My first ever visit to Deepdale was back in '84 and coincided with my first "plastic pitch" experience. We easily won 3-0 but it was a horrible game and resembled a practice match with the ball played almost entirely on the ground. Thankfully those pitches didn't stay around for long and we got back to playing the game as it should be played, on grass.
Another memory from that game was from the Preston fans and what a horrible lot they were. I was sat with other Miller's fans in the stand that spread the length of the pitch and it reminded me of our main stand at Millmoor. At the final whistle we stood and clapped our triumphant team off the pitch. I was on the front row and we were looking down on Preston fans who were making their way out after what for them had been a terrible result. Most just gave us a dodgy look but there were others who took pleasure in shouting abuse and worse still, spitting upwards in our direction. Horrible disgusting behaviour.
I've been to Deepdale on three occasions since and not seen any trouble, and unfortunately not seen us win either. Our overall record against Preston is good and we've had the lion's share of results over the years. I'm expecting another tough game but with our current form we could very easily win this. On the other hand (Jekyll and Hyde syndrome), we could easily show another mediocre performance and lose this one. Such is football. Anyway I'm going to sit on the fence and predict ... Preston North End .. 1 .. 1 .. Rotherham United
