Preston North End faithful set up new supporters' group with a fan zone at Deepdale among its aims

The Preston Underground revealed their intentions on Twitter, stressing they are a positive group who want to work in tandem with PNE.

They have held a first meeting with a club official and an initial target for the group is to improve the matchday experience at North End with the creation of a fan zone outside the ground.

PNE have been without an active supporters’ group for some time, with them the only Championship club not to have a grouping linked with the Football Supporters’ Association.

In a letter sent to PNE, the fans’ group listed their aims.

They wrote: “We are a positive North End supporters’ group from all walks of life with a shared lifelong passion for our club.

“We want to see the club adopt a realistic and long-term plan to grow and to become more sustainable .

“To become less reliant on the ever-increasing cash input from our generous benefactor Trevor Hemmings.

“One-off initiatives do not work and we want the club to acknowledge that a radical rethink of strategy is required if we are to reduce the financial input of Trevor Hemmings which increases year on year.

“We want the club to make a real attempt to reconnect with the city of Preston and to accept that being the biggest building in Preston is no longer enough to attract and sustain an increased fan-base.

“Our group want to see for the start of next season, the development of a top-class fan zone to attract fans young, old and families to the ground to enjoy the whole matchday experience.

“Not just the 90 minutes of football which, very often in recent seasons, can be disappointing.

“Fan zones at other stadiums includes bars, several quality food offerings, live music, entertainment and games for the children.

“We have adopted the ‘Make Matchday More Than 90 Minutes’ as our organisation’s slogan.

“We feel this would be an easy win to start to rebuild the engagement with fans, attract new and lapsed supporters, by making Deepdale the must-go-to place on a matchday.

“Upon adoption of the fan zone we have several other very positive initiatives and in due course will share these with you and the club.”

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