<\/p>\n

Key facts<\/h3>\n

Club: Preston North End FC | Opening: 1875 | Capacity: 23,404 seats<\/p>\n

History and description<\/h3>\n

Deepdale has been the home of Preston since 1875, which makes it the oldest continuous professional football ground in the world.<\/p>\n

By the turn of the century, Deepdale already was a relatively developed ground with a main stand and two open stands at the ends. Between 1921 and 1934 three new stands were built, starting with both stands behind the goals and concluded with the Pavilion Stand at the side.<\/p>\n

The stadium could hold about 45,000 spectators at that time, and recorded its highest attendance of 42,684 in a league match against Arsenal in 1938.<\/p>\n

Only smaller improvements were made in the next decades including the construction of additional roofs over the ends. In 1986, Preston was the first club to install an artificial pitch, a move widely criticised by fans, and in 1994 the club therefore reverted back to a natural pitch.<\/p>\n

In 1995, Preston started a large redevelopment program inspired by Genova’s Stadio Luigi Ferraris<\/a>, that would result in the entire reconstruction of Deepdale. First the Sir Tom Finney Stand was built in place of the old main stand, followed two\u00a0years later by the new Bill Shankly Kop\u00a0behind the goal.<\/p>\n

In 2001, the other stand behind the goal, the Alan Kelly Stand, was completed, but it took until 2007 for the old Pavilion Stand to be demolished and replaced with a new stand, thus completing the transformation of Deepdale into a modern stadium.<\/p>\n

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