PRESTON are a takeover target for a mystery Miami-based group who want to buy the traditional Lancashire outfit.

Since the death of their long-term backer Trevor Hemmings in 2021, the Championship club have been under the stewardship of his family.

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North End own their modern ground and also have a top training facility.

The valuation may be around £50million, which is higher than the Americans want to pay.

If it falls down, the group have two other clubs on their radar, both at the right price.

The likes of Wrexham, Leeds and Birmingham have all had celebrity investment from new owners in recent years – with Ryan Reynolds, Russell Crowe and Tom Brady getting involved in the EFL clubs.

Preston, currently tenth, are set to finish this season in mid-table.

And that will guarantee them a tenth successive campaign in the Championship since their play-off promotion from League One in 2015.

They face leaders Leicester at Deepdale on Monday night before completing their season with a trip to West Brom.

The Foxes’ promotion was secured on Friday night when QPR thrashed Leeds 4-0 – prompting another famous house party for the Leicester players.

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West Brom, meanwhile, are desperate to cling on to a play-off spot.

North End were a founding member of the Football League in the 1880s.

The Lilywhites won the First Division in 1889 and 1890 – securing a league and FA Cup double in the first of those years.

They added their second FA Cup in 1938 before losing the 1954 and 1964 finals.

Preston, though, have not been beyond the fifth round of the famous competition since 1965-66.

Our beautiful game is broken, says Dave Kid

By Dave Kidd

WHEN Manchester United got lucky in their FA Cup semi-final, Antony’s first instinct was to goad heartbroken opponents Coventry. To rub their noses in the dirt.

Antony seems to be a vile individual but this isn’t really about Antony. Because Antony is merely a symptom of the hideous sickness within England’s top flight.

There is so much wrong.

After our elite clubs persuaded the FA to completely scrap Cup replays — which gave us Ronnie Radford and Ricky Villa and Ryan Giggs — without due recompense or reasoning with the rest of English football.

The previous day, after his Manchester City side had defeated Chelsea in the other FA Cup semi-final, Pep Guardiola whinged about the fixture scheduling of TV companies who effectively pay much of his £20m salary.

Up at Wolves, Guardiola’s friend and rival Mikel Arteta was playing the same sad song about fixture congestion, despite his Arsenal side having played two fewer games this season than Coventry — who don’t have £50m squad players to rotate with.

Chelsea, oh Chelsea. The one-time plaything of a Russian oligarch now owned by financially incontinent venture capitalists who have piddled £1billion on a squad of players who fight like weasels in a sack about who should bask in the personal glory of scoring the penalty that puts them 5-0 up against Everton.

Read Dave Kidd’s full column as he takes aim at Nottingham Forest, Fulham’s ticket prices, the 39th game, VAR and much more…