 John's stay at Preston started badly, for although John was scoring regularly and forming a potent strike partnership with Gary Brazil, the team as a whole were performing woefully badly finishing the 1985-86 season in 91st position, therefore having to apply for re-election.John however did on a personal note finish the season successfully by picking up the club's official player of the year award for 1985-86.The following season was however a different story.