WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
We catch up with Preston North End’s 1986-87 promotion team
PRESTON North End were at their lowest ebb when John McGrath walked into Deepdale after they had to apply for re-election to the Football League.
The club had been relegated to the Fourth Division for the first time in 1985 and within 12 months had sunk almost as low as possible.
They finished 91st out of 92 clubs with no money, no training ground and little hope. But the appointment of McGrath as manager sparked a remarkable transformation.
At the cornerstone of this revival were Sam Allardyce, Alex Jones and Bob Atkins, who McGrath called ‘his solicitors’ because he reckoned their names together sounded like a law firm.
McGrath’s three-man sweeper style system, combined with goals from John Thomas and Gary Brazil, brought about a dramatic change of fortunes.
Promotion was clinched at Leyton Orient with games to spare, and they finished nine points behind champions Northampton Town after drawing two of their last three games against Peterborough United and Hartlepool.
Jones is quick to praise McGrath, the late Bury, Newcastle and Southampton defender, who he says was well ahead of his time in the Fourth Division.
Jones, a late summer signing, points out that most teams in the division at that time were playing 4-4-2 but McGrath liked wing-backs.
And he feels that McGrath was a very underrated manager for everything he achieved in those first 12 months at the club.
He said: “I think John did a tremendous job. He had the team very well organised. Everybody knew their job and his motivational skills were superb.
Temper
“Don’t get me wrong, he had a temper and he let you know when he wasn’t happy. But he used to make you feel ten feet tall when you went out onto the pitch.
“Where he was clever was in keeping players, like Gary Brazil and Bob Atkins, who hadn’t done a great deal previously, but who turned out to be wonderful players.
“He was a very good manager, very underrated in my view. I have nothing but respect for him, God bless him.
“We had our fall-outs and arguments but that’s just part and parcel of a football dressing room. All the lads had nothing but respect for him.” 1. Oshor Williams: Midfielder who won promotion with Port Vale, worked as a sports studies lecturer at Trafford College and coached at Aberdeen. He is now assistant director of education for the PFA.
2. Andy McAteer: The full-back saw his career ended at 28. He went to work in insurance with CIS and has been a gas fitting engineer for Preston-based firm George Beesley for 13 years.
3. Bob Atkins: The defender was Preston’s Player of the Year in 1988. After an injury ended his career, he returned to his native Leicestershire and became a prison officer.
4. Paul Welsh: The central defender is back in his native Liverpool and works as a contracts manager in the building industry.
5. Alex Jones: The central defender coached Bury’s reserves. Afterwards, he was a fundraiser for an epilepsy charity and then a driver for a Bolton-based garage.
6. David Brown: Goalkeeper who won promotion with Bury. The son of former Manchester United goalkeeper Berry Brown, he worked at Manchester airport and now runs a language school in Italy.
7. Sam Allardyce: The central defender was in the PFA Team of the Year in 1987. He went into management with a record seven Premier League clubs and England.
8. Vernon Allatt: Forward who returned to living in Staffordshire and became a prison officer at
Featherstone Prison.
9. Shaun Allen: He failed to make the grade at his home town club, so started a retail crafts business in the local area. 10. George Shepherd: A former trainee who never made a firstteam appearance at Deepdale but is still living in the area.
11. Steven Saunders: Forward who was signed on non-contract terms returned to live in his native Warrington where he became a school teacher.
12. Shayne Beeby: Failed to make the grade at Deepdale and is still living and working in his native Pudsey.
13. Bob McNeil: The Scottish defender returned to the Hull area where he became a policeman with Humberside Police.
14. Gary Brazil: Midfielder who won two promotions with Sheffield United. He has held several coaching roles and is now academy manager at Nottingham Forest.
15. Jonathan Clark: Midfielder who was Preston’s Player of the Year in 1985. Went into the licensed trade, running Lane Ends Hotel, Wesham, and then The Clarence Hotel in Marton, Blackpool.
16. Les Chapman: Midfielder who managed Preston, Manchester City reserves and the Huddersfield youth team. He returned to City as kitman and his actress daughter Tiffany was in Brookside.
17. John Thomas: Striker who lives in Lostock, Bolton. He ran a company supplying sports equipment and household goods. He also helped out at his wife’s flower shop.
18. Peter Bulmer: Full-back who lives in the Chester area and, after working in personal loans, is the sustainability manager at Cheshire West and Cheshire Council.
19. Ron Hildersley: Midfielder who now lives in Rochdale after returning from Scotland where he was a grocer and a shift worker in a local factory. He has worked for JD Williams in Shaw.
NOT PICTURED:
Alan Kelly: The Republic of Ireland international goalkeeper coached in the United States and has also worked for Ireland, Preston and Everton.
John McGrath: He managed Preston until 1990, then took charge of Halifax Town and worked on local radio and as a speaker. He died on Christmas Day 1998 in Manchester at age 60.
Mike Bennett: The England youth left-back was community officer at Bolton and Wigan Athletic. After a spell with Caudwell Enterprises, he works for Manchester United in Mumbai.
Peter Zelem: The defender works as a contract window cleaner with his twin brother
Alan in Greater Manchester. Nigel Jemson: Striker who managed Ilkeston before going on to become a fireman in Bingham, Nottingham.
Gary Swann: Defender went into leisure centre management and is now general manager at Everyone Active in Bracknell, Berks.