How the last 10 Preston North End managers fared in their first game ahead of Paul Heckingbottom's first match

The former Barnsley and Sheffield United boss was unveiled as the new manager of North End earlier this week, replacing Ryan Lowe who left only one game into the new season. He’s already overseen some training sessions and he will get a good idea of his squad over the coming days, with his first match coming up shortly.

He has the opportunity to endear himself to the supporters when North End host Luton at Deepdale this weekend with a win the best way of winning fans over quickly. It’s a tough first game though as they face one of the teams relegated from the Premier League.

The Hatters finished the highest out of the three teams relegated, but they’re yet to win a game this season after a 4-1 home defeat to Burnley, and a goalless draw at newly promoted Portsmouth. This week, they’ve splashed the cash after signing Mark McGuinness from Cardiff City, and have also recruited Liam Walsh after he left Swansea City. 

It’s a tricky job for a manager to come in when the season has already started, and whilst there’s a honeymoon period, there will come a time when he is compared to his predecessors. Here, we take a look at how the last 10 permanent managers of North End have fared in their first game in charge. 

Ryan Lowe

He was unveiled as North End's manager on December 7 after leaving Plymouth Argyle and then four days later he took charge of his first game. The 45-year-old oversaw a 2-1 win over Barnsley at Deepdale with Alan Browne and Daniel Johnson on target.

Frankie McAvoy

McAvoy was named the caretaker boss for the remainder of the season in March, and then he got the job on a permanent basis in May. The first game he oversaw was a 1-1 draw with Norwich City. It was during the COVID-19 pandemic and so there was no crowd at Deepdale, but Brad Potts scoring an equaliser in the fourth minute of added on time after Emi Buendia had opened the scoring for the Canaries. It was the first point of 19 that he would pick up in the eight games he would oversee on a caretaker basis before getting the job permanently.

Alex Neil

Alex Neil was appointed in the summer of 2017 and so at least he would have been afforded a pre-season, which would have given him more time to implement his ideas. A 7-0 friendly win over Bamber Bridge was the first time he stepped in to the dugout but as for his first competitive game, it was against Deepdale.

North End won 1-0 against Sheffield Wednesday with Daniel Johnson scoring a penalty in the 79th minute after Tom Lees brought down Jordan Hugill in the box.

Simon Grayson

There were five days between Graham Westley's sacking and Simon Grayson's appointment. John Dreyer managed the team for one game on a caretaker basis, where he witnessed a 2-0 win over Bournemouth.

As for Grayson, he was appointed on February 18, and his tenure would begin away at table-topping Swindon Town, where he'd oversee a 1-1 draw. Will Hayhurst scored his first professional goal to get the Grayson era up and running but Adam Rooney scored an equaliser for the Robins with 15 minutes remaining.

Graham Westley

It was a whole month until North End decided on Graham Westley after parting company with Phil Brown. David Unsworth and Graham Alexander oversaw the team on a caretaker basis with two wins, two draws and a defeat.

A compensation package was agreed and Westley swapped Stevenage for Lancashire. He was in the stands as he watched his new side beat Wycombe Wanderers 3-2 a day after his appointment, with his first game not taking place until a week later.

In front of a home crowd, Leyton Orient inflicted a 2-0 defeat on to North End, with second-half efforts from Marc Laird and Jimmy Smith.

Phil Brown

Preston North End was Phil Brown's first job since leaving Hull City after guiding them to the Premier League via the play-offs. He took over in early January, which allowed him to add to his squad.

Another reign as North End manager began at Deepdale, and this was an FA Cup tie, compared to most of the other bosses who began with the bread and butter of the league. Unfortunately the Phil Brown era got underway with a defeat. Darren Carter opened the scoring with a 25-yard effort but that was as good as it got as in the second-half Paul Anderson equalised, before Luke Chambers scored in the final minute of regulation time.

Darren Ferguson

Darren Ferguson had done a good job at Peterborough United, and so in January after parting with Alan Irvine, they looked to him. PNE had won 7-0 in an FA Cup tie against Colchester United so the team should have been in good spirits but instead they lost to Bristol City.

It was the worst possible start as Danny Haynes and Liam Fontaine put the Robins 2-0 up inside 12 minutes. Chris Brown pulled a goal back just before the half hour mark but 12 minutes in to second-half, Louis Carey restored City's two goal lead before Evander Sno further increased their advantage. Ross Wallace did score a goal in stoppage time, but that acted only as a consolation as they lost 4-2 at Ashton Gate.

Alan Irvine

A Deepdale debut that started with a defeat. Zheng Zhi and substitute Luke Varney scored in either half as Alan Irvine's reign began with a defeat to Alan Pardew.

Paul Simpson

A crowd of 15,650 were in attendance at Deepdale as Paul Simpson's first competitive game in charge was a goalless draw with Sheffield Wednesday.

Billy Davies

North End began the season with Craig Brown in charge, but opted to leave at the end of August following a poor start to the campaign. Davies took over at the end of August on a caretaker basis, and his reign began on a positive note. Dickson Etuhu scored twice in front of a 11,439 crowd at Deepdale.