Preston North End vs Peterborough United

HISTORICAL
There are quite a few goalkeepers who qualify for
these articles and one such player was Jim Knowles
who was born on 31st July 1934. He came to Deepdale
when he was signed from local club Lea Town, turning
professional in October 1957. For a while he played for
the reserves in the Central League and it was difficult
for him to oust regular first choice keeper, Fred Else.
However, his chance came just before Christmas that
year, when North End played Nottingham Forest at
Deepdale and Else was out injured. It must have been
daunting for the 23-year-old to step straight into the
first division, but he acquitted himself very well in a
2-0 win. Local celebrated scribe Walter Pilkington was
full of praise for the way he handled himself. He said:
“I liked his confidence and clean handling, also his
composure when harassed.”
Else was still injured for the next game too, on
Christmas Eve at Hillsborough against Sheffield
Wednesday, and what a game that turned out to be!
Knowles had the strange experience of seeing Finney
score two goals at each end. Knowles did well again,
but ironically that was to be his last experience of the
first team as Else recovered from injury to see out
the second half of the season. In the summer of 1958,
Knowles was transferred to Barrow and he later
played for Lancaster at non-league level. He sadly
passed away at a nursing home in Derbyshire recently,
just before his 87th birthday, and everybody’s thoughts
at Preston North End are with his family.
One of the most popular players among the Deepdale
faithful completes today’s trio of Prestonians. The early
1980s were not the best of times to be a North End
fan, but one player did stand out for the club, Andy
McAteer. His full back play was one of the few good
features of a dismal period in North End’s history, as
was his consistency. He rarely had a bad game after
coming through the ranks at Deepdale.
He originally signed as an associated schoolboy before
the club took him on as an apprentice professional in
1977. His progress in the youth teams impressed the
management and on Boxing Day in 1979, at home to
Shrewsbury, he was given his first team debut in a 3-0
victory. Andy once said: “I wasn’t even in the squad for
that Shrewsbury game. In fact, I was at home when
the phone rang and it was the club telling me to come
in and bring your boots! It was a dream come true for
me to make my debut for my hometown club at just
18-years-old.”
After that he became an integral part of the first team
squad. His best season was probably 1982/83, when
he scored six goals, finishing third behind Steve Elliott
and Alex Bruce in the goalscoring chart – not bad for
a full back. The one sad aspect about Andy’s career
from a football historian’s point of view was that he
finished his Deepdale career on 299 appearances in
league and cup. One more and he would have made the
‘26 Club’. Any chance of bringing him on as a late sub
this season, Frankie? After all, he is still only 60. Oh,
and by the way, I haven’t mentioned that he signed for
Blackpool in December 1986, but then he saw the light
and came back to Deepdale in 1988 for another season
before retiring. And I never mentioned his hair either...
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