Preston North End struck gold with Greg Cunningham transfer - Bristol City received £0 | OneFootball

Preston turned to Championship rivals for a coup upon their return to the second tier in 2015.

Preston North End are competing in their 10th straight Championship season in 2025/26. They are one of the joint-longest-serving clubs in the second tier, alongside QPR and Bristol City, and have remained competitive throughout.

Part of that ability to compete for so long in what is often called one of the toughest and most unpredictable leagues in world football includes having to bring in new faces, and North End had to do that smartly when they were first promoted – and they did.

In the summer of 2015, ahead of their return to the Championship following their Wembley victory in the League One play-off finals that May, the Lilywhites snatched Irish left-back Greg Cunningham away from a fellow newly promoted side in the Robins.

The then-24-year-old would go on to become one of the most consistent and best value for money signings that PNE have in their recent history. There’s no better bargain than a free transfer.

Preston couldn’t have asked for a better new left-back after promotion from League One

Preston needed to bring someone in before their first season in the Championship started, with regulars Scott Laird and David Buchannan having left for Scunthorpe United and Northampton Town, respectively. They got their man just over a week before the campaign got underway.

The deal to sign Cunningham from Bristol City came on July 29th, and they stated that the transfer was for “an undisclosed fee”. In the decade since, it has been reported, including by Dave Seddon of the LEP, that there was no transfer fee at all.

With morale in the stands at Deepdale high, Cunningham’s arrival was somewhat overshadowed by the permanent signings of promotion heroes Paul Gallagher and Jermaine Beckford, as well as promising loanee goalkeeper Jordan Pickford coming through the doors. This allowed the Irishman to quietly do his job and do it well.

In his first campaign, he played the full 90 minutes in 40 Championship fixtures, and only outright missed three in total. He helped the club to keep 14 league clean sheets, made four assists, and even scored twice – including his first for PNE on his return to Ashton Gate in a 2-1 victory for his new side.

He managed this record despite having only played 24 times in League One the prior season. He made such a daunting step-up look easy as North End finished 11th in the table, miles ahead of both City, and eventually relegated MK Dons, who had joined them in promotion.

Now firmly established as Preston’s first choice full-back, Cunningham made another 40 league appearances in 2016/17 and showed his versatility throughout. In the league, he played at least once in every position across the back line, and even as a left-winger against QPR at home, when he bagged one of his five assists for the season.

Preston stayed 11th in that campaign, but came on leaps and bounds in 2017/18, which they did partially without Cunningham. The Irishman captained the club for the first three games, until being forced onto the shelf due to knee surgery. Then-manager Alex Neil described him as a “warrior” to the PNE website, and reiterated how “disappointed” he was “to lose Greg”.

His return game came in late December, helping his side keep a clean sheet in an away win against Cardiff City, and he clearly impressed the Bluebirds’ top brass with his performance and leadership. He would show his leadership a further nine times when wearing the PNE armband, during the home stretch of what would be the final season in his first stint at the club.

New Premier League outfit Cardiff came back for Cunningham in the summer, putting down £3.5m for his services, per Sky Sports. To this day, he is still North End’s fifth-most expensive sale out of the club – not bad for a freebie.

Greg Cunningham found opportunities limited between Preston spells

His Premier League debut came against a former team, where he came through the youth academy – he had the unenviable task of trying to help Cardiff keep a clean sheet against soon-to-be centurions Manchester City.

That did not happen, as the Bluebirds lost 5-0, and they would lose four more times in Cunningham’s seven games in the league. They did win twice with him in the starting XI, but that wouldn’t be enough to help the Bluebirds avoid slipping out of the top tier.

Despite their relegation, Cardiff seemingly had no plans for the proven Championship-quality full-back on their books, and loaned him out to newly promoted PNE rivals, Blackburn Rovers.

He would initially impress upon his return to Lancashire. Under Tony Mowbray, Cunningham made ten appearances in all competitions, with nine starts, before an ACL injury kept him out for the remainder of the season.

His time on loan at Ewood Park was cut short, but his hamstring problems would bother him further as the 2019/20 season gave way to 2020/21, with Cunningham only really making a sustained return to football in December.

He was on the bench for most of that month, when he made what would be his final two appearances for Cardiff, before a January loan move back to Deepdale.

Reflecting on his time in the Welsh capital in 2024, Cunningham told the LEP: “Cardiff was probably the worst time in my career - and it should've been the best. Although I ticked the box, lived the dream and got some Prem games, psychologically, mentally and emotionally, it was the worst time in my career.”

Greg Cunningham rediscovered his form at PNE and eventually departed as a cult hero

Right as he re-joined Preston - again, for free - he told the club website: “I am excited. The move [to Cardiff City] probably didn’t go as plan, but that is football sometimes. When Preston came in, it was a no brainer.

“There is unfinished business,” he continued. “It has probably been the best time of my career at this club, and I want to get back to those times again, get playing games and repay the club.”

Soon after, to make room for other loan deals, both Cunningham and fellow recent loanee Ched Evans were offered permanent contracts until the end of the 2020/21 season, as was reported by LancsLive.

Still young-ish for a footballer, aged 29, he almost immediately slotted right back into the role he had left on his departure from the Lilywhites the first time around, and he was even back wearing the captain’s armband by his sixth match.

Preston had changed their formula on the field slightly since Cunningham’s last outing for them, operating with a five-back system first broached by Alex Neil, and continued by Frankie McAvoy.

But he was still more than comfortable running up and down the flanks as a wing-back or standing his ground as a centre-back. He played the full 90 minutes in four of PNE’s final five Championship matches that season (four wins, four clean sheets, one draw), and earned a contract extension until the summer of 2023.

He saw out that deal, playing a further 49 games for PNE in the process, and signed on for one final season in 2023/24.

During that last campaign, he featured just 12 times in total, having been superseded as a wing-back by fellow Ireland international Robbie Brady, and as a centre-back by the likes of Liam Lindsay, Jordan Storey and Andrew Hughes, all of whom were younger than 33-year-old Cunningham.

He departed Deepdale for the final time at the end of the 2023/24 campaign, having featured 184 times in all competitions for Preston and managing 25 goal contributions in that time from his role almost exclusively in defence.

He was a part of the furniture at the club for seven seasons, and his contributions and effort, despite his injuries, will ensure he is always welcome back at Deepdale – not bad at all, for a freebie.