Paul Heckingbottom: Preston North End appoint former Sheffield United boss as manager

Preston North End have been looking for a new manager after Ryan Lowe left by mutual consent just one game into the Championship season; Preston are second bottom after losing their first two matches; Paul Heckingbottom will be joined by assistant Stuart McCall

Tuesday 20 August 2024 13:41, UK

Preston North End have appointed Paul Heckingbottom as their new manager.

The Championship club have been searching for a new boss since Ryan Lowe departed by mutual consent just three days after the first match of the season.

Heckingbottom, 47, guided Sheffield United to the Premier League in 2022/23 but was sacked last December with the club bottom of the table.

Upon his appointment, Heckingbottom said: "I'm really delighted with it, ready to go, and champing at the bit, really. It's a club I know well for lots of reasons and a league I know well, so it was a pretty easy decision.

"Experience is key. Knowing the players helps, and then having success in this league helps, so we know what it takes to compete. We know what it takes to do well and you can give that clear direction to try and get there, and that's the aim.

"The short-term goals are to get back on track. Longer term, we want to be a really, really competitive team in this league.

"We want to play in a way the fans can enjoy and in a way that gets the best out of the players, and when you get that it can be really powerful."

Heckingbottom will be joined by assistant Stuart McCall and the pair will take charge of Preston's Championship fixture at home to Luton on Saturday.

Preston are second-from-bottom after losing their first two league matches, although they did beat Sunderland 2-0 in the first round of the Carabao Cup under interim manager Mike Marsh.

Preston director Peter Ridsdale added: "I'm delighted that Paul Heckingbottom has joined us as first team manager.

"We identified that we wanted Paul to be the man to take us forward and moved swiftly over the weekend. We met on Sunday, finalised the details late last night and he's here with us today, ready to get to work.

"I'm now looking forward with confidence with Paul and Stuart McCall in charge, and I think all Preston North End fans can be really excited about the season ahead."

Heckingbottom also won promotion via the League One play-offs as Barnsley boss in 2016 before joining Leeds, who sacked him after just four months in charge.

He had nine months at Hibernian ahead of joining Sheffield United as their U23 head coach and then taking over the first team from Chris Wilder in 2021.