Preston North End were hoping to do something that they haven't done in 16-years on Wednesday night and that was to beat Southampton.
Tonight's match against Southampton at St Mary's Stadium has been postponed however, because of a large fire that is in close proximity to the ground. A decision was made with the local authorities and emergency services after significant disruption was caused in the area with road closures around the stadium as the fire service deal with the ongoing issue.
The Lilywhites and Southampton haven't clashed with each other much, and so PNE's class of 2024 will be hoping to do something that hasn't been since in 2007, and that's win against Southampton at their ground.
Saturday, December 22, 2007 is when Preston North End last recorded a victory over the Hampshire outfit. The two sides met in the 2008/2009 season, and then in the League Cup in 2011, before their 2-2 draw at Deepdale back in October.
To refresh your memory as to what happened the last time Preston North End beat Southampton, Lewis Neal netted a stoppage-time goal to take the points back to Lancashire. The Lilywhites were struggling at the time and had been second from bottom with 21 points, whilst Southampton were in mid-table. The victory lifted them out of the bottom three and they would go on to finish 15th.
At the time, then manager Alan Irvine said: ""We are now much more solid and better organised. But these things take time.
"I was disappointed with our first-half display but we were much improved after the break and I thought we deserved our goal.
"It was good that the two substitutes were involved, and Neal's goal was a composed finish.
Surprisingly, there is still one active player from that victory, and he's with a Premier League club. Others have moved on to coaching or recruitment roles, whilst others have sought employment outside of football, but have kept an interest in it, including writing a column for the LEP. Here's what became of the 14 players that featured against Southampton on that Saturday afternoon just three days before Christmas.
9. Paul Gallagher
He had four separate spells at Preston North End with three being loans before joining permanent in 2015. He was named the Player of the Decade by the fans for 2019 to 2019 in a vote published in January 2020. He retired in May 2021 and become a coach at PNE, but left to work alongside Alex Neil in July 2021. Despite the sacking of Neil and the appointment of Steven Schumacher, he remains a part of Stoke's coaching staff. | Getty Images
10. Simon Whaley
Left North End in 2009 having made more than 120 appearances. He'd play for Norwich City, Rochdale, Bradford City, Chesterfield, Doncaster Rovers, Burton Albion and Chorley but his appearances were limited and he retired in 2011. | Getty Images
11. Neil Mellor
Neil Mellor had to retire early through injury but has remained in the game. He's often seen on our television screens as a pundit or reporter for Sky Sports. | Liverpool FC via Getty Images
12. Lewis Neal
The scorer of the only goal of the game. He retired in 2020 with American outfit SeaWolves. He would play for Carlisle United, Shrewsbury Town, Orlando City and DC United after leaving PNE. He waas head coach of Miami FC, up until last winter. | Getty Images