Three pitch invaders briefly stopped play as Preston, a team that excels on away days, defeated Birmingham 2-1 at St. Andrew's to hand them their fifth straight league loss. Referee Rebecca Welch made history in the process.
Ryan Lowe's team won the first Championship game that was completely officiated by a female official when Ryan Ledson and captain Alan Browne scored their first league goals of the year in the first 15 minutes.
Even though substitute Lukas Jutkiewicz's late goal cut the deficit, North End still managed to win on the road for the eighth time overall, a record shared only by second-place Sheffield United in the division.
But before that, three Birmingham supporters interrupted the game by entering the field in protest against the club's board in the 77th minute.
Welch, 39, was the first woman appointed to officiate a men's Championship game; Amy Fearn, who replaced Welch for the final 20 minutes of a game between Coventry and Nottingham Forest in 2010 due to an injury, was the first woman to officiate in the league.
When Birmingham lost 1-0 to Plymouth at the same location in the FA Cup third-round last year, Welch made history as the first female referee. Early on, Preston took control of the game by taking advantage of some shoddy home defense.
After Kevin Long and Hannibal Mejbri failed to convincely head away Robbie Brady's cross in the 10th minute, midfielder Ledson successfully headed home a loose ball from the edge of the box. Since April 2021, the 25-year-old had not scored a League goal.
Five minutes later, midfielder Browne headed in from close range Brady's near-post corner to give North End a two-goal advantage.Ben Woodburn's attempt was deflected narrowly wide as Preston pushed for a third goal when the Blues were at their defensive breaking point.
Blues did not resurface as an attacking force until the 26th minute, when Scott Hogan met Maxime Colin's cross with a forceful header that missed the target. Preston re-entered the assault through the dangerous Woodburn, whose risky drive was stopped by goalkeeper John Ruddy at his near post after he charged down the right.
Blues sought to regain control of the game after the restart. Troy Deeney returned a cross-field pass from Mejbri by heading it into the danger zone, but Hogan decided to take a touch instead of shooting straight away, and as a result, was boxed out by Browne and a defender, who then clashed.
In an effort to get his team back into the game, Blues head coach John Eustace made a triple substitution in the 63rd minute. For Long, Mejbri, and Tahith Chong, George Friend, Juninho Bacuna, and Jutkiewicz entered the scene.
But at first, it didn't seem to make much of a difference as the hosts struggled to get past a stubborn Preston defense. In the 83rd minute, Jutkiewicz headed home Colin's cross to calm the demonstrators and give the Blues hope, but it was too little, too late.
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