# 2015–16 Preston North End F.C. season

The 2015–16 season was Preston North End's first season back in the Championship, after gaining promotion via the play-offs last season, in their 136th year in existence. Along with competing in the Championship, the club will also participate in the FA Cup and League Cup. The season covers the period from 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2016.

## Kit

Supplier: Nike Sponsor(s): Virgin Trains
| Home | Away |
Last updated: 29 July 2015. Source: Historical Football Kits

## Squad

| No. | Name | Pos. | Place of birth | Age | Apps | Goals | Signed from | Date signed | Fee | End |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||||
| 1 | Anders Lindegaard | GK | Dyrup | 40 | 9 | 0 | West Bromwich Albion | 23 January 2016 | Loan | 2016 |
| 26 | Steven James | GK | Stockport | 30 | 0 | 0 | Academy | 1 July 2013 | Free | 2016 |
| 40 | Matthew Hudson | GK | | | 1 | 0 | Academy | 1 July 2015 | Free | 2016 |
| 43 | Chris Kirkland | GK | Barwell | 43 | 2 | 0 | Sheffield Wednesday | 12 August 2015 | Free | 2016 |
| Defenders ||||||||||||
| 2 | Marnick Vermijl | RB | Peer | 33 | 28 | 3 | Sheffield Wednesday | 7 August 2015 | Loan | 2016 |
| 3 | Greg Cunningham | LB | Galway | 33 | 38 | 1 | Bristol City | 27 July 2015 | Undisclosed | 2017 |
| 5 | Tom Clarke | CB | Sowerby Bridge | 37 | 140 | 7 | Huddersfield Town | 22 May 2013 | Free | 2017 |
| 6 | Bailey Wright | CB | Melbourne | 32 | 178 | 8 | Academy | 1 July 2009 | Trainee | 2017 |
| 15 | Calum Woods | FB | Liverpool | 37 | 56 | 0 | Huddersfield Town | 1 July 2014 | Free | 2018 |
| 23 | Paul Huntington | CB | Carlisle | 37 | 156 | 15 | Yeovil Town | 22 May 2012 | Free | 2017 |
| 28 | Nick Anderton | LB | | 28 | 0 | 0 | Academy | 1 July 2014 | Free | 2016 |
| 29 | Josh Heaton | CB | | 28 | 0 | 0 | Academy | 1 July 2015 | Trainee | 2016 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||||
| 4 | Ben Pearson | CM | Oldham | 30 | 11 | 0 | Manchester United | 11 January 2016 | £100,000 | 2018 |
| 7 | Chris Humphrey | WG | Saint Catherine | 37 | 116 | 7 | Motherwell | 4 June 2013 | Free | 2017 |
| 8 | Neil Kilkenny | CM | Enfield | 39 | 92 | 4 | Bristol City | 14 November 2013 | Free | 2016 |
| 11 | Daniel Johnson | AM | Kingston | 32 | 62 | 16 | Aston Villa | 23 January 2015 | £50,000 | 2017 |
| 12 | Paul Gallagher | AM/WG | Glasgow | 40 | 141 | 30 | Leicester City | 16 June 2015 | Free | 2017 |
| 16 | Alan Browne | CM | Cork | 29 | 73 | 6 | Free agent | 1 January 2014 | Free | 2018 |
| 19 | John Welsh | CM | Liverpool | 40 | 152 | 3 | Tranmere Rovers | 14 May 2012 | Free | 2017 |
| 31 | Liam Grimshaw | MF/RB | Burnley | 29 | 0 | 0 | Manchester United | 18 January 2016 | Undisclosed | 2018 |
| 32 | Adam Reach | LW | Chester-le-Street | 31 | 27 | 5 | Middlesbrough | 26 September 2015 | Loan | 2016 |
| Forwards ||||||||||||
| 10 | Jermaine Beckford | CF | London | 41 | 35 | 18 | Bolton Wanderers | 9 June 2015 | Free | 2017 |
| 13 | Eoin Doyle | CF | Dublin | 36 | 24 | 2 | Cardiff City | 1 September 2015 | Loan | 2016 |
| 14 | Joe Garner | CF | Blackburn | 36 | 138 | 52 | Watford | 8 January 2013 | Free | 2018 |
| 18 | Andy Little | CF | Enniskillen | 35 | 16 | 2 | Rangers | 21 June 2014 | Free | 2016 |
| 24 | Stevie May | CF | Perth | 32 | 8 | 0 | Sheffield Wednesday | 1 September 2015 | Undisclosed | 2018 |
| 25 | Jordan Hugill | CF | Middlesbrough | 32 | 32 | 5 | Port Vale | 19 June 2014 | Undisclosed | 2016 |
| 37 | Callum Robinson | CF | Northampton | 29 | 38 | 8 | Aston Villa | 5 January 2016 | Loan | 2016 |
| Out on Loan ||||||||||||
| 17 | Kyel Reid | WG | Deptford | 37 | 29 | 0 | Bradford City | 1 July 2014 | Free | 2016 |
| 20 | Ben Davies | LB | Barrow-in-Furness | 29 | 10 | 0 | Academy | 25 January 2013 | Free | 2016 |
| 22 | Josh Brownhill | CM | Warrington | 29 | 61 | 8 | Academy | 1 July 2013 | Trainee | 2016 |
| 27 | Jack Ryan | CF | Barrow-in-Furness | 29 | 2 | 0 | Academy | 1 July 2014 | Trainee | 2016 |

### Statistics

    As of 10 April 2016
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Championship | Championship | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | DEN | Anders Lindegaard (on loan from West Bromwich Albion) | 10 | 0 | 10+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | BEL | Marnick Vermijl (on loan from Sheffield Wednesday) | 29 | 3 | 17+8 | 2 | 1+0 | 0 | 2+1 | 1 |
| 3 | DF | IRL | Greg Cunningham | 40 | 1 | 37+0 | 1 | 1+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| 4 | MF | ENG | Ben Pearson | 11 | 0 | 9+2 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | ENG | Tom Clarke | 34 | 0 | 30+1 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | AUS | Bailey Wright | 34 | 0 | 31+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 3+0 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | JAM | Chris Humphrey | 13 | 0 | 5+5 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | AUS | Neil Kilkenny | 14 | 1 | 5+7 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | JAM | Jermaine Beckford | 4 | 0 | 0+3 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | JAM | Daniel Johnson | 40 | 8 | 38+1 | 7 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 1 |
| 12 | MF | SCO | Paul Gallagher | 36 | 5 | 35+0 | 5 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 13 | FW | IRL | Eoin Doyle (on loan from Cardiff City) | 26 | 3 | 14+11 | 3 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 14 | FW | ENG | Joe Garner | 39 | 6 | 35+1 | 6 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | ENG | Calum Woods | 31 | 0 | 24+4 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 3+0 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | IRL | Alan Browne | 35 | 2 | 22+9 | 2 | 1+0 | 0 | 3+0 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | ENG | John Welsh | 25 | 0 | 13+10 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | ENG | Paul Huntington | 37 | 0 | 28+6 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 0 |
| 24 | FW | ENG | Stevie May | 8 | 0 | 4+3 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 |
| 25 | FW | ENG | Jordan Hugill | 27 | 4 | 6+18 | 2 | 0+1 | 0 | 2+0 | 2 |
| 32 | MF | ENG | Adam Reach (on loan from Middlesbrough) | 31 | 5 | 30+0 | 5 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 37 | FW | ENG | Callum Robinson (on loan from Aston Villa) | 9 | 2 | 3+6 | 2 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 40 | GK | ENG | Matthew Hudson | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 43 | GK | ENG | Chris Kirkland | 2 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| First Team Players on loan: ||||||||||||
| 17 | MF | ENG | Kyel Reid (at Bradford City) | 3 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 20 | DF | ENG | Ben Davies (at Newport County) | 1 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | ENG | Josh Brownhill (at Barnsley) | 5 | 1 | 0+2 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 1 |
| Players that left the club during the season: ||||||||||||
| 1 | GK | ENG | Sam Johnstone (on loan from Manchester United) | 4 | 0 | 4+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |
| 1 | GK | ENG | Jordan Pickford (on loan from Sunderland) | 27 | 0 | 24+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 3+0 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | ENG | Will Keane (on loan from Manchester United) | 22 | 2 | 12+8 | 1 | 0+0 | 0 | 2+0 | 1 |
| 4 | DF | IRL | Paddy McCarthy (on loan from Crystal Palace) | 1 | 0 | 1+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 | 0+0 | 0 |

#### Goals record

    As of 10 April 2016
| Rank | No. | Po. | Name | Championship | FA Cup | League Cup | Total |
| 1 | 11 | MF | Daniel Johnson | 7 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| 2 | 14 | FW | Joe Garner | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 3 | 12 | MF | Paul Gallagher | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 3 | 32 | MF | Adam Reach | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 5 | 25 | FW | Jordan Hugill | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 6 | 2 | DF | Marnick Vermijl | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 6 | 13 | FW | Eoin Doyle | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 8 | 9 | FW | Will Keane | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 8 | 16 | MF | Alan Browne | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | 37 | FW | Callum Robinson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 | 3 | DF | Greg Cunningham | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | 8 | MF | Neil Kilkenny | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | 22 | MF | Josh Brownhill | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Own Goal | Own Goal | Own Goal | Own Goal | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 43 | 0 | 6 | 49 |

#### Disciplinary record

    As of 10 April 2016
| No. | Po. | Name | Championship | Championship | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Total | Total |
| 1 | GK | Jordan Pickford | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 2 | DF | Marnick Vermijl | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | Greg Cunningham | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| 4 | MF | Ben Pearson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | Tom Clarke | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | Bailey Wright | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 2 |
| 7 | MF | Chris Humphrey | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | Neil Kilkenny | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | Will Keane | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | Jermaine Beckford | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | Daniel Johnson | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 12 | MF | Paul Gallagher | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| 14 | FW | Joe Garner | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 |
| 15 | DF | Calum Woods | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | Alan Browne | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 17 | MF | Kyel Reid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | John Welsh | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | Paul Huntington | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| 25 | FW | Jordan Hugill | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 32 | MF | Adam Reach | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Total | Total | Total | 87 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 93 | 5 |

### Contracts

| N | Pos. | Name | Age | Status | Contract length | Expiry date | Source |
| 28 | DF | Nick Anderton | 19 | Extended | 1 year | June 2016 | Preston North End Official Site |
| 5 | DF | Tom Clarke | 27 | Signed | 2 years | June 2017 | Preston North End Official Site |
| 23 | DF | Paul Huntington | 27 | Signed | 2 years | June 2017 | Preston North End Official Site |
| 27 | FW | Jack Ryan | 20 | Extended | 1 year | June 2016 | Preston North End Official Site |
| 6 | DF | Bailey Wright | 22 | Extended | 2 years | June 2017 | Preston North End Official Site |
| 7 | MF | Chris Humphrey | 27 | Signed | 2 years | June 2017 | BBC Sport |
| 19 | MF | John Welsh | 31 | Signed | 2 years | June 2017 | BBC Sport |
| 3 | DF | Scott Laird | 27 | Rejected | — | June 2015 | BBC Sport |
| 21 | GK | Thorsten Stuckmann | 34 | Rejected | — | June 2015 | BBC Sport |
| 14 | FW | Joe Garner | 27 | Signed | 3 years | June 2018 | BBC Sport |
| 16 | MF | Alan Browne | 20 | Signed | 3 years | June 2018 | BBC Sport |
| 26 | GK | Steven James | 20 | Signed | 1 year | June 2016 | Preston North End Official Site |
| 15 | DF | Calum Woods | 28 | Signed | 3 years | June 2018 | BBC Sport |

## Transfers
### Transfers in

| Date from | Position | Name | From | Fee |
| 1 July 2015 | CF | Jermaine Beckford | Bolton Wanderers | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2015 | AM | Paul Gallagher | Leicester City | Free transfer |
| 27 July 2015 | LB | Greg Cunningham | Bristol City | Undisclosed |
| 12 August 2015 | GK | Chris Kirkland | Sheffield Wednesday | Free transfer |
| 1 September 2015 | CF | Stevie May | Sheffield Wednesday | Undisclosed |
| 11 January 2016 | CM | Ben Pearson | Manchester United | £100,000 |
| 18 January 2016 | MF | Liam Grimshaw | Manchester United | Undisclosed |
* ↑ Although officially undisclosed, Manchester Evening News reported the fee to be £100,000.

### Transfers out

| Date from | Position | Name | To | Fee |
| 1 July 2015 | LB | David Buchanan | Northampton Town | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2015 | CF | Kevin Davies | Free agent | Released |
| 1 July 2015 | CF | Sylvan Ebanks-Blake | Chesterfield | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2015 | LW | Lee Holmes | Exeter City | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2015 | DM | Keith Keane | Cambridge United | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2015 | AM | Jack King | Scunthorpe United | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2015 | LB | Scott Laird | Scunthorpe United | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2015 | GK | Thorsten Stuckmann | Doncaster Rovers | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2015 | RB | Scott Wiseman | Scunthorpe United | Free transfer |
| 29 January 2016 | GK | Jamie Jones | Stevenage | Free transfer |
* ↑ Following Buchanan's release on 28 May 2015, he later signed for Northampton Town.
* ↑ Following Ebanks-Blake release on 28 May 2015, he later signed for Chesterfield.
* ↑ Following Holmes' release on 28 May 2015, he later signed for Exeter City.
* ↑ Following Keane's release on 28 May 2015, he later signed for Cambridge United.
* ↑ Following King's release on 28 May 2015, he later signed for Scunthorpe United.
* ↑ Following Wiseman's release on 28 May 2015, he later signed for Scunthorpe United.

### Loans in

| Date from | Position | Name | From | Date until |
| 8 July 2015 | CF | Will Keane | Manchester United | End of season |
| 31 July 2015 | GK | Jordan Pickford | Sunderland | 31 December 2015 |
| 6 August 2015 | RB | Marnick Vermijl | Sheffield Wednesday | End of season |
| 1 September 2015 | CF | Eoin Doyle | Cardiff City | End of season |
| 26 September 2015 | LM | Adam Reach | Middlesbrough | End of Season |
| 3 October 2015 | DF | Paddy McCarthy | Crystal Palace | 4 January 2016 |
| 31 December 2015 | GK | Sam Johnstone | Manchester United | 23 January 2016 |
| 5 January 2016 | CF | Callum Robinson | Aston Villa | End of Season |
| 23 January 2016 | GK | Anders Lindegaard | West Bromwich Albion | End of Season |

### Loans out

| Date from | Position | Name | To | Date until |
| 5 August 2015 | CF | Jack Ryan | Morecambe | 23 October 2015 |
| 10 August 2015 | LB | Nick Anderton | Aldershot Town | 7 September 2015 |
| 11 September 2015 | DF | Ben Davies | Southport | 20 October 2015 |
| 11 September 2015 | GK | Jamie Jones | Colchester United | 11 December 2015 |
| 2 October 2015 | WG | Kyel Reid | Bradford City | 2 January 2016 |
| 23 October 2015 | CF | Jack Ryan | Southport | End of Season |
| 6 November 2015 | LB | Nick Anderton | Barrow | End of season |
| 17 November 2015 | CF | Andy Little | Blackpool | 30 January 2016 |
| 18 November 2015 | GK | Steven James | Droylsden | 16 January 2016 |
| 26 November 2015 | CB | Josh Heaton | Tamworth | 3 January 2016 |
| 7 January 2016 | DF | Ben Davies | Newport County | End of season |
| 14 January 2016 | MF | Josh Brownhill | Barnsley | End of season |
| 24 March 2016 | CF | Andy Little | Accrington Stanley | End of season |

## Competitions
### Pre-season friendlies

On 1 June 2015, Preston North End announced their first friendly against Chorley, competing for the Jack Kirkland Trophy. Pre-season friendlies were announced on the club's fixture list.

### Championship
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 9 | Brentford | 46 | 19 | 8 | 19 | 72 | 67 | +5 | 65 |
| 10 | Birmingham City | 46 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 53 | 49 | +4 | 63 |
| 11 | Preston North End | 46 | 15 | 17 | 14 | 45 | 45 | 0 | 62 |
| 12 | Queens Park Rangers | 46 | 14 | 18 | 14 | 54 | 54 | 0 | 60 |
| 13 | Leeds United | 46 | 14 | 17 | 15 | 50 | 58 | −8 | 59 |