The 2026–27 season is the 147th season in the history of Preston North End Football Club and their twelfth consecutive season in the Championship. In addition to the domestic league, the club would also participate in the FA Cup, and the EFL Cup.
Managerial changes On 13 September, Paul Heckingbottom was relieved from his duties as manager after six defeats in seven games at the start of the season. Jason Euell was promoted to take charge on an interim basis. Fifteen days later, Graham Alexander was appointed manager after being successful with Bradford City.
Transfers and contracts In DatePlayerFromFee 1 July 2026 GK Lee Nicholls Huddersfield Town Undisclosed 7 July 2026 CAM Alfie Devine Tottenham Hotspur £6,000,000 14 August 2026 RB Harry Clarke Ipswich Town Undisclosed CM Léo Leroy Basel £2,500,000 19 August 2026 CB Isaac Irwin Crewe Alexandra Free 27 August 2026 RW Stanley Mills Oxford United £2,500,000 1 September 2026ST Johnny Kenny CelticUndisclosed
Out DatePlayerToFee 15 June 2026 GK Jack Walton Dundee United Free transfer 13 July 2026 CF Michael Smith Mansfield Town 5 August 2026 CM Benjamin Whiteman Wrexham £3,000,000 24 August 2026 CF Milutin Osmajić Genoa £2,100,000
Loaned in DatePlayerFromDate until 13 July 2026 CF Jusef Erabi Genk End of Season 7 August 2026 LW Delano Burgzorg Middlesbrough 28 August 2026 LB Caleb Wiley Chelsea End of season 1 September 2026 CM Liam Gibbs Norwich End of season
Loaned out DatePlayerToLoaned until 23 July 2026 LB Nathan Snowball FC United of Manchester 5 September 2026 2 August 2026 GK Li-Bau Stowell Chorley End of Season 27 August 2026 CAM Kitt Nelson Linfield 4 September 2026 CF Max Wilson Chorley 2 January 2027
Released / Out of Contract DatePlayerSubsequent clubJoined date 30 June 2026 CAM Isaac Lam Ramsbottom United 3 July 2026 CDM Noah Mawene Fleetwood Town 28 July 2026 GK James Pradic CF Felipe Rodríguez-Gentile Portland Hearts of Pine 14 August 2026 GK David Cornell Leicester City 18 September 2026 LWB Robbie Brady Free Agent CF Will Keane Free Agent LB Jamal Lewis Free Agent
New Contract DatePlayerContract expiry 22 July 2026 CB Ed Nolan 30 June 2028 CF George Gryba LB Nathan Snowball 30 June 2028 CM Harry Stringfellow 30 June 2028 LB Troy Tarry 13 August 2026 CF Finlay Cameron 30 June 2027
Pre-season and friendlies On 18 May, PNE announced a six-day training camp in South East Spain with a fixture against Cambridge United. Nine days later, a fixture against Stockport County to mark Ben Hinchliffe's testimonial was confirmed. On 2 June, a further two fixtures were added to the schedule against Bamber Bridge and Chorley. Six days later, a behind closed doors fixture against Sheffield Wednesday was confirmed. On 10 June, a sixth fixture was added to the scheduled against Bradford City.
Competitions Overall record
Championship
League season Preston started their season on the 15th August where they travelled to the Toughsheet Community Stadium to face Bolton Wanderers. North End were defeated 2–1 with Jusef Erabi scoring Preston’s only goal, despite running the game for the most of the second half. Their first home game was played on the 22nd August. They faced the newly relegated Wolves at Deepdale. Wolves won 3-1 and beat PNE in all aspects; Jordan Thompson scored from range in the 92nd minute for PNE’s only goal. In the following two games, North End were defeated 1-0 away to Charlton Athletic at The Valley and opened their second month of fixtures with a 3-1 defeat at home against Bristol City. By this point, Preston were one of two sides in the 72 EFL teams (alongside local rivals Wigan Athletic who play in League One) to remain without a single point and they sat 24th place in the EFL Championship. Preston finally got their first win of the season at home with a 2-1 victory over bitter local rivals Blackburn Rovers. Callum Lang scored a brace. Lang was back on the scoresheet as PNE conceded twice in 6 minutes to lose 2-1 away at Vicarage Road, Watford. They sat bottom of the league on just 3 points, sitting 2 more points adrift of the relegation zone.
League table
Results summary
Results by round
Matches On 25 June, the Championship fixtures were revealed.
FA Cup
EFL Cup
PNE were drawn at home to Huddersfield Town in the first round and to Everton in the second round. They were defeated 4-0 in the second round and eliminated by Everton.
Statistics Appearances and goals
Players with no appearances are not included on the list; italics indicate a loaned in player
|colspan="14"|Players who featured but departed the club during the season:
References