Origins
Preston North End were founded as a cricket club in 1863, although it would take fifteen years after the formation of the club in its original form before their first football match.
The cricket team played their first game in the summer of 1863 at 'The Marsh', a strip of land next to the River Ribble in Ashton; it has been reported they were known for a short period of time as Preston Nelson, but Nelson and North End have played on the same day giving huge doubts to this fact. The club soon adopted the suffix 'North End' as they were based in the north end of Preston.
The club's move to the Deepdale area of the town dates back to January 1875, when land at Deepdale Farm was used. At this point, North End adopted rugby union as a second sport in an attempt to attract enough spectators to offset the heavy costs of the cricketers.
This proved a failed experiment. By this time, rival side Preston Grasshoppers had been in existence for a number of years, and it proved impossible to compete with the two or three thousand spectators they managed to attract each week.
However, prompted by the success of the sport in East Lancashire, the club gradually adopted association football, and on 5 October 1878 they played their first match, losing 1-0 to Eagley F.C. In May 1880 they made the decision to permanently adopt the association code. The club played ten games that season, including one against Blackburn Rovers on 26 March 1881. It is reported that Preston were beaten 16-0. Preston North End still played cricket during the summer months.
Read more about this topic: History Of Preston North End F.C.
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