Preston North End sack Paul Heckingbottom after disastrous start to the season

Preston North End have parted company with Paul Heckingbottom, ending his two-year spell in charge after a 1-0 home defeat to newly-promoted Lincoln City left the club second-bottom of the Championship. Assistant Stuart McCall has also left the club as part of the same decision.

The result meant North End had won just one of their opening seven league games this season, with Freddie Draper's winner handing Lincoln their first victory at Deepdale in 30 years. In a statement, the club said the results throughout 2026 and into the new campaign had "not been acceptable," despite praising Heckingbottom's professionalism during his time at the club, a tone that acknowledged the manager's efforts even as it confirmed the end of his tenure.

How a difficult year finally caught up with Heckingbottom

Saturday's defeat was the sixth in seven Championship matches this season, but the club's statement pointed to a longer pattern of results rather than simply a poor start to the current campaign, framing the decision as the culmination of months of accumulating frustration rather than a single bad result. Preston had won just five of their 27 league games since the start of January, a stretch of form that had gradually eroded confidence in Heckingbottom's project despite what the club described as significant investment in the playing squad since his appointment. The final whistle against Lincoln was met with boos and jeers from the home crowd, a clear signal that patience among supporters had already run out well before the club's hierarchy made their decision the following day.

Paul Heckingbottom's time at Preston North End in numbers

Heckingbottom's tenure at Deepdale ends with a mixed record that ultimately couldn't survive a genuinely alarming start to this season.

• Appointment: Took charge in August 2024, replacing Ryan Lowe as Preston head coach.
• Previous seasons: Finished 20th in his first season before improving to 14th last campaign.
• This season's record: Won just one of seven Championship matches, leaving Preston second-bottom.
• Interim charge: Jason Euell will take first-team affairs until a permanent successor is appointed.

Why the club felt change was necessary despite investment

Preston's statement was notably explicit in acknowledging the squad backing Heckingbottom had received, making clear that results rather than resources were the deciding factor behind his dismissal. Signings like goalkeeper Lee Nicholls and attacking midfielder Alfie Devine, brought in for a reported £6 million from Tottenham Hotspur, represented a genuine attempt to strengthen the squad heading into this campaign, making the alarming start all the more difficult for the club's hierarchy to overlook. For a manager previously known for organising well-drilled sides during his time at Sheffield United, the defensive fragility and poor results this season marked a significant departure from that reputation, and one that ultimately proved impossible to reverse quickly enough to save his job.

What comes next for Preston North End

With Jason Euell taking interim charge and the club sitting second-bottom of the Championship table, Preston's priority now shifts to finding a permanent successor capable of arresting a slide that has been building for the best part of a year. Heckingbottom's departure adds to a growing list of managerial changes across the Championship already this season, and Preston's board will be hoping a fresh voice in the dugout can quickly reverse a trend that had become increasingly difficult to ignore regardless of the investment made in the squad around him.