Inflatables, flares and throwback chants: Preston was an away end for the ages
The promotion party steamrolled into Preston in style. With a 5,000 strong away end and the scenes of celebrations at the end, this isn’t one we’ll be forgetting anytime soon. This is a postcard from the away end.
Running on caffeine, a Vardy special or just pure adrenaline? We feel you. The party will roll on, seemingly as it has all week for some fans and our squad (treat yourself to Vardy's new reel on Instagram and then drink in that performance again), but I haven't got over last night yet. Preston away felt like the physical embodiment of ‘here for a good time, not a long time’ that we adopted earlier in the season.
Buzzing, bleary eyed and bruised. That's how I'm feeling post Preston promotion party and I'm sure that I'm not alone. For those of us expected to work, our employers weren't expecting productivity were they? They're not Leicester fans if they did.
What are uneventful seasons?
At what point do we have to stop saying “what a night” after Leicester games because when you run it down the last ten years we are bloody lucky with the trophies, European trips and nights like this that we've had. Preston deserves to crash into that list because it had it all. One of the all time away days and one of the best away ends.
I wasn't the only one who hadn't seen this in my future. When it was originally scheduled for Saturday, I couldn't go as I was away for the weekend. Not great planning in hindsight really, but luckily it got moved and the stars aligned. Initially, I expected it to be more about promotion and I was just one of many who spontaneously bought a ticket post Southampton in the fever dream of the 5-0 win. It looked like a ‘had to be there' and it was. The kind of night that'll stay with you.
It was a night of non stop chanting. It started at The White Hart pub for me, but countless other pubs and social clubs for others. Cars driving past with people hanging out the window and the rare luxury of free, street parking to further lift the mood. Everybody was kitted out in shirts, scarves, scratchy blue wigs and a lot of Jamie Vardy masks.
If any shops in Leicestershire still have blue and white balloons and ticker tape, we’re going to need a whole bunch more for Saturday please! I’m already hitting the shops to see what I can find.
I'll admit that I'm a sucker for nostalgia and this away end was like a run through of the last ten years with the chants. Any memorable player, manager or chant got a runout. Picking a favourite is tough, I was leaning to the Ulloa chant given Vestergaard also wears 23 and cost a fair whack, it seemed topical.
But having been unable to hear Zombie Nation without bursting into song for Riyad Mahrez since 2015, that was a personal highlight. A reminder of this ridiculous journey we've been on and the many, many highs.
Inflatables for days
Going all out for the last away day of the season, fancy dress (there was a guy in a Pink Panther outfit who had seen things) and the works, is a long standing tradition that never fails to entertain. It helps when the game already had a huge amount of excitement around it, but it just makes football more fun.
There were inflatables everywhere, some that made sense (kudos to the sharks for Albrighton and the champagne bottles that the players seemed to love), others like unicorns and cows…not so much.
It was in an unmoving queue in the concourse where I got roped into helping out a guy inflate a never ending supply of inflatables with a mini balloon pump. The highlight of which was a miniature dinosaur and a cat they were just going to pass off as a fox.
It all felt a bit ‘carry on’ for anybody watching and listening but it was great to see them flying around the away end later. A child enthusiastically waving an inflatable dinosaur around after Vardy’s second goal was a lovely sight.
Sadly a lot of inflatables ended up in the clutches of the Preston stewards and police who swiftly confiscated them. Cue the chants of we want our ball back and mock booing. Which only led to a huge amount more things ending up on the pitch to delay proceedings some more.
A highlight of which might have been how cautious the fire officer was in dealing with the flare that ended up on the pitch. Pre-match in the concourse, there were flares everywhere to go alongside the chants and the inflatables. Mini football matches happening with oversized footballs, people running into old friends and just chatting to strangers who all share the same passion. You can't beat it really.
I find myself a solo supporter this season, and it may mean some minutes of quiet downtime, dancing by myself in the car, but if it's to go to games alone versus not going, then I know what I'm choosing. Besides, we're generally a friendly bunch. I spent the match chatting to the gentleman next to me as we bemoaned our set piece taking, enjoyed cracking out all the old chants and then soaked up the celebrations at the end. We're all Leicester.
We didn't quite manage a The Fosse Way meetup in the end, logistics didn't quite work out but a few of us managed to briefly say hi or wave across a blue smoke flare filled concourse. The sheer chaos of it all only added to the enjoyment. The concourse was bouncing long before kick-off.
Thanks to Preston North End too, they were generally quite relaxed in their approach to dealing with us (and clearly didn't search anybody too thoroughly) and a few stewards had smiles on their faces at various chants. We may have threatened to be on the pitch but I think they took it at its face value of just banter.
A Preston fiesta
The home fans near the away end ended up joining in a few chants aimed at Leeds and a few stayed to watch us celebrate. At first anyway. The club being gracious enough to play When You're Smiling for us was a nice cherry on the cake. I'd always enjoyed Preston as an away day, it's carried great memories of the past and this tops them all.
If you’re partial to associating moments with songs (guilty), then last night may have cemented another one. Preston playing One Republic’s ‘Counting Stars’ as we got our champagne and celebrations will now be stuck in my head, like Kygo’s ‘Firestone’ was for our Premier League title.
There was something about the connection last night between the away end and the fans. It felt special. It's been a slightly bumpy road here and the away fans, those of you who do it week in, week out have seen it all. It's for you that last night was incredibly deserved and seeing the players react to it was my biggest takeaway.
Virtually every player got to have a special moment. Naturally the legends that are Jamie Vardy and Marc Albrighton got a particularly special moment. Seeing Harry Winks dancing with a blue wig and Leicester scarf while Sky tried to corral him over to be interviewed alongside Conor Coady.
Mads Hermansen being the pure ball of puppy like joy that he is dancing with the likes of Abdul and Mavididi. And a huge thing for our loanees, Doyle and Fatawu both just revelling in the celebrations. Seeing our academy products in Choudhury, Dewsbury-Hall and McAteer having their own moment. The list is endless.
Dewsbury-Hall being interviewed, the lone Leicester player on the pitch and hearing the fans singing for him. They're all burned onto my retinas and kept me going on a journey entirely disrupted by the M6 and its numerous closures.
When it became clear that none of us were ready to leave, the players seemed to share that feeling, charging back onto the pitch to full and slide back in front of the still bouncing away end. Sure, Dewsbury-Hall might have injured himself with one too many slides and Vardy smashing into the advertising hoardings may not do him any good either but who can argue with any of it?
For the fan after fan that’s clamouring over each other to smugly say ‘enjoy your point deductions’ or ‘see you in a year’. Yeah, you’re probably right. We know it. It’s what makes celebrating the here and now even more important, and dare I say it…more fun.
We’ve got no control over that side of it, but I can let myself roll fully into the promotion, party atmosphere. To channel another song (see what you’ve done Preston), ‘I ain’t worried about it right now’. Roll on Blackburn on Saturday!
