Preston North End and Stoke City struck gold with Ricardo Fuller deals: View | OneFootball

Fuller became a cult hero due to his great performances for both clubs

Lots of players have turned out at Deepdale for Preston North End and at the bet365 Stadium for Stoke City in recent years but few more iconic than Jamaican international striker Ricardo Fuller.

Fuller had initially been brought to English football by Crystal Palace in 2001 but failed to find his feet with the Eagles, yet did impress while on loan at Hearts and so moved to the Lilywhites in 2002.

The Jamaican became a cult hero at Preston for his impressive performances across two years at the club and spent time at Portsmouth, Southampton, and Ipswich Town before he joined Stoke in 2006 and earned legendary status in the Potteries over the next six seasons.

Both Preston and Stoke struck gold when they each signed Fuller, and his time at each respective club will never be forgotten by their supporters.

Fuller was a standout for Preston and Stoke

Preston may not have ever signed Fuller if Hearts had been able to stump up the money to sign him permanently from Palace, but the Edinburgh side had been stung by the lack of a television deal for that season's Scottish Premier League, and so the then-22-year-old forward joined North End for a reported £500,000 fee ahead of the 2002/03 First Division campaign.

He got off to an electric start at Deepdale, with five goals in his first eight games for the club, and still scored 11 goals in 20 games despite missing the majority of his debut season due to a serious knee injury.

Fuller wowed fans with quick feet and clear technical ability, which seemed unusual given his burly frame, and had numerous memorable moments in his time at Preston, such as a brilliant solo goal against Leicester in November 2002, and a hat-trick against Burnley in December 2003.

He bagged 19 times in 41 games in his second season at Preston and so forced a move to Premier League side Portsmouth in the summer of 2003, before he eventually joined Stoke three years later for a reported £500,000, with the club pushing to get out of the second tier.

Fuller became a modern-day Potters legend in his six seasons in North Staffordshire, as he netted double figures in the Championship in consecutive seasons to eventually fire the club to a historic promotion to the Premier League in 2008, and once again won the hearts of another set of supporters, much like at Preston.

He continued to play a big part under Tony Pulis in the top-flight, with 11 league goals in 2008/09 as Stoke avoided relegation and many more memorable moments over his six seasons at the club, like his outstanding solo strikes against Aston Villa in August 2008, and West Ham in March 2010.

Fuller departed Stoke in the summer of 2012 at 32 years old after helping the club to establish themselves in the Premier League, reach an FA Cup Final, and play in the Europa League, and his career largely petered out after that at the likes of Charlton Athletic, Blackpool and Millwall before his professional retirement in 2016.

He was adored by both Preston and Stoke fans for his time with each club, and rarely has somebody of his talent and trickery been seen at each club since he departed, which is testament to just how underrated he was as a player.

Fuller loved his time at both clubs

The easiest way to know how appreciated a player was at a certain club is how often they engage with said club after they leave, and Fuller has returned to Preston numerous times over the years as a guest, and gave some insight into his time at Deepdale when he was invited to observe a training session alongside former Stoke teammate Paul Gallagher in 2021.

"It is a pleasure and an honour to be here. It's always a joy for me. Being a Preston player was everything to me and the club is dear to me in my heart," he told the club's official show, the Weekend Warm Up.

"There were other clubs where I did well before, but Preston, for me, was the start of me coming back to full fitness from my surgery. To be scoring regularly again and enjoying football the way I normally do was a joy for me.

"I remember (the Burnley hat-trick) like it was yesterday. Games like that you can never forget. It's those games that players dream of, a local derby against one of your main rivals. To score a hat-trick was nothing short of unbelievable."

It is also clear to see just how well-thought-of Fuller is at Stoke to this day, and he was honoured by the Potters in 2022, as the sports bar at the bet365 Stadium was renovated and renamed to 'Ricardo's,' and he spoke to Stoke-on-Trent Live about how his love for the club had not gone away since leaving all those years ago.

He said: "It’s always been the same, it’s never changed. Since I arrived in 2006 I’ve lived in the same place that Mr Tony Pulis showed me, I live there still. My kids were born in Royal Stoke, 11 and four.

"I come to almost every home game, I was down at the training ground every now and again without wanting to impose myself too much, but now I’m there as a coach.

"I’ve always been part of the club even after I finished in 2012. I was playing up until 36 but still coming here. Nothing has changed, it’s always been there.

“For me to achieve what I’ve done I had to know that I was part of something greater than myself. A hundred years from now when we’re not here anymore, the football club will still be here. I’m honoured to be part of its history."