GALLAGHER SEES NO END TO PRESTON LOVE AFFAIR
CHAMPIONSHIP BRISTOL CITY V PRESTON SATURDAY, 3PM
WHEN Paul Gallagher was injured earlier this season he still turned up to training – to help coach his Preston team-mates.
It is typical of the dedication the fans’ favourite has for the Lancashire club. The one-time Scotland midfielder is in his fourth spell at North End but at the age of 36 is not ready to hang up his boots just yet.
While game time has been more limited this season, his performance just before Christmas in the 1-0 win over Bristol City was hailed by the national press and he started every game in a three-match winning run.
‘When you play a few games on the bounce you start getting your rhythm back and I feel back to my old self and am enjoying helping the team,’ says Gallagher, who hopes to feature in the return game at Ashton Gate tomorrow.
‘We are now looking up instead of over our shoulder.’
And he is determined to show doubters he can still contribute to manager Alex Neil’s 12th-placed side in the hurly-burly of the Championship.
‘In any job you always want to prove people wrong, don’t you? You get to a certain age and people write you off and say he’s past it or over the hill. But I love playing,’ he adds.
Gallagher says coaching has opened his eyes to the other side of the game. ‘When you are younger you are just focused on yourself. You are just out there running around,’ he says.
‘As you get older you see the bigger picture. You try to see things before they happen.’
Gallagher has played more than 300 games for the club after finally joining permanently in 2015 following three loan spells. Why does he keep coming back? ‘It’s the relationship I have with the supporters, the success I have had here. There is always a stepping stone.’
Preston lost in the League One playoffs in 2014 but earned promotion to the Championship via a 4-0 Wembley win over Swindon the following year.
‘It was well documented how bad of a record Preston had in the play-offs so everyone was on about the voodoo,’ says Gallagher. ‘That drove the players on to break that record and we did it. It was one of my proudest moments.
‘We made ourselves a solid Championship team. Then we finished seventh and just missed out on the play-offs.
‘This club is always pushing, that’s why it’s special. That’s what you want to be part of.
‘When you’ve been here eight or nine years you feel part of the furniture. Every result means a lot. I have a great bond with the players, staff and fans. Everything is in a good place.
‘Everything here is set up for Premier League football when you look at the infrastructure – the stadium, the new training ground.’ Gallagher takes heart from Preston’s near neighbours, who have all had a stint in the top flight.
‘The hardest thing is getting there. If you look around the north west – Blackburn, Blackpool, Burnley, Wigan have all had a shot at it. We are on the verge of something special. If we did get in the play-offs no team would fancy playing against us, that’s for sure. Plenty of teams have come off that pitch saying Preston are one of the hardest teams to play against.
‘But the north west is full of great football clubs and when you are trying to recruit players these so-called bigger clubs always have the first look at them. We are surrounded by clubs with much bigger budgets but we give them good games. We are probably bottom six budget-wise in this division but we are competing at the top end.
‘The manager is hungry, he wants to win. He’s had success before.
‘Everyone will probably look down at Preston but we believe we are good enough to compete.’