Cup Final in 1903 when they were beaten 6-0 by Bury.
Steve Bloomer played for the club in this era. His is the strange looking statue pitchside at Pride Park. He was sold to Middlesbrough in 1906 and the club got relegated.
A few ups and downs in the inter war years and then straight after the second world war they won their first major trophy, winning the 1946 FA Cup, beating Charlton Athletic in the final. There was not much success though and by 1955 they had been relegated for the first time down to the third division.
They only spent two seasons down there but better things were on their way as in 1967 Brian Clough became their manager. Aided by his faithful assistant Peter Taylor, they were promoted back to the first division in 1969, won their first ever league title in 1972 and reached the semi finals of the European Cup the following season.
Clough was a gobby old so and so though and by October 1973 he had left after a row with the club's directors. However that wasn't the end of the glory years. They won the league title again in 1975, this time under the management of one of Cloughie's players, Dave Mackay.
That was the end though and by 1984 they were back down in the third division again, close to going out of business until they were saved by Robert Maxwell.
He was one of football's dodgiest characters ever, but despite this, Derby were back in the top flight by the end of the decade and finishing as high as fifth.
In 1997, the club left the Baseball Stadium and moved into Pride Park. They played in the Premier League until 2008 when under Paul Jewell they were relegated with a record low number of points.
![[Image: 800_damned_united_blu-ray7.png]](https://s3.amazonaws.com/filmlinc/assets/uploads/img/14/09/800_damned_united_blu-ray7.png)
Brian Clough and Peter Taylor
Head to Head
![[Image: s-l225.jpg]](http://thumbs1.ebaystatic.com/images/g/Q9gAAOSwB09YH1r7/s-l225.jpg)
Derby lead in the overall head to head with 39 wins to Town's 29, with 25 draws.
That's a total of 93 meetings between us, making Derby County one of our most played opponents.
The most recent meeting, back in October, was memorable only for the late winner from Elias Kachunga, who headed home in injury time from a Harry Bunn cross (what chance of another hot Bunn cross this Easter?) to send the crowd wild and David Wagner running down the touchline to celebrate with his players.
We haven't had much joy against Derby since our return to the Championship. That win was only our second victory following our 1-0 win at home in 2012/13 when Danny Ward scored in the first minute. There was a 4-4 draw in 14/15 to scupper their play off hopes. Oscar Gobern opened the scoring for us, equalising after Tom Ince had opened the scoring. Remarkably we were 3-1 up at half time when Mark Hudson put us in the lead and then left back loanee Reece James scored direct from a corner. Derby rallied after the break to level at 3-3 before Nahki Wells put us ahead again. But it wasn't to be as Ince made it 4-4 in the 79th minute.
Our record at Pride Park is terrible with a 100% losing account. Five games, five defeats. That includes the classic FA Cup 5th round encounter back in 1999, when Derby were a top end Premier League club. After a 2-2 draw at the MacAlpine Stadium, with our goals coming from Chris Beech and Marcus Stewart, Beech put us ahead in the replay. We were heading for the quarter finals, but goals from Tony Dorigo and Francesco Baiano (2) gave the Rams the win.
The last win at Derby was over half a century ago, a 4-2 win at the Baseball Ground in 1957/58, but so were our last wins at Newcastle and Norwich. We straightened those two out this season. Can we do the same to Derby?
![[Image: JS102989464.jpg]](http://i3.examiner.co.uk/incoming/article12775719.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/JS102989464.jpg)
"Sacked? Me? No chance!"
So what's new at Pride Park? Managed nowadays by Gary Rowett, a man known for setting up dreary football matches that somehow get the job done. Worked wonders at Birmingham City and is now doing the same at Derby. He took over in March after Steve McClaren and Chris Powell got the boot.
Notable players in their squad:- Jacob Butterfield, was our Player of the Season in 2015. It was his first season with us, signing from Middlesbrough in exchange for the previous Player of the Season, Adam Clayton. In his time with us, he scored some spectacular goals, but the bright lights of Derby and a substantial pay increase tempted him away. Like many others who left us for better things, he is now floundering in our shadow, a pale imitation of the player we had and nowhere near good enough for David Wagner's Barmy Army.
![[Image: JS55783034.jpg]](http://i3.examiner.co.uk/incoming/article8555291.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/JS55783034.jpg)
There are others in their squad who have given us grief in the past. Names like Tom Ince, Will Hughes, Johnny Russell, Matěj Vydra and Bradley Johnson. Add to that the names of Darren Bent and David Nugent it just goes to show how Derby have been under performing this season.
![[Image: 2011179-42219076-640-360.jpg]](http://i.eurosport.com/2017/01/25/2011179-42219076-640-360.jpg)
Line up for match v Birmingham:
1 Carson
12 Baird
6 Keogh
16 Pearce
29 Olsson
18 Butterfield
15 Johnson
4 Bryson
10 Ince
28 Nugent
7 Russell
Substitutes
2 Christie
8 Anya
11 Bent
19 Hughes
20 Camara
23 Vydra
35 Mitchell
Recent Form: Town are 3rd in the league with 74 points and the Rams are 8th with 62.
![[Image: egg-and-mug-4-3238-1475070.jpg]](http://mobile.htafc.com/cms_images/egg-and-mug-4-3238-1475070.jpg)
Happy Easter everybody
He joined Preston in November 2014, initially on loan, but signed permanent after being released by Bolton.
There are others in their squad who we know about. Tom Clarke is now the club captain. He came through Town's Academy to the first team, making 97 appearances. He got injured quite a lot in that time and was sent out on loan to Halifax, Bradford and Leyton Orient. Eventually he was released by the club in 2013 and joined Preston.
Line up for match v Leeds:
22 Maxwell
5 Clarke
23 Huntington
27 Baptiste
2 Vermijl
12 Gallagher
4 Pearson
3 Cunningham
14 McGeady
29 Barkhuizen
37 Robinson
Substitutes
1 Lindegaard
7 Horgan
8 Browne
9 Makienok
10 Beckford
11 Johnson
17 Spurr
Alex Baptiste was red carded at Bellend Road and so will be suspended for this one.
Recent Form: Town are 3rd in the league with 74 points and PNE are 9th with 61.
AND THEN IT'S
Derby County v Huddersfield Town
The Sky Bet Championship
Monday April 17th - 17:00 ko
at Pride Park
![[Image: 5b93fb1feec3a094bebacba55efc9fa4.jpg]](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/5b/93/fb/5b93fb1feec3a094bebacba55efc9fa4.jpg)
The Sky Bet Championship
Monday April 17th - 17:00 ko
at Pride Park
A brief history of Derby County: Formed in 1884, they were one of the founder members of the Football League in 1888. Moved into the Baseball Ground in 1895, finished runners up in 1896 and made it to three FA Cup Finals, losing them all, to Nottingham Forest in 1898, Sheffield Utd in 1898 and then what is still a record defeat in an FA Cup Final in 1903 when they were beaten 6-0 by Bury.
Steve Bloomer played for the club in this era. His is the strange looking statue pitchside at Pride Park. He was sold to Middlesbrough in 1906 and the club got relegated.
A few ups and downs in the inter war years and then straight after the second world war they won their first major trophy, winning the 1946 FA Cup, beating Charlton Athletic in the final. There was not much success though and by 1955 they had been relegated for the first time down to the third division.
They only spent two seasons down there but better things were on their way as in 1967 Brian Clough became their manager. Aided by his faithful assistant Peter Taylor, they were promoted back to the first division in 1969, won their first ever league title in 1972 and reached the semi finals of the European Cup the following season.
Clough was a gobby old so and so though and by October 1973 he had left after a row with the club's directors. However that wasn't the end of the glory years. They won the league title again in 1975, this time under the management of one of Cloughie's players, Dave Mackay.
That was the end though and by 1984 they were back down in the third division again, close to going out of business until they were saved by Robert Maxwell.
He was one of football's dodgiest characters ever, but despite this, Derby were back in the top flight by the end of the decade and finishing as high as fifth.
In 1997, the club left the Baseball Stadium and moved into Pride Park. They played in the Premier League until 2008 when under Paul Jewell they were relegated with a record low number of points.
Brian Clough and Peter Taylor
Head to Head
Derby lead in the overall head to head with 39 wins to Town's 29, with 25 draws.
That's a total of 93 meetings between us, making Derby County one of our most played opponents.
The most recent meeting, back in October, was memorable only for the late winner from Elias Kachunga, who headed home in injury time from a Harry Bunn cross (what chance of another hot Bunn cross this Easter?) to send the crowd wild and David Wagner running down the touchline to celebrate with his players.
We haven't had much joy against Derby since our return to the Championship. That win was only our second victory following our 1-0 win at home in 2012/13 when Danny Ward scored in the first minute. There was a 4-4 draw in 14/15 to scupper their play off hopes. Oscar Gobern opened the scoring for us, equalising after Tom Ince had opened the scoring. Remarkably we were 3-1 up at half time when Mark Hudson put us in the lead and then left back loanee Reece James scored direct from a corner. Derby rallied after the break to level at 3-3 before Nahki Wells put us ahead again. But it wasn't to be as Ince made it 4-4 in the 79th minute.
Our record at Pride Park is terrible with a 100% losing account. Five games, five defeats. That includes the classic FA Cup 5th round encounter back in 1999, when Derby were a top end Premier League club. After a 2-2 draw at the MacAlpine Stadium, with our goals coming from Chris Beech and Marcus Stewart, Beech put us ahead in the replay. We were heading for the quarter finals, but goals from Tony Dorigo and Francesco Baiano (2) gave the Rams the win.
The last win at Derby was over half a century ago, a 4-2 win at the Baseball Ground in 1957/58, but so were our last wins at Newcastle and Norwich. We straightened those two out this season. Can we do the same to Derby?
"Sacked? Me? No chance!"
So what's new at Pride Park? Managed nowadays by Gary Rowett, a man known for setting up dreary football matches that somehow get the job done. Worked wonders at Birmingham City and is now doing the same at Derby. He took over in March after Steve McClaren and Chris Powell got the boot.
Notable players in their squad:- Jacob Butterfield, was our Player of the Season in 2015. It was his first season with us, signing from Middlesbrough in exchange for the previous Player of the Season, Adam Clayton. In his time with us, he scored some spectacular goals, but the bright lights of Derby and a substantial pay increase tempted him away. Like many others who left us for better things, he is now floundering in our shadow, a pale imitation of the player we had and nowhere near good enough for David Wagner's Barmy Army.
There are others in their squad who have given us grief in the past. Names like Tom Ince, Will Hughes, Johnny Russell, Matěj Vydra and Bradley Johnson. Add to that the names of Darren Bent and David Nugent it just goes to show how Derby have been under performing this season.
Line up for match v Birmingham:
1 Carson
12 Baird
6 Keogh
16 Pearce
29 Olsson
18 Butterfield
15 Johnson
4 Bryson
10 Ince
28 Nugent
7 Russell
Substitutes
2 Christie
8 Anya
11 Bent
19 Hughes
20 Camara
23 Vydra
35 Mitchell
Recent Form: Town are 3rd in the league with 74 points and the Rams are 8th with 62.
Happy Easter everybody
.
