Away-day guide
Deepdale, the Lilywhites.
Quick takeaways
About the place
Deepdale sits about a mile and a half north of the city centre.
It’s a compact ground with steep stands, making you feel close to the action wherever you're sitting.
The cantilevered roof, supported by distinctive latticed steelwork, traps the noise and keeps most supporters sheltered.
Under the floodlights on a midweek night, it's one of the best atmospheres in the Championship.
Outside the stadium, there's a statue of PNE legend Sir Tom Finney's famous 'splash' through standing water at Stamford Bridge. It's a working water feature, and is lit up at night.
Near to this you’ll find the Dick, Kerr Ladies Monument, recognising the achievements of one of the first (and most successful) ladies football teams in the country.
The Away End is in the Bill Shankly Stand, which is on the North End of the stadium (ahem).
Club info
Section 02
By train
Preston station is a good 35 minutes away from Deepdale. Walkable, but weather-dependent.
You could of course break this journey up by stopping at a pub or two along the way. The Moorbrook is a great option for beer and pizza (see Pubs below).
By bus
The 19/19A bus will take you from the station to the stadium.
Taxi / Uber
It's about 10 minutes by car from the station.
Local taxi firm: Miller Taxis — 01772 884 000
Section 03
Parking options
There is parking at the stadium, bookable via the PNE ticket office on 0344 856 1966. Cost: £15 (rate as of 2025-26 season).
As we always say; parking this close to the stadium will likely mean a slower getaway, especially as the post-match traffic around Deepdale can be heavy.
The Bill Shankly Kop car park has two disabled parking bays for visiting supporters, which must be booked in advance. These are priced at £15 (rate as of 2025-26 season) a space and sold subject to availability.
If you are unable to secure a parking spot in the Kop car park, there are two drop-off points — at the Sir Tom Finney Stand, and the Invincibles Pavilion.
Near the stadium
Min walk
On-street parking over the road from the stadium.
Moor Park Avenue, Preston
Notes
Many fans choose to park on this street, which is over the road from the stadium. As you’d imagine, it gets busy, so the earlier you get there, the more likely you are to find a space. Note that this road may be closed for high profile fixtures.
Min walk
Over the road from the stadium.
Sir Tom Finney Way, Preston
Notes
The entrance is on Sir Tom Finney Way, opposite the stadium.
Min walk
Matchday car parking over the road from the stadium, with profits supporting the school.
Moor Park Ave, Preston, PR1 6DT
Notes
We’ve tried to park here for an evening game, and it wasn’t open. Unless anyone tells us different, we’re treating this as a daytime option only. Gates open 2 hours before kick-off and shut 1 hour after the full-time whistle.
Min walk
Round the corner from the ground.
Flintoff Way, Preston, PR1 6PJ
Min walk
As well as a great spot for food and drink, matchday parking is available.
242-244 Blackpool Rd, Preston, PR1 6HQ (car park accessed via Holme Slack Lane)
Min walk
On-street parking, popular with home and away fans.
Watling Street Road, Preston — east of the junction with Sir Tom Finney Way
Notes
East of the junction with Sir Tom Finney Way, you’ll find on-street parking, popular with home and away fans. As ever, park at your own risk, don't impact local residents, etc. 15-20 minutes from the stadium.
Matchday road closures
Matchday road closures at Deepdale are dynamically enforced for high-profile fixtures or exceptionally busy matchdays, to manage traffic and ensure supporter safety. Where road closures are necessary, the following restrictions may apply:
Post-match traffic
Post-match traffic around Deepdale can be slow going, and it can take an hour or more for traffic around the stadium to ease. As ever, if you’re parked at or near the stadium, expect delays.
Deepdale Road and Blackpool Road get particularly busy, especially the intersection of the two.
If you’re parked further out, for example on Watling Street Road, you can completely avoid the congestion around the stadium. Head eastwards and you’ll pick up signs for the M6 South. This puts you on the M6 at Junction 31A and avoids the traffic heading for Junction 31.
Section 04
A few minutes away from the stadium is the Deepdale Retail Park, which has some major chains; Nando's, Five Guys, KFC and McDonald's.
When we visited, we only had time to grab a pie inside the ground, which was one of the best we’ve had (we think it was the same supplier as at Blackburn Rovers).
But since then, we’ve done our research and have found these places:
Closer to the stadium
103-111 Market St W, Preston, PR1 2HB
A former industrial warehouse featuring five independent food vendors. Reviews online say that it can get cold in there in winter, so wrap up warm.
Unit 6, animate building, Preston, PR1 2BL
Food hall with a range of highly-rated vendors and live sports.
37 Moor Ln, Preston PR1 7AT
Highly-rated tacos and loaded fries.
11 Butler St, Preston, PR1 8BN
Unsurprisingly, it’s next to Preston Station. Live sport. Pool table & dartboard.
79 Fishergate, Preston, PR1 2UH
Real ale pub opposite the station.
140 Church St, Preston, PR1 3BU — in town
Lively spot with live sports on big screens.
42 Church St, Preston, PR1 3DH
City centre pub, with live sport and a pool table.
15 Church St, Preston, PR1 3BQ — in town
You know the drill, it’s a Wetherspoon’s.
144-146 Church St, Preston, PR1 3AB — in town
Popular bar chain, serving food.
370 North Rd, Preston, PR1 1RU
Craft beers and a huge beer garden. Highly-rated pizza. It’s a good halfway stop-off point: 20 minutes from the station, 20 minutes to Deepdale.
242, 244 Blackpool Rd, Preston, PR1 6HQ
Welcoming spot for away fans, noted for good value for money and great pies. Typically, £1 entry — parking also available for approximately £5.
230 Watling St Rd, Fulwood, Preston, PR2 8AD — only 10-15 minutes to the ground
Popular pub with away fans, showing live sports. It has a car park that fills up quickly on matchdays.
Inside the ground
Outside the ground, there are numerous food stalls dotted around the ground, including a SPUD BROS stall.
On the concourse, expect decent pies, as well as hotdogs.
Section 05
The matchday experience at Deepdale has a good reputation, with Preston winning awards for their away fan experience.
The Bill Shankly Kop is a steep, covered single-tier stand behind the goal, with a decent allocation of 3,000 that can be increased according to demand. This gives it the potential to be a cracking away end, especially under the lights.
Section 06
This was an evening kick-off after work, so it was always going to be a race against time. The plan was to get up there, get parked, and eat outside the ground.
We'd had a look online and a few places suggested parking at Moor Park High School, right by the stadium. So that’s where we headed. From the M6, the sat nav took us via New Hall Road.
It was really slow at the junction with Stanley Street. And slow again to then turn right onto Church Street, before taking the left fork onto Deepdale Road. The kind of slow where the lights go green and you can't move.
Finally, we were on Deepdale Road, which turns into Sir Tom Finney Way. The famous floodlights came into view.
Saw the school on the left. The lights were off. Now what? It was only 40 minutes until kick-off. Our plans for pre-match eats were dissolving fast.
Now it was all about getting parked up somewhere and making kick-off. But where? We only know the stadium and the school.
We headed north and made a couple of panic decisions at junctions, trying to avoid roads that looked like they would take us out of town. Through dumb luck, we ended up doing a right and a right and ended up on Watling Street Road.
We could see fans parking up, so we found the first space we could, right outside the White Hart pub. We saw away fans leaving the pub to walk to the ground.
We followed the crowd and got to Deepdale at 19:25. We took a quick pic at the Sir Tom Finney Splash statue, which was illuminated. Then straight into the ground for a rushed pie (same supplier as Blackburn - very good to be fair). We made it to our seat with about 10 minutes to spare.
After the game, we retraced our steps back to the car. We headed east on Watling Street Road and immediately picked up signs for the M6 South. This took us out to Junction 31A in a few minutes. No traffic at all.
Had we known about this, we could've avoided the local traffic on the way in and gone straight there. Which would've put us outside the stadium an hour before kick-off, with time to eat. We’d definitely park on Watling Street Road again.
If you've got more time
Take a punt
5questions, multigenerational. Some you'll know, some only a long-time fan would. No timer, no leaderboard — just for the fun of it.
Reviewed by Andy · 2 weeks ago