# 2006–07 Preston North End F.C. season

During the 2006–07 English football season, Preston North End F.C. competed in the Football League Championship.

## Season summary

The 2006–07 season started well under Simpson, seeing Preston rise to the top of the Championship in December, the highest league place the team has reached in 55 years. Despite much interest in striker David Nugent, Simpson was able to hold on to the player throughout the January transfer window. On 28 March, Nugent went on to get his full international debut for England, and even managed to score his first international goal in the 90th minute of the match against Andorra. This was the first time a Preston player received a full international cap for England since Tom Finney. It was around this time that Preston went into a decline, which in the end meant the team missing out on a playoff spot in the final few weeks of the season.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 5 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 46 | 22 | 10 | 14 | 59 | 56 | +3 | 76 | Qualification for Championship play-offs |
| 6 | Southampton | 46 | 21 | 12 | 13 | 77 | 53 | +24 | 75 | Qualification for Championship play-offs |
| 7 | Preston North End | 46 | 22 | 8 | 16 | 64 | 53 | +11 | 74 | |
| 8 | Stoke City | 46 | 19 | 16 | 11 | 62 | 41 | +21 | 73 | |
| 9 | Sheffield Wednesday | 46 | 20 | 11 | 15 | 70 | 66 | +4 | 71 | |

## Results

Preston North End's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Football League Championship

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 5 August 2006 | Sheffield Wednesday | H | 0–0 | 15,650 | |
| 8 August 2006 | Norwich City | A | 0–2 | 24,676 | |
| 11 August 2006 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 3–1 | 17,410 | Nugent (2), Whaley |
| 19 August 2006 | Queens Park Rangers | H | 1–1 | 11,879 | McKenna |
| 26 August 2006 | Southampton | A | 1–1 | 20,712 | Whaley |
| 9 September 2006 | Cardiff City | H | 2–1 | 12,435 | Agyemang, Pugh |
| 12 September 2006 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 1–0 | 12,119 | Agyemang |
| 16 September 2006 | Derby County | A | 1–1 | 22,220 | Pugh |
| 22 September 2006 | Barnsley | H | 1–0 | 11,728 | Agyemang |
| 30 September 2006 | Stoke City | A | 1–1 | 14,342 | Agyemang |
| 14 October 2006 | Sunderland | H | 4–1 | 19,603 | Dichio, Alexander (pen), Whitehead (own goal), Whaley |
| 17 October 2006 | Ipswich Town | A | 3–2 | 19,377 | Nugent, Chilvers, Whaley |
| 21 October 2006 | Hull City | H | 2–1 | 13,728 | Dichio (2) |
| 27 October 2006 | Burnley | A | 2–3 | 14,871 | Whaley, Ormerod |
| 31 October 2006 | Leeds United | H | 4–1 | 16,168 | Dichio, Pugh, Nugent, L Neal |
| 4 November 2006 | Luton Town | H | 3–0 | 13,094 | Alexander (pen), Agyemang, Ormerod |
| 11 November 2006 | Southend United | A | 0–0 | 9,263 | |
| 18 November 2006 | Leicester City | A | 1–0 | 22,721 | Agyemang |
| 25 November 2006 | Crystal Palace | H | 0–0 | 14,202 | |
| 28 November 2006 | Coventry City | H | 1–1 | 13,104 | Nugent |
| 2 December 2006 | Luton Town | A | 0–2 | 7,665 | |
| 9 December 2006 | Birmingham City | A | 1–3 | 23,159 | Ormerod |
| 16 December 2006 | Plymouth Argyle | H | 3–0 | 13,171 | Pugh, Ormerod, Alexander (pen) |
| 23 December 2006 | Colchester United | H | 1–0 | 14,225 | Nugent |
| 26 December 2006 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 2–4 | 22,905 | Alexander (pen), Nugent |
| 30 December 2006 | Sunderland | A | 1–0 | 30,460 | Nugent |
| 1 January 2007 | Derby County | H | 1–2 | 19,204 | Nugent |
| 13 January 2007 | Barnsley | A | 1–0 | 10,810 | Chilvers |
| 20 January 2007 | Stoke City | H | 3–2 | 15,151 | McKenna, Nugent, Wilson |
| 30 January 2007 | Colchester United | A | 0–1 | 5,085 | |
| 3 February 2007 | Sheffield Wednesday | A | 3–1 | 22,441 | Ormerod, Nugent (2) |
| 10 February 2007 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 0–1 | 15,748 | |
| 20 February 2007 | Norwich City | H | 2–1 | 11,601 | Pergl, Dichio |
| 23 February 2007 | Cardiff City | A | 1–4 | 12,889 | Alexander (pen) |
| 5 March 2007 | Southampton | H | 3–1 | 13,060 | Mellor, Nugent, Baird (own goal) |
| 10 March 2007 | Hull City | A | 0–2 | 17,118 | |
| 13 March 2007 | Ipswich Town | H | 1–0 | 12,925 | Ricketts |
| 17 March 2007 | Burnley | H | 2–0 | 17,666 | Nugent, Agyemang |
| 30 March 2007 | Leeds United | A | 1–2 | 18,433 | Ormerod |
| 3 April 2007 | Queens Park Rangers | A | 0–1 | 11,910 | |
| 7 April 2007 | Crystal Palace | A | 0–3 | 15,985 | |
| 9 April 2007 | Southend United | H | 2–3 | 13,684 | St Ledger, Alexander (pen) |
| 14 April 2007 | Coventry City | H | 4–0 | 21,117 | Sedgwick, Nugent, Ormerod (2) |
| 21 April 2007 | Leicester City | H | 0–1 | 14,725 | |
| 28 April 2007 | Plymouth Argyle | A | 0–2 | 13,813 | |
| 6 May 2007 | Birmingham City | H | 1–0 | 16,387 | Whaley |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R3 | 6 January 2007 | Sunderland | H | 1–0 | 10,318 | Ormerod |
| R4 | 17 January 2007 | Crystal Palace | A | 2–0 | 8,422 | Nugent, Wilson |
| R5 | 18 February 2007 | Manchester City | H | 1–3 | 18,890 | Nugent |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R1 | 23 August 2006 | Port Vale | A | 1–2 | 3,522 | Whaley |

## Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | ENG | Andy Lonergan |
| 2 | DF | SCO | Graham Alexander |
| 3 | DF | SCO | Callum Davidson |
| 4 | MF | ENG | Danny Pugh |
| 5 | DF | FRA | Youl Mawéné |
| 6 | MF | ENG | Jason Jarrett |
| 7 | MF | ENG | Chris Sedgwick |
| 8 | FW | ENG | Michael Ricketts |
| 9 | FW | GHA | Patrick Agyemang |
| 10 | FW | ENG | David Nugent |
| 12 | DF | IRL | Sean St Ledger |
| 13 | GK | IRL | Wayne Henderson |
| 14 | DF | ENG | Liam Chilvers |
| 15 | MF | ENG | Simon Whaley |
| 16 | DF | ENG | Paul McKenna |
| 17 | FW | ENG | Brett Ormerod |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 18 | DF | ENG | Matthew Hill |
| 20 | DF | CZE | Pavel Pergl |
| 21 | FW | ENG | Dave Hibbert |
| 22 | GK | ENG | Carlo Nash |
| 23 | MF | ENG | Lewis Neal |
| 24 | FW | ENG | Joe Anyinsah |
| 25 | MF | ENG | Adam Nowland |
| 26 | MF | CMR | Franck Songo'o (on loan from Portsmouth) |
| 27 | DF | GAM | Seyfo Soley |
| 28 | DF | ENG | Kelvin Wilson |
| 29 | GK | ENG | Ben Hinchcliffe |
| 30 | GK | ENG | Chris Neal |
| 31 | MF | ENG | Warren Beattie |
| 32 | MF | ENG | Ashley Parillon |
| 33 | FW | ENG | Neil Mellor |
| 34 | FW | ENG | Chris McGrail |

### Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 8 | MF | SCO | Brian O'Neil (retired) |
| 27 | MF | IRL | Alan McCormack (to Southend United) |
| 20 | MF | WAL | Tommy Miller (on loan from Sunderland) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 26 | MF | ENG | Brian Stock (to Doncaster Rovers) |
| 19 | FW | NIR | Andy Smith (to Bristol City) |
| 11 | FW | ENG | Danny Dichio (to Toronto FC) |

## Transfers
### In

* Sean St Ledger – Peterborough United, £225,000
* Liam Chilvers – Colchester United, free
* Neil Mellor – Liverpool
* Michael Ricketts – Southend United, free
* Pavel Pergl – Sparta Prague, free
* Seyfo Soley – Genk, free
* Wayne Henderson – Brighton & Hove Albion, £200,000

### Out

* Tyrone Mears – West Ham United, £1,000,000
* Mark Jackson – Southport, free
* Alan McCormack – Southend United, free
* Brian Stock – Doncaster Rovers, £150,000
* Andy Smith – Bristol City, free
* Danny Dichio – Toronto FC, free