By LEWIS BROWNING, SPORTS REPORTER Published: 11:44 BST, 2 September 2026 | Updated: 11:51 BST, 2 September 2026
Championship basement boys Preston North End announced two deadline day signings during their game against Bristol City – before awkwardly going on to lose the game.Paul Heckingbottom’s side have lost all four of their second division matches so far this season, with concern rife among fans that they may be in a battle for survival already.They had a chance to pick up their first win of the campaign at home on Tuesday night as they took on the Robins at Deepdale, and, like most clubs, were also working hard behind the scenes to secure some last-minute signings.And they did just that – with Johnny Kenny signing from Celtic and Liam Gibbs joining on loan from Norwich.Creatively, the club took the opportunity to announce the signings on the big screen, with a message reading: ‘Breaking news: During the game we are pleased to announce we have signed two new players!’That happened in the 70th minute, when the score was 1-1. Nine minutes later, Lisav Eissat scored for the away side, and Dom Ballard made it three just before full-time. Preston North End announced two new signings during their defeat by Bristol CityFans booed the team off at full-time, with others criticising the decision to announce the signings during the game on social media.’We deserve relegation for this alone,’ one supporter shared on X. Another wrote: ‘Liquidate us.’Heckingbottom, meanwhile – who claimed he had no idea the stunt was going to happen – was pleased to finally get his men through the door.’Johnny would have been watching that today, licking his lips I’m sure,’ he said. ‘Really important, good business for the club. Young player again, we try to recruit young players.’Our new signings so far have shown up well but we want more and more importantly we want the result.”They will be straight involved. You can see, there’s a necessity. Each game we’ve played we’ve added a player or added two players and it’s been important, but the window’s closed now. We’ve done our business and we’ve got the group together finally.’
Your browser does not support iframes.
Share or comment on this article:
Championship strugglers…
Try WordAi Free
2026-09-02 11:51:57
