Championship club Preston North End in talks about ownership review

One of the founding members of the English football league is working with bankers to explore options for its future ownership.

Sky News has learnt that Preston North End, the Lancashire side which finished tenth in last season’s Championship table, is being advised by Rothschild on a strategic review.

Football industry sources said the process was not certain to lead to a sale, but indicated that the club’s owners could be interested in discussions with prospective buyers who could demonstrate a long-term commitment to its future.

One of the sources added that it was conceivable that the review would lead to no change in Preston’s shareholder base.

Preston North End was founded in 1866 as a cricket club, before becoming a founder member of the Football League in 1888.

Its most famous player, Tom Finney, appeared for the club in the 1950s, when The Lilywhites twice finished second in English football’s top tier.

In recent decades, Preston has often spent time in the lower divisions, but has been in the Championship since its last promotion campaign in 2014-15.

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Unlike many of its peers, the club has enjoyed relatively stable ownership.

It was bought by Trevor Hemmings, the prominent businessman and owner of three Grand National winners, in 2010 following a winding-up petition served by HM Revenue and Customs.

Mr Hemmings died in 2021, and the club is now managed by his family trustees including two of his children.

Among the other assets he owned during an active business career were Blackpool Tower, and stakes in Center Parcs and Pontin’s.

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In common with many English professional clubs, Preston is lossmaking, with its owners funding its losses to the tune of roughly £11m-a-year.

The club has been led since 2011 by Peter Ridsdale, the former Leeds United and Cardiff City chief.

Mr Ridsdale also serves as one of the Championship representatives on the board of the English Football League.

Although a sale of Preston North End is far from inevitable, the work with its banking advisers comes at a critical time for questions surrounding professional football club ownership.

This week’s King’s Speech included a bill paving the way for the establishment of an independent football regulator, which would oversee a strengthened owners and directors test.

The regulator had been proposed under the last Conservative government, with a recruitment process already under way for a chair of the new watchdog.

Labour had said in opposition that it would pursue the plan if it won the general election.

EFL clubs and their top-flight counterparts have been engaged in on-off discussions for more than a year about a financial redistribution deal amid mounting political pressure on the Premier League.

Those talks have yet to reach a resolution.

Rothschild is a prolific adviser in football and elite sport more generally, and is currently advising on various ownership issues at top-flight clubs Brentford, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United.

Preston North End has been contacted for comment.

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