Preston owner Trevor Hemmings is eager to maintain the family dynasty at Deepdale after appointing son Craig as chairman

Hemmings, the son of PNE owner Trevor Hemmings, was named chairman yesterday.

It is a position which has been unfilled since 2012 but North End felt the time was right to make Hemmings Jnr’s involvement more official.

Having represented his dad’s interests in meetings for some time, the 57-year-old is no stranger to the workings of the Lilywhites.

He grew up supporting the club and has retained a strong interest in them throughout.

There won’t be changes to the structure of North End as a result of Hemmings taking the chairman’s position.

Peter Ridsdale, continues as advisor on the football side of the club.

PNE boss Alex Neil reports to Ridsdale who vacated the chairman of football role in October 2012.

In the boardroom, Craig Hemmings will join finance director Kevin Abbott, chief executive John Kay, together with non-executive directors David Taylor, David Robinson and Anthony Hughes.

Trevor Hemmings has owned PNE since 2010, with his first involvement on the club’s board coming in the early 1970s.

Aged 84, he remains in daily contact with Deepdale and regularly travels from his home in the Isle of Man.

In a statement announcing his appointment, Craig Hemmings said: “I have been able to get an understanding of the workings of the club in recent seasons and we have a very hard-working and dedicated group of staff.

“We have a young and exciting group of players, led by Alex Neil, with the close involvement of Peter Ridsdale on all footballing matters.

“I look forward to my continued involvement in PNE in this new position.”

On the playing front, the majority of the Preston squad were back for pre-season training yesterday.

Callum Robinson and Sean Maguire were the exceptions, they will return in the middle of next week having been on Republic of Ireland duty.

Alan Browne had also been given extra time off but opted to come back yesterday.

Patrick Bauer was the one new face at Springfields but North End are looking to do more business.

It is understood that they held talks with a target this week, a player who is out of contract at his club but has been offered fresh terms.

Their interest in Arijanet Muric, the young Manchester City keeper, is at an end.

The Kosovo international is set to join Nottingham Forest on loan for the season.

At the moment, Preston have five goalkeepers on the first-team books.