Editing Deepdale (section)

== History ==
The land on which the stadium stands was originally Deepdale Farm. It was leased on 21 January 1875<ref name=pneHistory>{{cite web|title=The History of Preston North End|url=http://www.pnefc.net/page/History/0,,10362~1033954,00.html|publisher=Preston North End FC|access-date=22 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091002215806/http://www.pnefc.net/page/History/0%2C%2C10362~1033954%2C00.html|archive-date=2 October 2009|date=7 January 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> by the town's North End sports club and originally used for cricket and rugby. It hosted its first [[association football]] match on 5 October 1878. On 21 June 1890, [[Preston North End Baseball Club]] played the first professional [[baseball]] game at Deepdale, with [[Derby Baseball Club]] winning 9–6.<ref name="Baseball">{{cite news|title=Baseball|publisher=Preston Herald|date=25 June 1890|page=7}}</ref>

===Old Deepdale===
As football grew in popularity, it became necessary to have raised areas, so the idea of football terracing was formed. In the 1890s Preston built the West Paddock, which ran along the touch line and a tent was erected to house the changing rooms. By the turn of the century, crowds were regularly over 10,000 and in 1921 they had to expand again. The [[Spion Kop (stadiums)|Spion Kop]] was built and the West Paddock was extended to meet the Kop end. The pitch was removed to allow the building of the Town End, which was completed in 1928 but was destroyed by fire only five years later and had to be rebuilt. The Pavilion Stand, a relatively small stand of two tiers holding the changing rooms and offices, was built and opened in 1934. The record league attendance for Preston North End at Deepdale is 42,684 v [[Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal]] in the First Division, 23 April 1938.<ref name="pneStats">{{cite web|title=North End Statistics|url=http://www.pnefc.net/page/History/0,,10362~1033911,00.html|publisher=Preston North End FC|access-date=22 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081209073941/http://www.pnefc.net/page/History/0%2C%2C10362~1033911%2C00.html|archive-date=9 December 2008|date=3 April 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> The women's team [[Dick, Kerr Ladies]] also used to play at Deepdale, regularly attracting crowds of tens of thousands.<ref>{{cite web|last=Hunt|first=Chris|title=The Belles of the Ball: Dick Kerr's Ladies|url=http://www.chrishunt.biz/features14.html|work=FourFourTwo|access-date=22 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706144507/http://www.chrishunt.biz/features14.html|archive-date=6 July 2011 |date=August 2005}}</ref>

====1913 terrorist incident====
{{see also|Suffragette bombing and arson campaign}}
An attempt was made to destroy the ground in 1913. As part of the [[suffragette bombing and arson campaign]], [[suffragettes]] carried out a series of bombings and arson attacks nationwide to publicise their campaign for women's suffrage.<ref>{{cite news |title=Suffragettes, violence and militancy |url=https://www.bl.uk/votes-for-women/articles/suffragettes-violence-and-militancy |access-date=27 September 2021 |work=British Library |archive-date=10 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210910203912/https://www.bl.uk/votes-for-women/articles/suffragettes-violence-and-militancy |url-status=dead }}</ref> In April 1913, suffragettes attempted to burn down Ewood Park's grandstand but were foiled.<ref name="Kay">{{Cite journal|last=Kay|first=Joyce|year=2008 |title=It Wasn't Just Emily Davison! Sport, Suffrage and Society in Edwardian Britain|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/09523360802212271|journal=The International Journal of the History of Sport|volume=25|issue=10|page=1343|doi=10.1080/09523360802212271|hdl=1893/765|s2cid=154063364|issn=0952-3367|hdl-access=free}}</ref> In the same year, suffragettes [[Arsenal F.C.#Stadium destruction and move to North London|succeeded in burning down]] [[Arsenal FC|Arsenal]]'s then South London stadium, and also attempted to burn down [[Blackburn Rovers]]' ground.<ref name="Kay"/> More traditionally male sports were targeted in order to protest against [[patriarchy|male dominance]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kay|first=Joyce|year=2008 |title=It Wasn't Just Emily Davison! Sport, Suffrage and Society in Edwardian Britain|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/09523360802212271|journal=The International Journal of the History of Sport|volume=25|issue=10|pages=1345–1346|doi=10.1080/09523360802212271|hdl=1893/765|s2cid=154063364|issn=0952-3367|hdl-access=free}}</ref>

===Plastic pitch===
In 1986, Preston North End decided to lay an all-weather pitch to try to generate some extra income for the club by renting the pitch to local teams to play on, to reduce the number of postponed matches as well as enabling the use of the Deepdale pitch as a training ground. {{citation needed|date=November 2014}} It was one of four football stadiums in the English league to feature a plastic pitch, but this proved to be unpopular with the fans and was finally ripped up in 1994, by which time it was the last remaining plastic pitch in the English league.<ref>{{cite news|last=Fletcher|first=Paul|title=Could artificial pitches be set for a return to Football League?|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/15722636.stm|work=BBC Sport|access-date=22 November 2011|date=18 November 2011}}</ref>

===Renovation===
[[File:Deepdale Layout.jpg|right|thumb|375px|Deepdale layout]]
The original plans for the re-developed stadium were inspired by the [[Stadio Luigi Ferraris|Luigi Ferraris Stadium]] in [[Genoa]], [[Italy]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.pnefc.net/page/GroundGuide/0,,10362~1053093,00.html |title=Preston North End Ground Guide |year=2008 |access-date=13 March 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090307022258/http://www.pnefc.net/page/GroundGuide/0%2C%2C10362~1053093%2C00.html |archive-date=7 March 2009}}</ref> The regeneration of Deepdale began in 1995 when the old West Stand was demolished to make way for the new £4.4m Sir [[Tom Finney]] Stand which includes press areas and restaurants. The next stand to be developed was the [[Bill Shankly]] (1913–1981) Kop in 1998, followed by the [[Alan Kelly, Sr.|Alan Kelly]] (1936–2009) Town End in 2001, which replaced the popular Town End terrace. In 2008, a 25-metre screen was also erected on the roof of the Bill Shankly Kop.

The old 'Pavilion' stand, was replaced by the '[[The Invincibles (English football)|Invincibles]] Pavilion' for the 2008–09 season, named after the Preston North End team of [[1888–89 Football League|the 1888–89 season]] who were the first League champions, the first team to complete the League and [[FA Cup]] [[Double (association football)|Double]], and the only English team to complete a season unbeaten in both League and Cup.<ref name=pneHistory /><ref name="Apostles">{{cite book |last= Taw |first= Thomas | title= Football's Twelve Apostles: The Making of The League 1886–1889 |year= 2006 |isbn=1-905328-09-5 |page=17|publisher= Desert Island Books }}</ref> The Invincibles Pavilion includes a row of executive boxes and a restaurant which overlooks the pitch as well as the Stadium Control Room, PA Box and Big Screen Control Room and an [[National Health Service|NHS]] walk-in centre has also been built into the stand.

Deepdale is now an [[all-seater stadium]] with a total capacity of 23,404, as follows:<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.footballgroundguide.com/leagues/england/championship/deepdale-preston-north-end.html | title=Deepdale – Preston North End | publisher=Football Ground Guide (FGG) | date=2018 | access-date=19 August 2018}}</ref>

* Sir Tom Finney Stand: 7,893
* Bill Shankly Kop: 5,933
* Alan Kelly Town End: 5,859
* Invincibles Pavilion: 3,719