Lowe, Grayson, Moyes and every Preston North End manager's win percentage this century

Preston North End have appointed a dozen managers this century - excluding caretaker bosses John Dreyer, David Unsworth, Graham Alexander, Rob Kelly and Kelham O’Hanlon. But, how do the league win, draw and loss percentages of each stack up versus one another? From David Moyes, to Alan Irvine and current man, Ryan Lowe, we have a look here...

1) David Moyes

It’s the Scotsman who tops this list, having overseen 233 games at Deepdale. Moyes won 48% of his matches in charge, drawing 25% and losing 27%. If only the Lilywhites could’ve got past Bolton Wanderers, in 2001...

2) Billy Davies

North End have had success with Scottish managers and Davies - who took PNE to successive play-off campaigns - is just behind Moyes. He won 45% of his 101 games in charge, with 35% drawn and 21% lost. Of all the managers here, Davies’ loss percentage is the lowest.

3) Simon Grayson

Just the man Preston needed, amid the danger of getting stuck in League One. Grayson guided North End back to the Championship in 2014/15, with it nine years since that play-off final win over Swindon Town. Grayson finished with a win percentage of 43, with 33% drawn and 24% lost.

4) Alan Irvine

Irvine took the Lilywhites close to the Premier League, too, agonisingly losing to Sheffield United in the 2009 play-off semi-finals. He took charge of 110 games and won 41% of them, drew 23% and lost 36%.

5) Paul Simpson

Simpson succeeded Davies in 2006 and would take North End to the top of the Championship table. He only lasted 67 games in total, though. Simpson - the current manager of Carlisle United - won 40% of his North End games, drew 21% and lost 39%.

6/7) Ryan Lowe and Alex Neil

The numbers here are very close, with Neil having spent July 2017 to March 2021 at Deepdale - and Lowe still in the hot seat, having been appointed in December 2021. Neil oversaw 191 games overall, with Lowe on 117 and counting. The win percentage of both is 38%. Neil drew 24% and lost 38%, with Lowe 26% for draws and 36% for defeats.

8) Craig Brown

The Scot was in charge after Moyes and before Davies, who was his assistant at PNE. Brown brought some wonderful players to the football club, with his eye for a player having come in for plenty of praise. He won 34% of his 106 games, drawing 28% and losing 38%.

9) Phil Brown

The ex-Hull City manager did reach his half-century of matches at Preston, not quite lasting a full year after replacing Darren Ferguson. He couldn’t keep PNE in the Championship and left with a win percentage of 30 - with it the same for draws. Brown lost 40% of games at PNE.

10) Frankie McAvoy

It’s only right to point out that McAvoy did have an eight game spell as caretaker boss, which yielded five wins, two draws and one defeat at the end of the 2020/21 season. He was then given the job full time and won 29%, drew 33% and lost 38% of his 21 games.

11) Darren Ferguson

Fergie Jr was appointed in January 2010 and dismissed in December of that year. A 3-1 defeat to Middlesbrough was his final game as boss. Ferguson won 27% of his 49 matches, drawing 22% and losing a sizable 51%.

12) Graham Westley

The final name in the list but, interestingly, Westley’s draw figure of 38% is the highest of anyone here. However, Westley won just 26% of his games at North End. He took charge of 61 matches, losing 36% of them - a figure actually lower than Ferguson, McAvoy, Brown, Brown, and Simpson, while level with Lowe and Neil.

Data courtesy of PNE statistician, Martin Atherton