Preston North End visit Wales on Saturday as they face Cardiff City just seven weeks after their last trip to the country. That occasion saw The Lilywhites lose 2-1 to Swansea City after a late Jamie Paterson goal.
North End will be hoping for a better result this time after a promising display against Ipswich Town last week. Fans will still vividly remember the reverse fixture with Cardiff this season though. After a silly Robbie Brady red card, Preston threw away a 1-0 lead in injury time as The Bluebirds came away with a 2-1 victory.
Cardiff have a former Preston player in their ranks, and their are a handful of others who have played for both teams in recent years.
Callum Robinson
Callum Robinson played the full 90 minutes in the November fixture against his former club, but will miss out on this occasion after being out with a virus recently.
The 29-year-old is in his second season with Cardiff after joining from West Bromwich Albion in 2022. Robinson scored 17 goals in 95 games for The Baggies in a two-and-a-half-year spell including four goals in two games against Chelsea.
He was with Sheffield United before West Brom, as it was The Blades who paid around £8 million to prise him away from Preston. Robinson was in fine form in his last season at Deepdale, scoring 13 in 28 games.
The former Aston Villa youngster matured at Preston after a loan spells that sandwiched a temporary move to Bristol City. It was no surprise to see him move to the Premier League after progressing at Preston, but it hasn’t been plain sailing for Robinson since then.
Greg Cunningham
One player who is likely to be on the bench on Saturday is Greg Cunningham. The Irish defender is in his second spell with Preston, and the experienced player spent some time in the Premier League with Cardiff.
Cunningham joined The Lilywhites in 2015 from Bristol City, quickly establishing himself as a key player in Simon Grayson’s side. He moved to Cardiff after their promotion in 2018, but would only play seven games in the top flight.
An injury cut short a loan stay with Blackburn Rovers the season after before he moved back to Preston in January 2021, scoring early on in a game at Ewood Park shortly after.
Cunningham featured in 111 games in his first three years at Preston, but during his second spell games have been less frequent with just 67 in the last three years, and only six this season.
Jon Parkin
A fan favourite at Deepdale, ‘The Beast’ was part of the last side to reach the play-offs at this level. In 2009 North End pipped Cardiff to the last play-off spot on the final day of the season. Both sides finished on the same points and same goal difference but it was Preston who had scored more goals. Helped by the fact they had beaten Cardiff 6-0 a month before.
After arriving from Stoke City in August 2008, it took Parkin till December to score his first Preston goal. But from then on he was the target man on the end of many Ross Wallace crosses, and formed good partnerships with both Chris Brown and Neil Mellor.
The following season he scored a hat-trick in a 7-0 FA Cup win over Colchester United, and the season after bagged another three in a memorable 6-4 win over Leeds United at Elland Road.
Parkin scored 31 in 108 games for Preston before moving to Cardiff in 2011. His time in Wales didn’t go well though and he spent time on loan at Doncaster Rovers, Huddersfield Town, and Scunthorpe United.
He then moved on to Fleetwood Town before prolific spells with Forest Green Rovers and York City. He now hosts the successful football podcast ‘Undr the Cosh’ with Chris Brown.
Paul Parry
Paul Parry arrived at Preston in the summer of 2009 from Cardiff when Alan Irvine was aiming to build on the previous season’s top six finish. Cardiff were Parry’s hometown club, and he finished top scorer for them in 2008; the year they reached the FA Cup Final.
Parry was seen as an experienced Championship player, and despite some early goals that season, Preston changed manager when Darren Ferguson came in, and Parry was out of favour.
He did move to the left-back position in our League One season in 2011-12 putting in some good performances, before leaving at the end of that campaign and joining Shrewsbury Town.
Kurt Nogan
Despite being born in Cardiff, the majority of Kurt Nogan’s career was spent in the South and then the North West of England.
A successful period with Brighton and Hove Albion got him a move to Burnley, where the goals continued to flow. Then in 1997 he made the moved to Preston North End who were in Division Two at the time.
Nogan will of course be best remembered for scoring two goals and giving Preston a 2-0 lead over Arsenal in the FA Cup Third Round in 1999. David Moyes’ Lilywhites side pushed Arsene Wenger’s Gunners all the way, but after a red card for David Eyres, Arsenal got hold of the game eventually triumphing 4-2 with World Cup winner Emmanuel Petit and Marc Overmars on the scoresheet.
Nogan joined Cardiff after achieving promotion to Division One with Preston in 2000, but his career was ended a couple of years after due to injury.