Fans wait on Sir Tom Finney Way at Deepdale to get their tickets for the Birmingham v Preston North End Championship play-off match in 2001Fans wait on Sir Tom Finney Way at Deepdale to get their tickets for the Birmingham v Preston North End Championship play-off match in 2001
Fans wait on Sir Tom Finney Way at Deepdale to get their tickets for the Birmingham v Preston North End Championship play-off match in 2001

23 superb pictures of Preston North End fans from yesteryear queuing for tickets at Deepdale: gallery

Remember those days when you had to take your place in the queue to get your hands on a Preston North End match-day ticket?

It might be an alien concept for certain Lilywhites fans now, but back in the day it was common practice for supporters to head to Deepdale in order to get their match-day tickets.

With no internet to book seats from home, no high-tech phones to download your match tickets, or no simple clicks of a button to transfer your payment to either the club or a mate, at times the only way to guarantee your place at the game was by joining a physical queue and putting up with the weather!

Some, of course, were longer than others - depending on the game in question. Yet they still required perhaps an early alarm call, a detour on your way to or home from work, or a mate or family member good enough to get in line on your behalf if work or college got in the way of the sales window opening.

A tent, sleeping back, a picnic hamper and a good-old newspaper might have been required on other occasions. And there were plenty of North End fans prepared to do it when the need arised as they looked to be part of the Preston fan base for these memorable games.

To salute these efforts, we've been looking through our picture archive to capture these moments. Here's 23 of our favourite snaps as Preston North End fans from yesteryear look to snap up PNE tickets.

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