Preston North End are still reaping the rewards of 2004 Derby County decision | OneFootball

Preston's 2004 signing of Youl Mawene is still having a lasting effect now

It's not very often you can say a 2004 signing is still having a positive effect on a football club in 2025, but Preston North End can certainly say that about Youl Mawene.

Of course, it's not Mawene contributing on the pitch which means he's still having an impact at North End, but more what links he has to two players who look set to have bright futures at the club.

Youl is the father to Noah and Theo, who both came up through the Preston youth ranks and have made first team appearances for the club, with the brothers both tipped to have bright futures at North End.

It's something of an unusual circumstance for a family to have such strong ties to the same club, but Preston certainly look set to reap the benefits if the pair continue their upward trajectories.

It all started back in 2004 when North End recruited Youl Mawene on a free transfer from Derby County, and the rest is history.

Youl Mawene was a real coup for Preston back in 2004

Back in 2004, when Preston were pushing hard to get into the Premier League, the signing of Mawene was seen as a real coup, particularly given he arrived on a free transfer having just won Derby's Player of the Year the season prior.

According to agent Jesse Learoyd-Hill, North End beat off competition from Wolves, who he'd been on trial with, and "bent over backwards" to sign Mawene, and looking back now, they'll be thankful they did.

North End got five great seasons of service out of Mawene, who helped them reach the play-offs twice but ultimately couldn't help them achieve their ultimate goal of reaching the Premier League, which to this day has eluded Preston.

The commanding centre back was a near ever-present for most of his Preston career, and looking back after his playing days finished, perhaps regrets the move to Greece in 2010 which somewhat signalled the end of his best playing days.

That certainly didn't spell the end of the positive impact his signing had for Preston though, as Mawene's family roots in the North West saw his two boys sign for the Preston academy, and now they've grown up, they're banging on the first team door.

The Mawene brothers are part of the next generation at Preston

For a Preston side who haven't been in the Premier League recently, thus don't have the resources of most of their rivals, finding different ways to get quality onto the pitch is of paramount importance.

That partly comes from trying to sign players cheap and develop them to sell on for a financial boost, but blooding thier own talent from the academy is also a great way to become more competitive on the field.

Having seen the impact Youl made over a six-year spell at Deepdale, seeing his two sons in the academy would've been a welcome boost to North End.

Noah has played a little more football for Preston up to now, but at 19 years of age, that's to be expected as he's two years older than his brother, Theo, who seems to be the bigger prospect of the two.

Theo scored a stunning goal in recent FA Youth Cup action and is believed to have caught the eye of several Premier League clubs who have since scouted the 17-year-old.

He could yet be sold for a handsome fee, and if both go on to make some sort of positive impact at Preston, they can look back at their 2004 decision to sign Youl Mawene with great fondness, knowing he's helped blood two bright youngsters for the future.