PNE in Numbers: Preston hit 5,000 Football League points

There was plenty of drama about Preston North End's win at Hull City on Tuesday night.
Tom Barkhuizen takes on Max Clark in the 2-1 win at Hull on TuesdayTom Barkhuizen takes on Max Clark in the 2-1 win at Hull on Tuesday
Tom Barkhuizen takes on Max Clark in the 2-1 win at Hull on Tuesday

Callum Robinson’s 88th-minute winner in the 2-1 victory sent the 1,419 travelling fans wild as the Lilywhites’ fine start to life under Alex Neil continued.

It was first victory at the KCOM Stadium and a first in Hull for 25 years, that one coming at Boothferry Park in September 1992 with Preston running out 4-2 winners on that occasion.

It also saw PNE reach a major landmark.

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Ending the run of four defeats and a draw at Hull’s new home saw North End pass the 5,000 points mark in the Football League.

It has taken 4,878 games to achieve this milestone at an average of 1.025 points per game.

The 5,000 total includes 3,612 at home, 2,439 games at 1.48 points per game, from 1,288 wins and 627 draws

Some 2,063 points have been gathered away from Deepdale, 2,439 games at 0.84 points per game, following 606 wins and 623 draws

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North End started their league career by taking a maximum 12 points from their first six games and they only dropped four points in total during the inaugural 1888-89 season, The Invincibles reigning supreme.

It took PNE exactly three seasons, some 66 games, to achieve 100 points, at 1.51 points per game.

The 500-point mark was reached in 1903 in their 454th game and 1,000 was passed 17 years later, after three seasons were lost to the Great War, in game 942 with a 6-1 demolition of Aston Villa.

Despite the successful side of the 1930s that ran Arsenal close for the league title, it took another 21 years to achieve 2,000 points, although there was no league football for seven of those due to the Second World War.

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This time it was an away win, 4-2 at Brentford, that saw the record achieved.

A goalless home draw with Shrewsbury in game 3,186 was the first time Preston had averaged less than a point a game with the 3,000 barrier broken.

The change to three points for a win in 1981 did not put North End back on track, as a run of poor seasons in the mid-1980s saw PNE once again fall below par when achieving 4,000 points in 4,182 games in 2002.

This time, it was a dramatic last-minute winner in a 4-3 victory over Stoke City that saw the Lilywhites over the line.

Successful seasons since have seen PNE back over the point a game mark with 6,000 in the less than 6,000 games the next target.

With thanks to Martin Atherton for the stats.