Preston Athletic Football Club are a Scottishfootball club based in the town of
Prestonpans
Prestonpans ( gd, Baile an t-Sagairt, Scots language, Scots: ''The Pans'') is a small mining town, situated approximately eight miles east of Edinburgh, Scotland, in the Council area of East Lothian. The population as of is. It is near the si ...
, East Lothian. The club are nicknamed the Panners and play their home matches at Pennypit Park. The team play in dark blue.
They were founding members of the
Lowland Football League
The Scottish Lowland Football League (SLFL, commonly known as the Lowland League) is a senior football league based in central and southern Scotland. The league sits at level 5 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the ...
in 2013, but after being relegated in 2017 now play in the .
History
Founded in 1945, they were originally a
junior
Junior or Juniors may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959
* ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009
* ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010
* ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019
Films
* ''Junior'' (1994 ...
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2002–03, losing 1–0 at home to
Hamilton Academical
Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championship, having been relegated from the 2020–21 Scotti ...
in the First Round.
The club applied unsuccessfully to join the Scottish Football League in 2000 and 2002. In 2008 Preston Athletic were one of five clubs to prepare an application for entry into the Scottish Football League following Gretna relinquishing their league status, however they were again unsuccessful after losing out to Annan Athletic.
At the end of the 2016–17 season Preston Athletic were relegated to the East of Scotland League, having spent four seasons in the Lowland League.
Honours
East of Scotland Football League First Division
* Winners: 2001–02
* ''Runners-up (2):'' 1994–95, 2011–12
King Cup
* ''Runners-up:'' 2017–18
Alex Jack Cup
* Winners: 1994–95
Notable players and coaches
The first professional coach of Preston Athletic was Paddy Buckley, a former
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
and
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
striker whose son, Paddy Junior went on from Preston Athletic to play for
Third Lanark
Third Lanark Athletic Club was a Scottish football club based in Glasgow. Founded in 1872 as an offshoot of the 3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers, the club was a founder member of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) in 1872 and the Scottish ...
,
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...
,
Rotherham United
Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...
and
Sheffield United
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...