Deepdale (stadium)
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 Deepdale Stadium
Location in Preston
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| Full name | Deepdale Stadium |
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| Location | Sir Tom Finney Way, Preston, Lancashire, PR1 6RU, England |
| Coordinates | 53°46′20″N 2°41′17″W / 53.77222°N 2.68806°WCoordinates: 53°46′20″N 2°41′17″W / 53.77222°N 2.68806°W |
| Owner | Preston North End F.C. |
| Operator | Preston North End F.C. |
| Capacity | 23,404 |
| Field size | 110 by 75 yards (101 m × 69 m) |
| Construction | |
| Built | 1875 |
| Opened | 1878 (for PNE) |
| Tenants | |
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Preston North End F.C. (1878–present) Lancashire Lynx (1996–2000) |
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Deepdale is a football stadium in the Deepdale area of Preston, England, the home of Preston North End F.C.
Deepdale is "widely recognised as being the oldest 'continuously used' football stadium in the world. But like most coveted historic accolades, it is fiercely contested".
The land on which the stadium stands was originally Deepdale Farm. It was leased on 21 January 1875 by the town's North End sports club and originally used for cricket and rugby. It hosted its first association football match on 5 October 1878.
As football grew in popularity, it became necessary to have raised areas, so the idea of football terracing was formed. In the 1890s Preston built the West Paddock, which ran along the touch line and a tent was erected to house the changing rooms.
By the turn of the century, crowds were regularly over 10,000 and in 1921 they had to expand again. The Spion Kop was built and the West Paddock was extended to meet the Kop end.
The pitch was removed to allow the building of the Town End, which was completed in 1928 but was destroyed by fire only five years later and had to be rebuilt.
The Pavilion Stand, a relatively small stand of two tiers holding the changing rooms and offices, was built and opened in 1934.
The record league attendance for Preston North End at Deepdale is 42,684 v Arsenal in the First Division, 23 April 1938.
The women's team Dick, Kerr's Ladies also used to played at Deepdale, often beating men's professional teams in front of large crowds.
During the 1960s and 1980s, big changes took place as roofs were placed on the stands, seating was installed and terracing extended.
In 1986, Preston North End decided to lay an all-weather pitch to try to generate some extra income for the club by renting the pitch to local teams to play on, to reduce the number of postponed matches as well as enabling the use of the Deepdale pitch as a training ground.
It was one of four football stadiums in the English league to feature a plastic pitch, but this proved to be unpopular with the fans and was finally ripped up in 1994, by which time it was the last remaining plastic pitch in the English league.
The original plans for the re-developed stadium were inspired by the Luigi Ferraris Stadium in Genoa, Italy.
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