In the last 15 years, Preston North End have had their fair share of ups and downs as they've flirted with both promotion and relegation from the Championship, whilst also spending a stint in League One.

Around this time 15 years ago, the Lilywhites were just coming off the back of a two-legged Championship play-off semi-final defeat to Leeds United - Billy Davies had departed to Derby County but the short-term future under Paul Simpson looked bright.

His tenure didn't last long though and whilst Alan Irvine guided PNE into the play-offs in 2009, he only lasted two years in the dugout as well.

North End were relegated to League One in 2011 after 11 years in the Championship and it took them four seasons to get back into the second tier, with Simon Grayson and then Alex Neil consolidating them at the level once again.

In that whole time period North End's squads have mainly been made up of English players - here is a line-up of perhaps the best 11 to play for the club in the last 15 years. Disagree? Let us know who you'd change if so!

North End have actually been blessed with a lot of good English goalkeepers over the years, such as Carlo Nash, Andy Lonergan, and even Sam Johnstone on loan when they were in League One and briefly in the Championship.

But the best just has to be current England number one Jordan Pickford, who dazzled fans with his performances in the first half of the 2015-16 campaign.

Eyebrows were raised due to his past experience being spells at Bradford, Carlisle and Darlington but Pickford soon put the doubters to rest and produced some incredible shot-stopping abilities for the Lilywhites.

His loan was cut short midway through the season as Sunderland wanted him back - it was no surprise considering how well he played.

North End started the 15-year period with Graham Alexander still holding down the fort at right-back, however he departed for Burnley in 2007 and in came a new one in the form of Jones, who had been linked with Premier League club Man City before his arrival at Deepdale.

A graduate of the notorious Crewe Alexandra academy, Jones was a mainstay in North End's team for four years, making 160 league appearances in that time and even though he was only 24 in his final season at PNE in 2010-11, he was one of the team's leaders and won the club's Player of the Year award.

That proved to be his last act as North End were relegated to League One and Jones ran down his contract - no-one could begrudge him though as a move to the Premier League with West Brom followed.

Some of North End's best centre-backs since 2006 have not been English, such as Youl Mawene and Sean St. Ledger, although the latter was born in the country but represented the Republic of Ireland so cannot be selected.

Instead one of North End's recent icons takes a place here as current player Paul Huntington beats Tom Clarke to a spot in this line-up.

The 33-year-old was one of Graham Westley's many signings in 2012 and he's outlasted everyone, and unlike most he was able to make the step up to the Championship with PNE when they were promoted in 2015.

Huntington's stand-out season was 2014-15 when he scored nine goals - remarkable for a centre-back - and he's always had a place in the squad, even if not always starting, in the last six years to become a reliable Championship centre-back.

Partnering Huntington is someone who has recently departed Deepdale and that is Ben Davies, who is one of just two PNE academy graduates to make the cut.

After loan spells early in his career in the National League and lower down the EFL, Simon Grayson was ready to sell Davies in 2017 to Fleetwood Town before Alex Neil arrived to replace him - Neil giving him a chance in the first-team proved to be a fine decision.

Davies was a regular for the next three seasons at Deepdale and attracted much attention due to his performances, but to the surprise of everyone it was Liverpool who snapped him up in February to add him to their defensive ranks in the midst of an injury crisis.

Davies may come up against PNE for the first time next season if he's loaned out to someone like Sheffield United - fans probably wish Deepdale was a realistic destination for him after the efforts he gave.

North End's stand-out left-back in recent years has been Irishman Greg Cunningham so he's ineligible for this, so we have to go a little way back for this spot.

Hill had played over 200 games for Bristol City before joining North End in 2005, and was a part of two Championship play-off campaigns and battled with Callum Davidson for the left-back spot and sometimes they played in the same line-up.

Hill was a dependable player and in 2007 he won the fan's Player of the Season award - a year later he joined Wolves but failed to get much game-time - in hindsight remaining at North End probably would have been better for his career and who knows how long he may have stayed for but in the time he did play for the club he was certainly a good one.

The selection of good English wingers at North End over the last 15 years is in quite short supply - of course Scott Sinclair is currently at the club but despite his nine goals last season he's not exactly had the impact many would have expected.

One player who has managed to perform consistently though since his arrival in 2017 is Tom Barkhuizen, who had an unexpected blistering start to his career with the club after signing from Morecambe.

He was named the Championship's Player of the Month for March 2017, showing what an impact he made and in his first three-and-a-half seasons with PNE he scored 31 goals.

Despite only netting four times in 2020-21, Barkhuizen was played all over the pitch and his versatility was key towards the end of the campaign - a new contract for the winger must be a priority in the near future.

Not many have come out of PNE's academy and been successful in the top few levels of the professional game, but Paul McKenna is one of those to buck the trend.

McKenna made his debut for the club in 1997 and never looked back, making 477 appearances in all competitions for his hometown team over the next 12 years.

McKenna achieved two promotions with the Lilywhites but could never crack the Premier League with them, and he eventually moved on to Nottingham Forest to unsuccessfully pursue that avenue.

But McKenna was a model of consistency and a real leader for the club for so many years and often chipped in with a goal or two - and is fully deserving of being in this team.

Partnering McKenna here is another one who, like Ben Davies, has only just departed Deepdale and that is Pearson.

Having signed from Man United in 2016, it took Pearson a number of months to establish himself in Simon Grayson's plans but once he did, he never looked back.

Pearson showed promise under Grayson but really took his game to the next level under Alex Neil, and towards the end of his time at North End also started to sort out the disciplinary side of his game.

With the Premier League on his mind, Pearson joined Bournemouth in January after 165 appearances for PNE - could you imagine how combative a midfield duo of McKenna and Pearo would be?

Some of PNE's most effective wingers in the last 15 years have not been English - Ross Wallace, Aiden McGeady and Keith Treacy spring to mind - one though who may not have provided many goals but certainly didn't lack work rate is Sedgwick.

A 2004 signing from Rotherham, Sedgwick wasn't always deployed on the wing as there was a time where he partnered Paul McKenna in the engine room, but he was always a fine deliverer of a ball and on a rare occasion would also show a surprise bit of flair.

Sedgwick left PNE in 2010 as a 30-year-old and was a part of some good times at Deepdale, but if Simon Whaley had just kept his head screwed on to couple with the natural talent he had then the spot would have probably been his.

The last 15 years have seen PNE miss that '20 goal a season striker' that all clubs crave - in the years before that they were spoilt by the likes of Ricardo Fuller, Richard Cresswell and Jon Macken who scored for fun.

David Nugent had just one season with PNE in this time where he scored 17 goals, then there were the likes of Jon Parkin and Neil Mellor who netted on a semi-regular basis in the Championship.

But it wouldn't be a best XI if Joe Garner wasn't involved - even if he did do his goalscoring in League One unlike the other names above.

A boyhood North End fan, Garner's first half-season at the club was a goalless one, however the following two seasons saw the striker net 51 times in 95 appearances and he was the driving force as North End made it back to the Championship.

Garner wasn't as effective in the second tier and he was eventually sold to Rangers, but he'll always be a fan favourite at Deepdale and it's fair to say his goals played an important part in PNE's recent history.

North End have had a knack over the years to pluck young, hungry talent from Premier League clubs and turn them into better players, but they decided instead in the summer of 2014 to take a chance on Hugill, who had scored four goals in 20 League One games for Port Vale.

A non-league player before Vale took a chance on him, Hugill took a while to get going at North End as he honed is craft, and it was two years after his arrival where he really shone, scoring 13 times in the 2016-17 season.

After 10 goals in 29 outings in the first half of the 2017-18 campaign, West Ham United came calling with a club-record bid that North End couldn't turn down - that would be the end of Hugill's time at PNE but for how the club developed him from a raw, gangly striker to a goalscorer is to be commended.