CITIZEN PNE reporter Tom Parker believes North End's supporters are simply fan-tastic. Writing especially for We'll Support You Ever More, he explains why...

It is easy to be a supporter of the likes of Manchester United or Arsenal because they go on picking up trophies year in, year out.

Those fans sit in the stand and watch it all unfold in front of them as if they have some divine right to win.

From my point of view, they just don't compare with the Deepdale supporters of Preston North End.

They have been kind enough to adopt me, accept me as one of their own and in my years of broadcasting I have been through the good times and the bad with them.

Always though, they stick with the team.

On my travels around the country, they are there at distant away grounds on winter nights and afternoons, paying their hard-earned money to watch the team.

They chant, they cheer, they are often disappointed, often ecstatic but always it is Preston North End.

This season, in the FA Cup against Arsenal they gave the Gunners a real fright when North End went two goals up.

The Arsenal crowd were silenced and the Highbury support only got their voices back in the closing stages when Arsenal were in front.

Not so North End.

They shouted louder and louder and cheered on the final whistle. That is true support.

This season they have had a marvellous crack at promotion against all the anticipated odds. There has been the disappointment of losing out on automatic promotion, the agony of the playoffs, yet the fans have remained loyal.

They continue to get behind the team, they never let go and David Moyes will surely agree that his supporters have won valuable points as they lifted the players.

In the early part of the season when it was all going so well, the journey home, meeting the fans at the motorway services, talking about the game and the promotion hopes was a joy.

When things started to go adrift they were still there, still supporting PNE, still believing that promotion could be won with that unwavering support. How marvellous.

Of course, they have their moans - that is their right. After all, they pay their money at the turnstiles.

Yet they do it in a constructive manner, almost apologetically.

Above all, they know the game, they understand it and they applaud the opposition even in disappointment.

Where else would you get supporters giving the likes of Ford Utd such a marvellous ovation in the FA Cup?

The ground needs to be finished to make it one of the finest stadiums in the country. Yet it must be remembered that players are required as well.

The fans deserve a Premiership place.

To the directors, the manager, the players, the backroom staff at Deepdale, I say, be grateful for the kind of support that you have.

They haven't exactly been overwhelmed with success down the years yet there they still are, that hard core of fantastic support.

As I said, Manchester United, Arsenal, that is easy.

Preston North End supporters...? Can't Help Falling In Love With You!

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.