, Away Days #2: Carlisle United

Away Days #2: Carlisle United

Warwick Road End: One of the Football League's last traditional terraces.
Warwick Road End: One of the Football League’s last traditional terraces.

 

The purpose of the ‘Away Days’ column is to offer practical and friendly advice to fans looking for an honest appraisal of what each of the 72 clubs can offer, from decent pubs to stadium facilities, and from travel to tourist attractions. Sometimes though, for every football fan, there’s a day where the best-laid plans of a relaxed away day disintegrate, but where 90 minutes worth of exciting football can salvage those frustrating occasions. This will not be a thorough guide to the delights of Carlisle. This will be one of those days.

Depending on where you call home, Carlisle is the first, or the last city in England. Situated just ten miles from the present-day Scottish border, it’s a settlement which the English and the Scots fought fiercely over in distant centuries, and its landscape is still awash with history. Carlisle Castle, in the west of the city, has been here since 1093. Carlisle has been, at various times, a military town, a hub of the textile industry, and nowadays, a popular tourist spot, nestled right at the North of the scenic, expansive Lake District. Carlisle’s tourist appeal and exposure has been a double-edged sword. Many people who grew up here have been priced out of an increasingly gentrified city – but still, Carlisle retains much of its proud working-class heritage.

My aim, as usual, is to visit at least a couple of the pubs, restaurants and local attractions of today’s destination. This plan, however, quickly disappears – and I apologise for the lack of info on Carlisle’s culinary delights and its best beer gardens. I accidentally alight the train at Penrith, a stop before I’m supposed to get off, and a painfully irregular train service means I barely have time to reach Brunton Park before the 3pm kick-off. On the way back, a traffic gridlock means my taxi gets cancelled, losing today’s post-match chance to stop off for a post-match pint. I know that the Shabby Scholar and (slightly further out), the Wellington Inn, are both friendly pubs renowned for serving up delicious fare, though sadly, today’s transport disasters stop me from experiencing either first-hand. For the record, I promise the next bit of this feature will be slightly more interesting.

Brunton Park has been the home of Carlisle United for 106 years. It’s the kind of grand old ground whose ilk are mostly consigned to the memory, and whose sweeping terraces evoke memories of grainy, sepia-tinged footage and homemade match scarves. Brunton Park is admittedly rusty, ramshackle and frustratingly short on toilets. For all that, though, I find The Cumbrians’ home to be a wonderful and unique place to watch football. Under the covered terrace of the Warwick Road End, you’d be forgiven for forgetting this was 2015. Men stand on its weathered rows, huddled together clutching styrofoam cups of Bovril, banging on the corrugated walls to build up the atmosphere, and as the full-time pitch invasion proves, this traditional stand almost encroaches onto the pitch. Depending on your stadia preferences, Brunton Park is either dirty and outdated, or charming and atmospheric. It’s impossible to deny, though, that it’s a real anomaly in an era of near-identikit new builds centred around retail parks and business complexes.

Just as Brunton Park may soon be a thing of the past, so it seems, have been Carlisle United’s best days. Traditionally a mainstay of the lower leagues (and occasionally, non-league), they reached the old First Division – English Football’s top tier, in 1974-75. They stayed top of the pile for the first three games, but finished the season in 22nd spot, as relegation was confirmed. There have been brief forays to the Football League’s upper reaches in subsequent decades, but mostly, Carlisle United have been League One regulars – spending eight seasons there, before last summer’s surprise relegation under the management of Graham Kavanagh. And, after spending much of this season with the threat of relegation lurking in the background, the recent confirmation of Tranmere Rovers and Cheltenham Town as this season’s entrants into the wilderness, has been greeted more with relief than pleasure, in this corner of North Cumbria.

 

Standing Strong: The home faithful look on.
Standing Strong: The home faithful look on.

Ticket & Travel Info:

Tickets: The prices listed below are for pre-matchday orders. Tickets bought on matchdays can cost up to £3 more at Carlisle United:

All seated areas in the home sections (Free Story Homes Stand & Main Stand) are £19, and both home standing areas (Warwick Road Terrace and Free Main Stand Terrace) are £16.

For away fans, the prices are equivalent. The Peterill End Terrace is £16, and seating in the Storey Homes Stand is £19. There are concessions for Over 65’s – for home and away fans. These cover several age groups, including anyone younger than 22.
Travel: Carlisle Railway Station (not Penrith, don’t get off at Penrith) is served by hourly services on the Newcastle-Carlisle line, and is also on the Edinburgh-Penrith line, the Carlisle-Leeds line, and various less prominent rail routes throughout England and Scotland. At the time of writing, all travel from Carlisle-Glasgow is by rail replacement bus.

If you’re driving, the stadium’s Main Car Park costs £2.50, though there’s a Disabled Parking section for Blue Badge holders, which is free of charge.

 

Ground Location: Brunton Park is located on Warwick Road. just over a mile from Carlisle Railway Station, and is easily accessible from the M6 (leave the Motorway at Junction 43).

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