PNE fans will probably associate the name Archie Gemmill on two completely different levels. For those under the age of 40 then it's possibly with reference to one particular scene on the cult film Trainspotting.

But the older generation will tend to recall the former Scotland international as a nippy, energetic terrier in midfield who started his footballing career in England with the Lilywhites.

Gemmill arrived in Preston in 1967, having been transferred from St Mirren for a fee of £16,000. In a three-year spell at Deepdale, he played under Jimmy Milne, Bobby Seith and Alan Ball Senior before moving to the Baseball Ground, where he spent arguably the finest years of his career under the tutelage of the great Brian Clough.

The 60-year-old made just under 100 appearances for Preston, and even scored on his debut after coming on as a substitute in an Old Division Two fixture at Carrow Road, although it's too many years ago for Archie to recall clearly.

"I'll take your word for that," joked Gemmill. "I enjoyed my time with North End, I was very young and naïve but all I wanted to do when I was at Preston is just play football and I always tried to do my best whenever I was picked.

"But it was a bit up and down. I started off playing in the team quite regularly but then when Bobby Seith took over I was left out quite a lot, it was a learning process that I had to go through especially as I was a very young lad coming down from Scotland.

"Being an only child it was big upheaval for me and it took a little while to settle in. I was only coming to 20 years of age and it was a very hard thing to do because at the time I had everything I wanted at home.

"The Club put me in numerous different digs but they never suited me really well and at first it was a couple of months of trial and retribution. But, eventually they put me with Derek and Dorothy Graves in Ashton and they looked after me like I was their only child.

"It was like a home from home and that immediately, if I had any doubts, set my mind at rest and my parents' too. From then on I just fell into the Preston North End way of life."

The Lilywhites have a rich history when it comes to Scottish players and managers. Indeed, the squad of the late 1960s was littered with stars from north of border who have gone down in PNE folklore.

And the trend has even continued to the present day with the likes of Craig Brown, Billy Davies and Alan Irvine, who is now in command of the North End hot seat.

In some respects if it hadn't been for the Scottish contingent then Gemmill may never have settled in English football and enjoyed such a distinguished career. And, 37 years on since he departed Deepdale, he is still in contact with many of his former team mates.

The Paisley-born man said: "There were an awful lot of Scottish players at Preston like George Lyall, Bert Patrick, Gerald Stewart and George Ross and they made me feel at home. I think if I had gone down there and it had been all English players then I would have found it hard to fit in.

"I was up in Preston about three or four weeks ago and I had chance to speak to George Ross because he works at Deepdale on a matchday and I still see George Lyall every now and again as he lives down in Derby as well."

The memorable goal against Holland in the 1978 World Cup, in some respects overshadows the other outstanding achievements in Gemmill's career. Aside from that magical jinking run, he picked up 42 caps for Scotland, won league titles at both Derby County and Nottingham Forest and was the first player to appear as a substitute in Scottish football history.

Archie is also part of an exclusive group of the father and son combination to play for North End, with his son Scot making seven appearances for the Lilywhites during a loan spell at Deepdale in 2003. Others in the group including Jimmy and Gordon Milne, Mark and Tommy Lawrenson and both Alan Kelly Senior and Junior.

"The highlight of my career was just the next game," Gemmill explained bluntly. "It was as simple as that, I wanted to play as long as possible and try to be as good as I possibly could. I don't think I've missed out on too many things in football, I won an awful lot of trophies, I've captained my country and I've captained my club teams.

"I'm still involved in football and I do a little bit of work as a scout for the Scottish Football Association. It's nice to get about because when you go to the various matches, you might see someone that that you haven't seen for a couple of years.

"I think the SFA have got it right with George Burley. He has been successful wherever he has been, he knows exactly what he wants and his teams play exceptionally good attractive football so we'll keep our fingers crossed for him."

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