For my sins, I have been a lifelong Preston North End fan and have been attending Deepdale regularly since 1978. I have walked up and down Moor Park which is opposite the stadium countless times commuting to the matches. I for many years lived in the Withytrees area in Fulwood and the inbuilt Sat Nav would kick in at 2.40 on a Saturday and off I would trot to the ground.
Moor Park being the location of Prestonian Tom Benson’s famous walks in the 80’s, Tom was an endurance walker who became the world record holder by covering 314 miles non-stop around the perimeter of the park. He was an unsung hero who also undertook the walks for charity, a fine man and there is a street named after him in the city.
Being a proud Preston lad, I would obviously always advocate the local cuisine. Thus, when living at Lane Ends opposite the city’s best bakery Deans a pre-match snack would be a hot Butter Pie, teacake (barmcake!) and almond slice whilst watching Football Focus which set me up in good stead for the rest of the day!
As you may have gleaned from earlier blogs, I am a numbers person and I always thought it was likely that I would achieve the 1000 figure in football matches prior to attending 1000 gigs. However due to my gig attendance increasing exponentially in the last few years, it now appears I will hit the gig landmark first. My third target is for a century of blood donations thus the current totals as at April 21 stand at Football 967, Gigs 940 and Bloods 91, so hope to complete the triumvirate of these milestones by 2023.
Now I could wax lyrical about all the great games I have witnessed at Deepdale but this is a music blog so I shall refrain from that approach!
Periodically there have been musical performances either prior to or at half time in the matches. One of those was a pre-famous Russell ‘The Voice’ Watson who belted out a couple of tunes including a rousing version of Nessun Dorma prior to a game against Man City around the turn of the century. As he is a Man United fan he was somewhat predictably booed from the away end of the ground.
As I am now living in Manchester, I have been occasionally been asked if I am a Red or a Blue and my reply is that I am a White from the Home of Football (let us not forget PNE are the original Invincibles!) which confuses them immensely.
The other performance was from local legends Lancashire Hotpots who performed at half time around 2008 and obviously included the North West National Anthem ‘Chippy Tea’ in their short set with the refrain ‘I don’t want Lobster Thermadore or your Raspberry Coulis, I’m a working man from Lancashire and I wants a Chippy Tea’.
Deepdale is an old-fashioned ground in that two sides are surrounded by residential houses and not in a soulless industrial estate like many new grounds. However, the nearby pubs have gradually dwindled over the years resulting in losing the Deepdale, Withytrees, Old England, Garrison and the original jewel in the crown the Sumners!
Located just outside the ground was Legends nightclub which is now where the Club shop stands. It was a dingy scuzzy venue that I attended a few times to play on the snooker tables. Unbeknownst to me, they very occasionally had gigs there. I remember John Dewhurst telling me he once rather astonishingly saw PJ Harvey there. I just adore the tales of future big names playing in these kind of backwater venues. I wonder what the subsequent Mercury Prize winner made of the place!
There was a two-storey indoor market hall in the centre of town for many years which I used to frequent regularly, where amongst other items I could purchase my fruit and veg, have keys cut or buy cheap misshaped chocolates. I also used to buy gig tickets and LP’s from House of Records located in the complex. The market was sadly demolished a few years ago.
Alongside the indoor market the outdoor market stretched from the top of Orchard Street up to Lancaster Road where the Great Times Chinese restaurant stood for many years. This recently went through a regeneration where they created a new smaller indoor market space with a new craft beer venue called the Orchard Bar located there.
Prior to this regeneration on a Sunday in July 1999 the Outdoor Market was the location for an event named Summerfest. They erected a temporary stage where a few local bands played. On the bill were Steve Parriss, Flatline, Bridge and Treehouse 3.