Preston North End FC

They began life in the 1860s not as a football side at all, but as a cricket club at Moor Park, on the north end of town (get it…?). By 1867 they were known as Preston North End, dabbling in rugby, athletics, and even lacrosse before turning to association football in 1878 at Deepdale – their home to this very day. Few clubs in the world can claim to have played continuously in just one location.

The decision to focus on football paid dividends. By the mid-1880s, Preston were practically unbeatable. They turned professional in 1885, among the first clubs to do so, and famously went unbeaten from August 1885 to April 1886. In the 1887/88 season they won 42 consecutive matches, including a still-record 26–0 FA Cup victory over Hyde.

When the Football League was formed in 1888, Preston were one of the 12 founding members alongside Accrington Stanley, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Burnley, Derby County, Everton, Notts County, Stoke (now Stoke City), West Bromwich Albion, and Wolverhampton Wanderers. In that first season they went unbeaten in the league and also won the FA Cup – the first ever league and cup double. They were dubbed “The Invincibles”, and set the standard for professional football in England.

So, let’s look then at their badge. It is certainly distinctive and unique. Deceptively simple yet heavy with meaning. It shows a lamb, a sword, the letters P.P., and the halo of light behind.

The lamb is the lamb of St Wilfrid, the 7th-century Anglo-Saxon bishop who became the patron saint of Preston. St Wilfrid was born around 634 in Northumbria and grew up studying at the Lindisfarne monastery – that little island off the coast near Newcastle which, about 150 years after Wilfrid’s time, became the famous landing site of the first Viking raiders. From Lindisfarne he travelled to Rome, where he studied further, and on his return he took part in the Synod of Whitby in 664. There he successfully argued that the English Church should adopt Roman practices and abandon the older Celtic ones, bringing England closer to the continent (he was no Brexiteer…).

He later served as Bishop of York, spreading Christianity across Northumbria, Sussex, and the Isle of Wight, and he became the patron saint of Preston. The lamb reflects both his patronage and its biblical parallel – Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God.

The sword behind the lamb symbolises Christ in his heavenly role as Michael the Archangel, battling evil, while the halo and flag symbolise triumph and resurrection. The initials P.P. stand for Princeps Pacis – “Prince of Peace” – another title of Christ found in the book of Isaiah (9:6). Locals, however, often insist it means “Proud Preston” – and given the city’s reputation for civic pride, that works too.

The three red roses of Lancashire were added in earlier versions to mark county pride. Together the lamb, sword, roses and initials form one of the most unique and historic crests in the game. Attempts in the 1970s and 80s to modernise the lamb were swiftly abandoned. Tradition won out.

The name Preston itself comes from Old English prēost tūn – “the priest’s settlement” – and appears in the Domesday Book as Prestune.

Preston became a market town in the Middle Ages, granted a Guild Merchant charter in 1179. The Preston Guild still takes place once every 20 years, the only surviving civic guild celebration in the UK. Its processions, fairs, and events are so iconic that the phrase “Once every Preston Guild” entered English as a byword for something very rare indeed.

During the Industrial Revolution, Preston became a cotton boomtown, with mills, railways and factories turning it into one of northern England’s most important centres. It wasn’t always smooth: Dickens visited during the strikes of the 1850s and later based his grim Coketown in Hard Times on what he saw. Yet Preston also produced Sir Richard Arkwright, inventor of the spinning frame and one of the architects of the factory system. No wonder the city still proudly calls itself “Proud Preston”.

If the lamb is the badge and the Invincibles the legend, then Sir Tom Finney is the soul of Preston North End.

Finney signed for the club in 1939, though war delayed his debut until 1946. He played 433 games, scoring 187 goals, and spent his entire career at Deepdale until retiring in 1960. Known as “The Preston Plumber” thanks to his trade outside the game, he was admired worldwide for both his genius on the pitch and his gentlemanly conduct off it.

Today, Sir Tom Finney Way leads up to Deepdale, one of the stands bears his name, and his statue – The Splash – is one of English football’s most iconic monuments – set in the middle of its own fountain showing Finney sliding in for a tackle across a wet pitch. It is awesome.

In a world when today teams are owned by faceless hedge funds and sovereign wealth funds Preston’s ownership is one to be proud of. Owned today by the Hemmings family because in 2010 it was bought by the, now late, Trevor Hemmings. Born in London but moving to Preston during the Second World War as he relocated with his dad who worked in a munitions factory.

Hemmings worked his way up from the railways and bricklaying to make his fortune in housebuilding, selling his first firm in the 1970s and later selling another to Barratt Developments for £5.7 million. He went on to own a business empire spanning leisure, finance, and property, and was well known in horse racing circles as the owner of over a hundred race horses - three of which became Grand National winners.

This year the shirt sponsor is local company Spud Bros – and they too have a great story and link to the club. Ever since 1955 they have operated a stall outside the stadium selling baked potatoes. Today the company has grown thanks to their famous TikTok videos and now boasts 4.2 million followers – not your average potato stand.

Deepdale remains one of English football’s most historic homes, with a capacity of over 23,000. While Preston haven’t lifted a major trophy since the 1938 FA Cup, their badge, ground, and history keep them firmly among football’s great names.

In recognition of this in 2001 the UK’s National Football Museum opened next to the stadium – turning Deepdale into the UK’s cultural football capital. Unfortunately for the club in 2009 Manchester City Council made an offer of over £2m a year in support if they would relocate to Manchester. The board had little option as the entire deal did, despite sentiment, make a lot more sense in terms of funding and attracting visitors. But the fact that it originated in Preston tells you all you need to know about this giants of English football.

So, when the Lilywhites walk out with the lamb and the potato on their shirts – they are not just the personification of a Shepard’s Pie. It’s the story of St Wilfrid, of Invincibles, of cotton mills and guilds, of Sir Tom Finney and Trevor Hemmings. Faith, history and pride. Lamb of God, Prince of Peace, Proud Preston.

Call it what you like – but it’s a badge like no other.