RYAN LEDSON may not be leading out Huddersfield Town at Deepdale on Saturday afternoon, but he's got the next best thing.
Instead of facing former side Preston North End at their traditional home in today's Carabao Cup tie, Ledson will be stepping out at Goodison Park of all places, at the club where he started out in Everton - in his home city of Liverpool.
With Preston's playing surface being relaid, the decision was taken - after consultation with the EFL and Town - to switch the game to Goodison, which will host a competitive men’s football match for the first time in 15 months.
Everton‘s former home of 133 years has been the primary residence of the women’s team since the men's side relocated to Hill Dickinson Stadium last season.
Huddersfield Town captain Ryan Ledson celebrates his goal against Cardiff City in April. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpeplaceholder image
Huddersfield Town captain Ryan Ledson celebrates his goal against Cardiff City in April. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe
It will ensure a trip down memory lane for Liverpool lad Ledson. Although he'd have preferred Deepdale in truth.
Speaking to The Yorkshire Post last August, the Town captain expressed his motivation to return to Preston in 2026-27 as a Championship player - allied to a desire to turn them over.
It came after the combative midfielder had been shown the door at the end of 2024-25 after seven years at North End.
After making 215 appearances for the club, he readily admitted that his exit was tough to take. Speaking to the media just after his departure, he said that he felt he deserved a new deal.
Regarding his subsequent interview with this newspaper - and his desire to return to Preston, Ledson said: "Yes, I do remember that.
"I am a bit gutted that it's not at Deepdale, because it would have been nice to go back, but it (Goodison) is probably the second-best place it could have been, away from home.
"I'm really looking forward to the day. I still the utmost respect for that club (Preston) and all the lads there.
"I've still got some of my best mates that play for them, but they know what I'm like and they won't be my mates come kick-off.
"It'll be nice to play (at Goodson), it's going to be the last time I'm ever going to play there. It's a moment for me and my family to cherish and it should be a good occasion."
Cup ties are often laced of sentiment and today is a case in point for Ledson.
Now almost 29, he joined Everton's academy at the age of five and spent 12 years there.
Despite being tipped for a first-team career, it never panned out that way for the ex-England youth international.
His only senior Toffees appearance came at 17 in a Europa League game against Russian outfit Krasnodar in December 2014.
Today, will mark his first Saturday first-team appearance at Goodison.
Ledson, a one-time ball-boy as a youngster during first-team matches there, continued: "It's a bit of a mad one; a surreal one, really.
"I made my debut at Goodison 12 years ago and nearly 400 games later, I'm going to be playing back there against the club where I spent the majority of my career, a club that I've got so much time and love for.
"It's going to be a good one, but I don't play for them anymore, I play for Huddersfield Town now, so I want Huddersfield now to win and we want to get through this game.
"I was a Liverpool fan (growing up), but I think it's a difficult one really because obviously I came through at Everton and you're a part of them and then part of the first team and then you're making your debut.
"Then obviously I left at 18 and then you don't really have an affiliation with the club anymore and you slowly start to drift away from them.
"Whether there will be a few familiar faces from the ground, I don't know. I don't know Everton for being in the new stadium, only at Goodison.”
A year into his Town captaincy, Ledson now feels fully acclimatized to life in West Yorkshire.
He is candid enough to accept that it took him time to grow into his role last season. He would eventually settle into it and his performances also kicked on in the second half of 2025-26.
The numbers underline that point. Ledson found the net seven times. Six arrived in 2026.
Ledson added: "Coming into last season and being at a club (Preston) for so long and then coming into a new club and new everything, I think it took me time to get myself fully into the shoes of being captain.
"But I thought I got stronger as the season went on and I was playing some of my best football. It's about carrying on that and leading this club where we want to get to."