Ross Chapman looks at the transfer history between Preston North End and Liverpool after Freddie Woodman’s move to Anfield
Freddie Woodman was unexpectedly signed by Premier League champions Liverpool last week.
The 28-year-old shot-stopper, who signed for the Lilywhites in 2022, joins following the expiration of his contract with PNE and will be a homegrown, third choice option for Arne Slot’s side.
This is the tenth time that a North End player has made the move to the red corner of Merseyside, immediately after leaving the club. Here, we look back at every player who Liverpool brought directly from Deepdale to Anfield - and how they fared at both clubs.
Ben Davies (2021)
As one of the club’s most exciting academy prodigies of recent times, Davies broke into the North End first team on a regular basis in 2017 after a number of loan spells – during which he shifted from a left back to a left-sided centre back - and soon became one of the first names on Alex Neil’s team sheet.
Davies was the subject of reported interest from Wolves during the 2019/20 season but remained at PNE until February 2021. After 145 appearances for the Lilywhites, Liverpool snapped him up for a reported fee of £500,000, plus around £1million in add-ons amidst a centre-back injury crisis. He made no senior appearances for the Reds and was loaned out to Sheffield United for the 2021/22 campaign, before moving permanently to Rangers in the summer of 2022.
In the last two years, Davies has won silverware with his teams, lifting the Scottish League Cup with Rangers in 2024 before playing a big part in helping Birmingham City return to the Championship as League One winners last season. After a successful loan spell with Chris Davies’ side, reports are now suggesting that the second-tier new boys would like to sign the 29 year old permanently.
Dave Wilson (1967)
Wilson also began his senior career at North End and was one of three players who made the switch from PNE to Liverpool in the 60s. He was a winger and came into the squad around the same time that Sir Tom Finney hung up his boots in 1960.
Wilson made 170 league appearances for the Lilywhites and was part of the side that finished runners up of the 1964 FA Cup. Liverpool signed him for £20,000 in February 1967, but he only made one appearance for Bill Shankly’s men.
Wilson came off the bench in their final game of the 1966/67 season. PNE re-signed Wilson later that year and he went on to enjoy another seven-year stint at the club, once again racking up over 100 appearances.
He went out on loan in two of his final three seasons at North End, first at Bradford City and secondly Southport, before moving to League of Ireland outfit Waterford then rounding off his career at Telford United. Overall, Wilson made more than 300 appearances for PNE and scored 41 goals.
Peter Thompson (1963)
Originally from Carlisle and wanted by several teams at junior level, left winger Thompson was brought into the first team fold around the same time as Wilson, when they were both just 17 years old. He instantly attracted interest from other First Division clubs as well as reputable European teams.
After three years at Deepdale, making 121 appearances and scoring 20 times, Thompson signed for Shankly’s Liverpool for £37,000 in 1963 and went onto become a club legend.
He was described as a ‘wing wizard’ by the Liverpool faithful and had no problems settling in at Anfield, making 42 appearances in his first season at the club, one of two title-winning campaigns that Thompson played a part in, the other being 1965/66.
In between those honours, Thompson helped Liverpool win the FA Cup in 1965 and made his debut for England. He won 16 caps over six years for his national team. He was a key player at a time of huge success for the team and a regular in the side until 1971.
It was around that time he began to experience injury problems. Thompson stayed at Liverpool until 1973, when he was signed by Bolton Wanderers on an initial loan which was made permanent just a month later.
It brought an end to a nine-year spell at the Reds during which time he made 416 appearances and scored 54 goals. At Bolton, he played 126 games over five years and hung up his boots just days before they secured promotion back to the First Division, after 14 years away.
Gordon Milne (1960)
Milne began his career at then amateur side Morecambe before moving to PNE in 1956. He was the son of Jimmy Milne, who spent seven years of a relatively short playing career at North End after a spell at Dundee United.
Jimmy also went on to manage the Lilywhites from 1961 to 1968 but this was after Gordon’s departure to Liverpool, following 83 appearances at PNE. The skilled midfielder joined in 1960, in the first 12 months of Shankly’s reign at Anfield, and made 282 appearances across seven years, scoring 18 times.
He won the same accolades as Thompson during his time at the club but was unable to play in the FA Cup final of 1965 due to injury. Milne also won 14 caps for England between 1963 and 1964.
He left Liverpool to join Blackpool in 1967, and then became player-manager of Wigan Athletic three years later, leading them to the Northern Premier League title in his first season.
He had an intriguing and successful managerial career, taking charge of England’s under 18s after leaving the Latics, followed by long spells at Coventry City and Leicester City, where he won promotion to the First Division in 1983.
Milne then went abroad and managed Turkish side Beşiktaş for seven seasons, during what was one of the most successful periods in their history where they won three consecutive league titles. After that, Milne had a brief spell at Japanese side Nagoya Grampus Eight and later managed two more Turkish outfits in Bursaspor and Trabzonspor.
Willie Fagan (1937)
Scotland-born Fagan began his career at Celtic where he scored nine goals in 12 games for the Bhoys. A promising 19-year-old forward with many suitors, he then moved to PNE in 1936, but was quickly signed by Liverpool just 12 months later.
Fagan joined for £8,000 in October 1937, which was one of the club’s most expensive signings at the time and the most expensive for a player so young. He was pretty much an ever-present player for the Reds between his arrival and the start of the Second World War two years later, which led to the football season being abandoned.
Seven years later though, when league football resumed, Fagan was able to continue playing on Merseyside - unlike many of his older teammates who had been forced to retire during wartime. He won a champions’ medal after playing his part in Liverpool’s 1946-47 title win.
Fagan stayed at Anfield until 1952 and, although used as a backup option in the latter stages of his time there, many fans at the time were of the opinion that he would have been a key player had he been able to contribute in his peak years. He was later player-manager of Weymouth.
Archie Rawlings (1924)
Wide player Archie Rawlings’ PNE career began when he was 28, having played for eight clubs previously but not really managing to settle at any. He made 147 appearances for North End across four years before making the move to Liverpool in 1924.
During Rawlings’ time at PNE he had been selected for the England team once but wasn’t able to add to that tally again while at either club. He was a key player during the 1924/25 season and only missed two games, but later fell down the pecking order and moved on to Walsall, Bradford Park Avenue, Southport and Burton Town.
John Holmes (1895)
Liverpool signed three PNE players in the years after the success of the Original Invincibles, the last one being John Holmes who started his playing career with the Lilywhites in 1889.
Holmes was the brother of Bob, who was one of the club’s longest serving players and original invincible. Bob Holmes made over 300 appearances for North End and represented England on seven occasions.
John Holmes appeared 44 times for Liverpool after signing in 1895 and helped them win the Second Division in his first season at the club. He left in 1898 then joined Burton Swifts and later, New Brighton Tower.
Frank Becton (1895)
Becton moved to Liverpool three months before John Holmes did. Born in 1873, he started playing two years after the success of the Invincibles and caught Liverpool’s attention after scoring 37 goals across 87 league appearances in a four year spell.
Becton’s time at Liverpool began with their relegation to the Second Division but he played a substantial part in their return to the top tier the following season. He and his two frontline teammates – one of whom another ex-North Ender - scored 66 goals combined during their promotion season.
Becton averaged roughly a goal every two games in his time at Liverpool (42 goals in 86 appearances), which came to an end in 1898 when he joined Sheffield United who had just enjoyed huge league success. Additionally, he bagged two goals in as many games as he represented England between 1895 and 1897.
He returned to Preston in 1900 but only stayed for one season, which was the season the club were relegated for the first time in their history. Spells at Swindon Town, Nelson, Ashton Town and New Brighton Tower followed before his retirement in 1904.
Jimmy Ross (1894)
Liverpool made a record signing in August 1894 with the addition of Jimmy Ross for £75. His career at North End began in 1883, even behind the formation of the Football League. He joined the club by chance after being invited to play when they couldn’t field a full team for a game in the November of that year.
His brother Nick was also a popular and talented player in the early years of Preston North End FC and was described as a ‘genius’ by William Pickford, who was instrumental in the development of the Football Association.
Jimmy Ross was nicknamed ‘Little Demon’ and was an incredibly talented forward, scoring seven times in North End’s record-breaking 26-0 win over Hyde in October 1887.
In the club’s first league season, Ross scored 21 goals in 26 games across the league and FA Cup, which PNE won both of without defeat, earning the proud title of Invincibles. The next season, Ross netted 24 times across the season and was the league’s top scorer. That fine goal scoring form never really stopped and he is the club’s seventh highest scorer of all time.
Just months after Ross joined Liverpool in 1894, he was made captain and, in their promotion winning season of 1895-96, scored 23 goals in 25 games. After struggling to find the net following their ascend to the top tier, Ross moved on to Burnley where he re-discovered that unbelievable goal scoring ability, and later Manchester City.
He retired in 1901 due to ill health and died just a year later. Jimmy Ross is well established as one of the earliest legendary players of PNE and Liverpool’s long-standing histories as well as one of the most exciting players of the Football League’s infancy.
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