Stoke City move explained by Preston North End legend one year on from exit

Preston North End legend Paul Gallagher says leaving the club’s coaching staff was ‘one of the hardest’ decisions he’s had to make.

The Lilywhites lost the Scot last summer, as he reunited with old PNE boss Alex Neil at fellow Championship side Stoke City. Gallagher, who made 313 appearances for North End, moved into a coaching role in 2021 and worked alongside Neil, Frankie McAvoy and Ryan Lowe on the touchline at Deepdale.

His time at Preston came to an end this time last year, as he moved to the Potters. Neil was sacked by Stoke in December after a poor run of results, but Gallagher stayed on until the end of the season. He was put in caretaker charge for a couple of games and then worked with new boss Steven Schumacher. But, Stoke confirmed he would be leaving earlier this month.

Reflecting on his decision last summer, Gallagher told the Lancashire Post: “I will go back to when I was a player, I used to watch coaches and some would have really good input; some would do the training but then not do a lot. I just felt, when I got to a coaching stage, I wanted to be involved quite a lot and have a lot of input. If it wasn’t, then I always wanted to challenge myself and get better - even as a player.

“I don’t know many people, in any walk of life, who would travel an extra hour away, for less money. So, it wasn’t a financial gain I went to Stoke for. It was an opportunity to work with different players, different nationalities and a different ambition. We signed 19 players - Korean, Serbian and Portuguese players. I felt, if you want to be the best coach and manager, you have got to challenge yourself in these situations.

“It was a club, obviously in transition, and I just wanted to test myself. I have got an ambition to progress and get better, but it was one of the toughest decisions I’ve had to make in my life and career - to leave Preston. My kids were crying because they are Preston fans. They have got season tickets, they still go to the games and support the team. Because of Alex, I had a bit more input as I understood the way he wanted to play.

“To be honest, he saw that in me as a player coming into my coaching days. He always said I would become a part of his team when I retired. I probably could’ve carried on playing, but I didn’t want to leave Preston and go somewhere else. I wanted to finish there and I had the opportunity to go into coaching, which Alex gave me - along with Peter Ridsdale and Mr Hemmings, God rest his soul. And Craig, because they stuck to their word.

“Alex obviously moved on and they still kept me on as a coach. I always felt I wanted to have input and you get a real thirst for it. You want more and you get frustrated sometimes. When I went to Stoke, I went with the ambition to improve and have more input in terms of the team, tactically. I felt that was one of my real strengths and Alex saw that.”

Reflecting on his time working with Lowe and his staff, Gallagher said: “I enjoyed it, yeah. I think I played against Ryan when he was at Bury, but I’d obviously heard about him because he was a goal scorer wasn’t he? And Mike Marsh had been at Liverpool, went out to Galatasaray and he worked for the FA - part of the England U17s with Steve Cooper. A brilliant coach, I learned so much off him and a great guy as well - I got on really well with him

“He’s a top coach, is Marshy. Last year was unbelievable, the start they had. That just shows that in this league, you can do and do that then in the middle of the season it didn’t go too well for them. They picked up again, then the end of the season they didn’t score a goal in seven games or whatever it was. Finishing 10th, I think is an achievement for Preston; I know they want to get into the play-offs and thought it was a great opportunity with the start they had.”