Paul Heckingbottom — Manager stats & performance
Paul Heckingbottom
Preston North End· EFL Championship · 
England · Age 49
70/ 100
Solid
24th percentile of covered managers
Career snapshot
Age
49
17 JUL 1977
Appointed
20 AUG 2024
Tenure
2Y 1M
2 years, 1 month
Contractⓘ
Until 30 June 2028
Three-year agreement
Senior managerial experienceⓘ
2 years, 1 month
Since 1 FEB 2016
In coaching
2 years, 1 month
Includes academy & assistant roles
Season: 2026/27Competition: EFL ChampionshipUpdated: Updated todaySource: GafferLens editorial review — appointment, contract and career dates manually verified to the 21 August 2026 baseline
EFL Championship category ranks
Current Club — All Competitions
104
29
38
37
27.9%
GF 120 · GA 138 · GD -18 · 2024-08-24 → 2026-08-26
Current Club — League
92
25
35
32
27.2%
GF 105 · GA 121 · GD -16 · 2024-08-24 → 2026-08-22
Current Season — League
2
0
0
2
0%
GF 2 · GA 5 · GD -3 · 2026-08-15 → 2026-08-22
Current Club Form
5 competitive matches in current spell
- LPreston North Endv · Competitive ·
- DPreston North Endv · Competitive ·
- LPreston North Endv · Competitive ·
- LPreston North Endv · Competitive ·
- LPreston North Endv · Competitive ·
Manager Last 5
Five most recent verified competitive senior matches
- LPreston North Endv · Competitive ·
- DPreston North Endv · Competitive ·
- LPreston North Endv · Competitive ·
- LPreston North Endv · Competitive ·
- LPreston North Endv · Competitive ·
Each result stays attributed to the club managed at the time; previous-club matches are never presented as current-club results.
Source: api_football. Dataset CHAMPIONSHIP_2026_V_20260828004536. Verified fixtures → match records → manager assignments → approved canonical layer.
Career record
Data not yet available
GafferLens has not yet verified a match-by-match record for Paul Heckingbottom. Rather than publish estimated figures, performance statistics stay empty until a licensed data source is connected. The tactical profile on this page is a provisional editorial reading.
Strengths
Structure without the ball
Distances between units stay short for long periods.
Restart value
Set pieces are a genuine, repeatable source of goals.
Considerations
Chance creation
Open-play volume is limited when the team has to lead a game.
Pressure absorption
Long spells defending increase the chance of a late concession.
Methodology & data freshness
GafferScore 0.4 (provisional editorial) · tactical model 0.3 (prototype model) · rankings updated 2026-08-17. Form window: Last 10 competitive matches, recency weighted.
Updated today · Confidence MEDIUM · Source: GafferLens editorial review — appointment, contract and career dates manually verified to the 21 August 2026 baseline
Image credits
Visual: GafferLens generic Preston North End shirt — an original unbranded illustration using traditional club colours. No licensed photograph verified for Paul Heckingbottom (status: PLACEHOLDER).