Preston North End's new trio of staff in focus as former Wigan Athletic and Barnsley man arrives

The arrival of Jason Euell as first team coach at Preston North End has been well covered, but he is not the only new man at the club.

Earlier this month the Lilywhites confirmed changes to their footballing staff, across the fitness, recruitment and analysis departments.

Andy Liddell, Fitness Coach

The 51-year-old arrives with a catalogue of experience in the game, both as a player and coach. Liddell, who hails from Leeds, made more than 650 appearances in his playing days - representing Wigan Athletic, Barnsley and Oldham Athletic most notably, along with Sheffield United and Rotherham. He also turned out for Scotland at U21 level.

Liddle’s journey as a coach began with the Millers, after the ex-forward completed a PFA-run sports science degree towards the end of his playing career. He worked in a voluntary fitness and reserve team coaching role for a number of months, before Rotherham were able to start paying him.

Liddell then had a crack at the caretaker gig for around one month, before joining Ipswich Town to work under ex-Latics chief, Paul Jewell. Liddell was kept on by Mick McCarthy at Portman Road and stayed alongside him for almost seven years.

When McCarthy landed the Republic of Ireland job, he took Liddell with him. That lasted just shy of two years. Liddell - who speaks Portuguese - has since gained further experience as a head fitness coach, at Maccabi Tel Aviv and Rapid Bucharest.

Tom Reeves, Chief Scout

Recruitment analytics company MRKT Insights are no longer working in partnership with PNE. It was communicated in May that Head of Recruitment, James Wallace, was overseeing a restructure of the department.

Reeves, 36, will start with North End officially on June 23. After graduating from Edge Hill University with a degree in Coach Education and Participation Development, PE Teaching and Coaching, Reeves worked for more than one year as a grassroots scout/coach for Burnley.

He then made the move to Manchester United for 12 months, as one of their four grassroots scouts. It was then a return to Burnley, for three years, as head of pre-academy and foundation phase recruitment officer.

In September 2017, Reeves moved into a first team capacity with Norwich City - for whom he became a senior scout/positional lead scout. That was a six year stint, before almost two years in the same role at Middlesbrough. His switch to Boro saw him reunite with ex-Norwich colleagues Kieran Scott and Chris Jones, who were ‘impressed with his work-rate and ability when it came to identifying potential targets’.

Joe Walmsley, First Team Football Analyst

Walmsley returns to his boyhood club after four years at Wigan Athletic - for whom he operated as first team performance analyst, first team in-possession analyst and head of first team analysis. His previous spell at PNE lasted two years, as a first team technical scout after a stint as assistant performance analyst for the U18s.

He then spent 10 months working as head of performance analysis for Indian club East Bengal, before landing the role at Wigan. Walmsley graduated from UCLan with a first in Sport Coaching and Performance, and he has PFSA Talent ID Level 3, FA Talent ID Level 1 and FA Level 1 qualifications.

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