Earlier this month a news site run by students, known as The Tab, ran an article discussing the most tragic nightclubs in the country.

The piece has one from each city and, predictably, Evoque is listed for Preston. The following is said:

“Evoque in Preston is by no means the best club in the world, but it’s the best Preston has to offer.

“It caters for mainly two music tastes – the small, cramped and sweaty top floor plays R&B hits and throwbacks for you and your friends to get down and dirty to, and the larger bottom floor (mind the stairs) plays house music and some of the best remixes out there.

“Why are there so many toilets, though? Three floors, three ladies’ bathrooms and three men’s. At least you have plenty of choice of where to do your business when you’ve broken the seal.”

This isn’t going to be an ardent defence of Evoque. The writer hasn’t really been that disparaging about the place. Evoque isn’t the only club owned by Deltic to make the list (Pryzm in both Watford and Kingston makes the list too).

As it happens, I agree that some of the tunes you might hear in Evoque are great. I still go quite a lot (I’ll be there this weekend), and it’s pretty good in its own way. If we’re going to talk about tragic nightclubs, then there’s far more viable candidates.

The problem for me is the suggestion it’s the best Preston has offer, as if there’s absolutely nothing to do in our city.

Read more: 34 things everyone who grew up in Preston knows to be true

Because that’s pretty outrageous. For starters, The Warehouse (I’ll probably be there too) pips Evoque as the most iconic club in Preston. It’s got the history, the atmosphere, caters to a wider range of tastes and maintains a feeling of safety and community to go with that.

Beyond Warehouse, there’s a fantastic array of pubs that stay open late in the student part of town. The Ferret remains one of the best pubs I’ve ever been to and the community of people that make the place their second home are some of the best people I know. Very similar compliments can be made about Roper Hall while pubs such as The Adelphi mean that there’s always something to do and somewhere to go. And they’re even better in the summer, but we’re looking at nightlife here.

On top of that, the additions being made inside the Guild Hall are adding to what is already a great city to live in. The new music venue in there brought Fiesta Bombarda to the city and they make your night out feel like a music festival.

Read more: 15 things you only know if you went to UCLan in the mid-2000s

And being disparaging about Preston is something that should only be done with a tongue-in-cheek attitude anyway. I genuinely love my home city. I think it’s brilliant and love how proud a lot of people are to be from here. That’s not an attitude you find in cities or towns up and down the country.

So celebrate the places of Preston, many of which I’ve very unfairly forgotten to mention. There’s more to do in this city than most places of a similar size. This is not a place with some outdated pubs and then that one horrible nightclub that everyone goes to. And we need to be proud of that. You probably already are.