West Lancashire derby

In 1912–13, Preston won the Division Two championship (and fellow Lancastrians Burnley were also promoted) while Blackpool finished bottom of the table. The Seasiders, however, were successful in their re-application to the League.

On 4 May 1921, Blackpool played a benefit match against Preston, with the proceeds going to the widow of Seasiders defender Horace Fairhurst, who died in February after suffering on-field head injury, and to the children of his partner at full-back, Bert Tulloch, whose wife had died the same weekend as Fairhurst.^[7]

It was until November 1925, at the sixth attempt, that Blackpool recorded their first home success against Preston. A brace by Bert Fishwick, together with a goal by Billy Meredith, gave the Seasiders a 3–1 victory.^[8]

Between 1946 and 1961, the derby took place in the top flight of English football for all but two seasons, with both clubs playing in the

A record attendance at Bloomfield Road was set for the 9 October 1954 meeting of the two clubs. 36,204 witnessed a 2–1 victory for the visitors.[8]

On 29 October 1955, in a 6–2 victory for Preston North End, George Farm became one of the few goalkeepers to score a goal. He injured a shoulder and replaced Jackie Mudie at centre-forward, where he proceeded to open the scoring with his head.^[8]

Blackpool ruined Preston North End's Christmas of 1958 with a festive double in the space of twenty-four hours. The Seasiders inflicted a 4–2 Christmas Day defeat on their neighbours at Bloomfield Road. When the two sides met again, on Boxing Day at Deepdale, the visitors were 3–0 victors.^[8]

During the first half of a friendly between the two clubs on 15 August 1966 came the news that

One of the most significant West Lancashire derbies took place on 13 April 1970, at Deepdale. Blackpool won the Second Division match 3–0, a result which saw them promoted back to the First Division, which was then the top flight, while the result later assisted in Preston's being relegated to the Third Division for the first time in the club's history. Blackpool striker Fred Pickering scored a hat-trick in front of a crowd of over 34,000 – over 15,000 of whom travelled from Blackpool, with another 3,000 Tangerines fans locked outside the stadium. Jimmy Armfield later said of that night: "The real rivalry started that night. It was such a significant result for both teams. Many [Blackpool fans] walked back to Blackpool and our bus passed them on the way home, dancing and singing by the road." Blackpool's joy was short-lived, however, as they spent just one season in the First Division before being relegated the next year.^[5][10]

In the 1972–73 season, Alan Ainscow scored his only hat-trick when Blackpool won 3–0 at Deepdale on 9 December 1972.^[11]

The two clubs met at Deepdale in the Anglo-Scottish Cup on 4 August 1979. With Preston leading 3–1 in the final minute, Blackpool goalkeeper Tom McAlister saved Ricky Thomson's penalty, tipping the ball onto the bar. It bounced down over the line, but by then the referee Ashley had blown his whistle to signal the end of the game. The goal did not count, but the spectators went home in the belief that the scoreline was 3–2. The official explained to Thomson and McAlister that the moment the ball had stopped travelling forwards the game was over and ruled it had ended the moment McAlister touched the ball.^[8] They met on two other occasions in the same competition: on 2 August 1978 at Deepdale (Preston won 4–2) and on 5 August 1980 at Bloomfield Road (Blackpool won 1–0).^[8]

In the

In the Lancashire Manx Cup, the two clubs met on several occasions. Firstly, on 17 August 1982, Blackpool won 2–1 at Bloomfield Road. 364 days later, the fixture was repeated, this time with the visitors winning 3–2. Two years later, on 3 August 1985, Blackpool won 2–1 at Deepdale. They did not meet again until 9 August 1988, when the teams drew 1–1 at Bloomfield Road. The following season, on 8 August 1989, Blackpool won 2–0 at home in the final meeting of the two clubs in the competition.[8]

With both clubs languishing in the lower tiers of the Football League, some consolation came for Preston in the 1992–93 season, when they won 3–2 at Bloomfield Road, with Tony Ellis scoring a hat-trick.^[5]

On 17 April 1999, Brett Ormerod scored an injury-time winner for Blackpool at Deepdale.^[8]

The following campaign, after Preston's 3–0 Division Two victory over Blackpool at Deepdale on 18 December 1999, Nigel Worthington resigned as Blackpool manager.^[13]

The

Four years later, at the end of the 2014–15 campaign, Blackpool dropped to the third tier for the first time since 2006–07. Preston, meanwhile, ended a run of nine consecutive unsuccessful appearances in the play-offs and returned to the second tier after four seasons away.

The 2020–21 season saw Blackpool promoted to the Championship. In October 2021 they won 2-0 at home, while Preston won the return game 1-0, while celebrating what would have been the 100th birthday of Tom Finney, who is considered to be Preston's greatest player.^[15]

Head-to-head record

Preston have won 14 more West Lancashire derbies than Blackpool, with 45 victories compared to Blackpool's 31. There have been 19 draws. The teams have met three times in the

Current as of 5 April 2022. Statistics obtained from Soccerbase.[16]

Crossing the divide

At least 50 individuals have represented both Blackpool and Preston North End at some point in their careers. 28 of these moved directly between the two clubs. One such example is

The most recent of these occurred in 2015, when Northern Irish striker Andy Little moved directly to Blackpool on loan from Preston.

Players who have moved directly between the two clubs:

• Tom Bradshaw
  : Blackpool (1896), Preston North End (1896 and 1902)
• Laurence Halsall: Blackpool (1897), Preston North End (1897–1899)
• Wilf Gillow: Blackpool to Preston North End
• Lawrence Cook
  , Blackpool (1904), Preston North End (1905–1906)
• Albert Brown
  : Preston North End (1904–1905), Blackpool (1905–1906)
• Herbert Crossthwaite: Preston North End (1905–1906), Blackpool (1906–1907)
• Benny Green: Preston North End (1911–1913), Blackpool (1913–1915)
• Billy Mercer
  : Preston North End (1919–1924), Blackpool (1925)
• Peter Quinn: Blackpool (1910–1920), Preston North End (1920–1922)
• Bobby Crawford: Preston North End (1921–1932), Blackpool (1932–1933)
• Billy Tremelling: Blackpool (1925–1930), Preston North End (1930–1937)
• Jimmy McClelland: Preston North End (1929–1930), Blackpool (1930–1933)
• Albert Butterworth: Blackpool (1932–1933), Preston North End (1933–1935)
• Jimmy McIntosh: Blackpool (1935–1937), Preston North End (1937–1946), Blackpool (1946–1948)
• Dickie Watmough: Blackpool (1934–1937), Preston North End (1937)
• Frank O'Donnell: Preston North End (1935–1937), Blackpool (1937–1946)
• Hugh O'Donnell: Preston North End (1935–1939), Blackpool (1939–1946)
• Billy McIntosh: Preston North End (1946–1948), Blackpool (1948–1951)
• Les Campbell: Preston North End (1953–1960), Blackpool (1960–1961)
• Kit Napier: Blackpool (1960–1963), Preston North End (1963–1964)
• Ray Charnley: Blackpool (1957–1967), Preston North End (1967–1968)
• Gerry Ingram: Blackpool (1967–1968), Preston North End (1968–1971)
• Andy McAteer: Preston North End (1977–1986), Blackpool (1986–1988), Preston North End (1988–1989)
• Tony Ellis: Preston North End (1987–1989 and 1992–1994), Blackpool (1994–1997)
• Gary Parkinson: Preston North End (1997–2001), Blackpool (2001–2002)
• Andrew Lonergan
  Preston North End (2000–2011), Blackpool (2003)
• Brett Ormerod: Preston North End (2006–2009), Blackpool (2009–2012)^[a]
• Andy Little: Preston North End (2014–2016), Blackpool (2015)

Players who have appeared for both clubs at some point during their career:

• Fred Griffiths: Blackpool (1899–1900), Preston North End (1902)
• James Mitchell
  : Blackpool (1914–1915), Preston North End (1920–1922)
• Gordon Milne: Preston North End (19??-1960), Blackpool (1967–1970)
• Mel Holden: Preston North End (1972–1975), Blackpool (1978–1979)
• Barry Siddall: Blackpool (1983–84 and 1986–1989), Preston North End (1992–1993)
• Mike Conroy
  : Preston North End (1993–1995), Blackpool (1998–1999)
• David Eyres: Blackpool (1989–1993), Preston North End (1997–2000)
• Mike Flynn: Preston North End (1989–1993), Blackpool (2003–2004)
• Colin Greenall: Blackpool (1980–1986), Preston North End (1992–1993)
• Colin Hendry: Preston North End (2002, loan), Blackpool (2002–2003)
• Michael Jackson
  : Preston North End (1997–2004), Blackpool (2006–2008)
• Adam Nowland: Blackpool (1998–2001), Preston North End (2005–2008)
• Brett Ormerod: Blackpool (1997–2001, 2009–2012), Preston North End (2006–2009)^[a]
• Marlon Broomes: Preston North End (2002–2005), Blackpool (2008–2009)
• Matt Hill: Preston North End (2005–2008), Blackpool (2011–2012)
• Ricardo Fuller: Preston North End (2002–2004), Blackpool (2013–2014)
• Eddie Nolan: Preston North End (2008–2011), Blackpool (2016–2017)
• Tom Barkhuizen: Blackpool (2010–2015), Preston North End (2017–2022)
• Alex Baptiste: Blackpool (2008-2013), Preston North End (2016–2017)
• Brad Potts: Blackpool (2015-2017), Preston North End (2019–present)
• Nick Anderton: Preston North End (2014–2016), Blackpool (2017–2020)
• Chris Maxwell: Preston North End (2016–2020), Blackpool (2020-2023)

Seven players who played for one club went on to manage the other:

• Sydney Beaumont, who played one league game for Preston North End in 1911–12, was manager of Blackpool for the 1927–28 season
• Sam Allardyce, who played for Preston North End from 1986 to 1989 and also in 1992, was manager of Blackpool from 1994 to 1996
• Paul Simpson, who played for Blackpool from 2000 to 2002, was manager of Preston North End from 2006 to 2007
• Phil Brown
  , who played for and coached Blackpool under Allardyce between 1994 and 1996, was named manager of Preston North End in January 2011
• Michael Appleton, who played for Preston North End between 1997 and 2001, was appointed Blackpool manager in both 2012 and 2022
• Simon Grayson, who both played for and managed Blackpool, was appointed Preston manager in February 2013
• Neil McDonald, who played and coached at Preston, was appointed Blackpool manager in June 2015

Prior to the 4 April 1958 derby at Bloomfield Road, Blackpool manager

Supporters

On 6 May 1978, at a concert by The Vibrators in Preston, a young man from Preston was stabbed to death during clashes between Preston and Blackpool fans. In 1996 there were 78 arrests when serious disorder broke out when the clubs met at Deepdale and pubs were trashed in Preston.^[5][17] The match was played on a Friday night and broadcast live on Sky. This derby saw significant disorder – including several pitch invasions – and was dubbed the "Night of Shame" by both the Lancashire Evening Post and the Blackpool Gazette.^[18]

Another fan died, this time of

Despite there being no match between the two clubs since 2000, the rivalry between the two sets of fans reignited itself on 2 September 2006, when a mini-riot broke out on Preston railway station between Blackpool fans returning from their match at Millwall and local Preston fans returning from an England match in Manchester. Bottles, cans and signs were hurled as the two sets of fans fought each other, and two British Transport Police officers were injured in what the police described as a large-scale disorder.^[19][20]

Blackpool were promoted to

Blackpool won the match 1–0. However, the day saw outbreaks of violence in both Preston and Blackpool. A huge police operation saw 300 police officers on duty outside Deepdale and in Preston city centre while 19 people were arrested. Blackpool fans arriving at Preston railway station went through airport-style security scanners to check for potential weapons. Blackpool hooligans went on a rampage smashing windows and ripping seats out of specially chartered buses laid on to transport them from the railway station to Deepdale, causing thousands of pounds worth of damage. Nine people were arrested.^[23] Later that same day, a group of about 30 Preston hooligans attacked a pub in Blackpool in "revenge" throwing bins and bottles at the pub while staff and customers were inside.^[24]

The return fixture on 15 March 2008 at Bloomfield Road, was marred by racist and

Three days later on 12 May, in an episode of the Channel 4 quiz show Countdown, the conundrum 'PNECRISIS' appeared at the show's conclusion, a deliberate reference put in by the show's producer, Damian Eadie, a lifelong Blackpool fan.^[30]

By contrast to the violence that sometimes surrounds the West Lancashire derby, fans of both clubs have joined to raise money for local charities. In March 2007, Blackpool and Preston fans joined for a seventeen-mile sponsored bicycle ride between Deepdale and Bloomfield Road in aid of the

In April 2008, football magazine FourFourTwo ran a four-page article about the derby, entitled "Sheep Shaggers vs Donkey Lashers". The article concentrated on events around the match at Deepdale in December 2007, and the history of the derby.^[33]

The derby was mentioned in passing as the subject of a £1 or quid bet by Tantivy in Thomas Pynchon's postmodern novel Gravity's Rainbow.

Further reading

• Mitten, Andy (4 August 2008). Mad for It: From Blackpool to Barcelona: Football's Greatest Rivalries. HarperSport.
  ISBN 978-0-00-728080-3
  .
• Pearson, Geoff (6 August 2012). An Ethnography of English Football Fans: Cans, Cops and Carnivals. Manchester University Press.
  ISBN 978-0719087219
  .