 In 2005, Preece left Scotland to move to Denmark by joining Silkeborg IF first and OB second.At Silkeborg, Preece was a first-choice goalkeeper until he left for OB where his first-team opportunities began to decline due to Arkadiusz Onyszko pushing him out of the first team.After being released by OB, Preece returned to England by joining Barnsley free on a one-year contract, with the option to extend the contract by a further year, and was expected to compete with Luke Steele.