Carlsile United - Brunton Park
The dream of a trip to Carlisle soon became reality in early September when Rob announced on Facebook Messenger that if we do want to go we should start thinking about possible dates and booking tickets etc. A fair point well made! A quick skype call later and it was decided – Rob and myself had highlighted one weekend, Saturday 11th October 2014 – Carlisle United (obviously) v Stevenage Borough – an inevitable 0-0 if ever there was one.
Ask anyone that has ever made an attempt to book anything with me; I am the slowest yet most organised person ever. What I did, which is what I always do, I highlighted months before what trains we needed to get and where Rob will join me and all the gory details. All I needed to do was book the tickets. Well, this took me weeks. However, after Rob reminding me the trip was only three weeks away I decided to get off my arse and order them. Several forms later and the tickets were booked. A return journey from Bromley Cross to Carlisle for only £21.00, that’s a bargain if you ask me!
The next thing that we, well I, had to book was the actual football tickets, this again was easy. A few forms were filled out and the stand in which we wanted to watch the game from was selected and before you knew it, the tickets were ours. Again, not to pricey, costing us only £10.00 each.
In the weeks leading up to the game the topic of conversation between Rob and I was our trip to Carlisle. To tell you the truth we couldn’t wait. Weeks became days and before we knew it, it was the Friday before the big venture up north.
It was Atherton Collieries v Daisy Hill the Friday night before and of course, both I and Rob were in attendance, along with a long list of other groundhoppers and it’s safe to say we had a fantastic night. I had a new PA system to play with, Colls won 5-3 against one of our local rivals and a fantastic crowd of 608 turned out to watch an excellent advert for the NWCFL. What with all the excitement I didn’t get home until 02:00 in the morning, a late night indeed, especially when you consider the fact I was up four hours later and on my way to Carlisle.
The sound of my alarm echoed around my room four hours after I set it to do so. I’m not going to lie to you I was tired, but I had a great night so it was definitely worth it. Normally, for College I wake up at 06:00 AM so I was sort of used to this time of the morning. I slid out of bed, forced some toast down my gullet and had a shower. I don’t know what it is but showers always tend to double my percentage of energy because after it I felt fine, almost as if I had ten hours sleep not four.
At 07:00 AM I left the house and made my way down to Bromley Cross Train Station in preparation for the train half an hour later. There was a strange atmosphere as I made my way through the idyllic streets of Bromley Cross, it was actually quite eerie with only one or two cars passing as I made my way towards the station.
The actual train station in Bromley Cross was just as quiet and as the train approached I was the only one there. I hopped on the train and prepared myself for the short 15 minute journey to Blackburn.
A quick change in Blackburn and I was on my second train of the day, this train took me to Preston and on our way we passed the home of Bamber Bridge, Irongate. From what I saw from the advancing train it looked a nice and tidy ground.
I had a bit of a wait in Preston so I ventured across the road to McDonalds and went all continental ordering a Mocha to give me a bit of energy for the rest of the day. Fifteen minutes later, my train to Carlisle arrived. As mentioned in other Blogs I love Virgin trains. In comparison to Northern Rail they are heavenly. The ride in comfy, the carriages are warm and the noise is non-existent. In reflection, the way I have just described the train sounds as if I’m on an M+S advert, but they really are that good!
I met Rob on the train and we made the decision to move a few carriages down, away from the loud and intoxicated (that’s correct, even at 09:00 AM) Scotland fans. The journey to Carlisle was easy, peaceful and actually really enjoyable. I decided to make use of the time and do a bit of set reading.
Anyway, time had flied and before we knew it we had passed Celtic Nations’ ground and were pulling into the much larger than expected station at Carlisle. Departing the train, it was more of a case of what to do next. Quickly, we decided just to have a walk around the centre, get a ‘feel for the place’. Having felt the city centre we moved onto Carlisle Castle, again a nice and historic place, we had a little walk around and if I’m honest I was a little disappointed – it would appear that it’s practically just a car park inside – not even a medieval Car Park at that.
On a serious note though, Carlisle is a very nice city and I would recommend visiting the city alone if you ever got the opportunity.
This burned a lot of time for us because Rob, being the photographer that he is, spent ages taking panoramic pictures of everything scenic we came across – even the sky! Photographs eventually finished we went for some lunch. Now Carlisle is full of wonderful looking traditional places in which you can eat but me and Rob however decided, no, we’ll go to McDonalds. This wasn’t our fault we were on a budget… If it’s any consolation it was a nice McDonalds.
McDonalds demolished we made our way to Brunton Park, the home of Carlisle United. Again, we attempted to get a little bit of culture so we decided to walk to the ground, giving the Bus a miss.I had the sense that I liked Carlisle, a very nice and picturesque place – it reminded me a lot of Lancaster, but just bigger, I like them kind of places.
Rob and I walked through the damp streets of Carlisle as we soaked up the culture that surrounded us and soon, after a quick look around Carlisle Rugby Union (personally, I prefer League) Club we arrived at Brunton Park.
For those that have never visited before, it’s strange. The ground appears out of nowhere, it’s just like a street. Anyway, we made our way to the ticket office and picked up our tickets. It was all very posh – they had our names on and everything. Very swish! With around an hour to go until Kick Off we then entered the ground to take some decent pictures whilst it was empty.
I and Rob chose to house ourselves in ‘the Paddock’. This compromised as the first tier of the two tier stand on the East side of the ground. ‘The Paddock’ is an all stand, old school terrace and I loved it – it got a tad cold towards the end of the game but it was a great stand to watch a game of football from. Above our heads was the Main Stand – this is an all seat affair.
Opposite us was the most recent, most impressive stand – the ‘Pioneer Foods Stand’. This is a huge all seated stand that is not in sync with the rest of the ground. This was due to some wacky owner that wanted to move the ground slightly – I don’t know, that’s what a steward told me anyway.
To our right was another quite cool and old-school stand the ‘Warwick Road End’. This is your 1950’s typical football terrace with a very distinctive and easily recognisable arched roof. Part of me wished we stood there as that’s where the more vocal fans stand on a Match Day and I do love a bit of atmosphere.
Finally, to our left was the ‘Petteril End’. Now, this stand wasn’t open for our game and as I understand, is only opened for the ‘bigger’ games. This is simple terracing with a random bit of seating placed on the right. Quirky is the adjective I shall use.
Carlisle United Football Club were founded in 1904 and they have won three league titles and one cup competition throughout their rather lengthy history. The years 1964-1985 have been dubbed as the ‘Golden Years’ were Carlisle sampled the First Division before being relegated in the 1974/75 season despite being top after three games – they ended up finishing bottom. Here’s one final fun fact for you all - Carlisle still remains the smallest place within England, by local population, to have had a top-flight football team in their town since 1906. Interesting!
Anyway, the game. With around five minutes until kick off, as mentioned at the beginning of this Blog I had a terrible feeling that this was going to be a boring and drab 0-0. If anything this was the opposite. This was Keith Curle’s first home game as manager of Carlisle and boy was it a first home game to remember.
What must be noted is the very bizarre music they play over the PA system. I found the music very strange – the players came out to ‘dreams can come true’ by Gabrielle (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe6HFTm7lbQ), a song that doesn’t exactly strike me as ‘Pump Up’ music. Anyway, each to their own and all that….
From start to finish Carlisle dominated with an out of form Stevenage having only a limited impact upon the game. Rob and I were just above the away dugout and it’s safe to say that it wasn’t a very happy place to be during this game.
Carlisle opened the scoring on 16 minutes, after an attacking move the ball was played to Brad Potts on the edge of the box. Potts controlled and adjusted his run before he fired past Chris Day in the Stevenage goal, a fine move and goal from Carlisle.
Potts turned from goal-scorer to provider just ten minutes later. After Potts received the ball from Hayden White on the right wing, Potts played the ball into the middle of the box for Steven Rigg to simply tap in. Both goals directly in front of the Stevenage fans – I bet that wasn’t nice to see!
In all fairness to Stevenage they tried to create a reply but failed to do so as they only created half chances throughout the game.
Half Time – Carlisle United 2-0 Stevenage Borough
At Half Time Rob and I had very little opportunity to warm up what with no concourse. However, this didn’t affect us – we’re men and the cold was fully embraced (yes, I agree this is totally over dramatized but I did need something to write about).
Second half and Carlisle continued to attack. On 50 minutes Rigg was presented with a good opportunity to double his own tally but his shot from the edge of the box was locked really well by the Stevenage defence.
Stevenage had one of their better efforts of the game on 71 minutes. The corner was played to Andy Bond who made a run to the edge of the box. Bond fired his shot at goal for it to be well saved by Dan Hanford, a neat little training ground tick indeed.
The clock read 82 minutes when Carlisle had yet another opportunity, the ball was played to Stephen Elliot who controlled, turned and released his shot at goal for Day to save very well.
However, Carlisle did eventually get their third and final goal of the game on 86 minutes – Mark Beck with the goal. The ball was played into Beck who had the easy job of tapping the ball in.
Full Time – Carlisle United 3-0 Stevenage Borough
Personally, I was very happy with the result – Carlisle were a very hospitable club and did try to pass the ball around on the fine surface Brunton Park boasts. Stevenage on the other hand were a lot more direct in their football which is fair enough, but not easy on the eye.
Over the course of the day Rob and I developed a soft spot for Carlisle but unfortunately their form wasn’t exactly great throughout the rest of the season as they finished in 20th place – they were in the same place when I visited. Stevenage, on the other hand, really turned their fortunes around – they finished in 6th qualifying for the playoffs, a massive improvement from the 19th place they held when I watched them.
When the Full Time whistle was blown me and Rob made our way back to Carlisle train station. I picked up a Pie and Chips (I know, very cultural) from a Fish and Chip Shop along the way – standard is the word I’d use to describe them. We also stopped off at B+M Bargains (again, cultural) for some snacks for the journey back.
Normally, I would conclude my day here but there was another twist in this rather long tale. We sat as we waited for our train then all of a sudden Rob and I were joined by the whole Stevenage team, presumably getting their train back down to Stevenage. However, obviously with Rob being Rob he must have offended their Goalkeeping Coach as he sent evils in Rob’s direction – strange indeed but classic Rob.
Anyway, the journey home was no hassle at all as I was home by 08:00 PM, changed and off back out to celebrate a friend’s birthday – the words ‘full on’ spring to mind.
Either way, it had been a cracking day at Carlisle – a great city, a great ground and a good game of football. What more can anyone ask for? Hopefully, I will return to Carlisle one day and if you have already, I thoroughly recommend you do visit – it provides a great day out.
Saturday 11th October - Carlisle United 3-0 Stevenage Borough - League 2 - Game #32 - Ground #45
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