The club who won’t sink without a fight
Carlisle’s losses are into six f igures after floods wrecked their ground – never have they been more in need of a glamour Cup run
CARLISLE UNITED will not forget their last FA Cup tie in a hurry. What should have been a happy journey home from Welling after a 5-0 victory on December 5 turned sombre as television pictures on the team coach showed floods developing at their Brunton Park ground.
‘We were sat there watching our own cars trapped underneath the puddles on national TV. It was the most surreal experience,’ says club official Andy Hall. ‘We couldn’t get off the M6 because the roads were blocked so we had to turn around to the nearest Premier Inn and ask family to pick us up.’
The stories of heroism and pain that have emerged in the six weeks since the town was engulfed by water from Storm Desmond make today’s FA Cup third-round tie against Yeovil Town a bittersweet occasion.
The fixture is being played at Blackpool’s Bloomfield Road because Carlisle’s own pitch remains a brown swamp until new turf is relaid. All around, the stadium still shows the ravages of the rivers Eden and Petteril breaking their banks. At its worst, the water was at crossbar level on the pitch.
Even with insurance money, the cost to Carlisle could reach six figures, a big blow for a League Two club. Never can a run in the FA Cup have been more important, both financially and in terms of raising morale for the whole community.
‘Walking down the road and seeing people empty all their belongings on to the road is the worst thing I’ve ever seen. Devastating,’ says manager Keith Curle. ‘You still see skips with TV, settees, strewn up and down Warwick Street and the adjoining streets. We all know people who are having to live upstairs.’
But the worst of times have also brought out the best in people. The notion of the football family, which sounds trite on occasions, really does apply at times like this.
Staff and helpers have worked beyond the call of duty with club director Suzanne Kidd telling of one particular unsung star.
‘[Groundsman] Paul Butler was pumping out water until one in the morning on the night of the floods. He only left the stadium when the police said he had to get out because more was on its way,’ she says.
‘Paul was worried about leaving the tractor so he chucked his bike on it and drove it home. He was stopped by more police who wanted to know who would be driving a tractor round in the middle of the floods.’
The tractor was saved. Everything left at the stadium wasn’t. By 4am, the flood destroyed everything in its wake, from computers and merchandise from the club shop to nearly all of Carlisle’s historical archives.
The players now train at a local rugby club while other staff have been working out of a food company owned by chairman Andrew Jenkins.
‘Other clubs have been really helpful,’ says sales and marketing director Phil King. ‘Newcastle United rang one of our owners and we were able to use their training ground for two or three days last week. Plymouth Argyle sent a Christmas hamper for the staff here.’
It has been left up to finance director Kidd to assess the cost. ‘We’ve played three home games away, at Preston, Blackburn and now Blackpool,’ she said. ‘We have to meet the costs in terms of stewarding, floodlighting. That might be £10,000 a game. We also have to hire a coach for the players even though it’s a home game.
‘The timing of the flood, December, was a key period for us leading up to Christmas. Stock damage hit us, and there has been a drop in income from people buying merchandise as presents.’
The impact goes on and despite Virgin trains offering free travel to the ‘home’ games, attendances have been down by about 1,500.
Somehow, 52-year-old Curle has had to rally the players. A former Wimbledon and Manchester City defender, he has used his experience of life with the Crazy Gang to help overcome the odds.
‘Wimbledon taught me to tackle challenges head on,’ he said. ‘Bobby Gould signed me from Reading and made me captain ahead of Vinnie Jones, John Fashanu, Dennis Wise. It was an intimidating environment.
‘I wasn’t built for ring action but I was very competitive. Fash threw his elbows at me for 25 minutes in training so I deliberately tried to hurt him. I went in horizontal and right through him. He picked me up and said, “That’s what I like to see”.
You couldn’t bully Vinnie or Fash but you could win their respect. My physical condition was the best I’d ever been, I’d be at the front of everything.’
Pre-season, Curle took his players to the Lake District where they had to climb three big hills, the last two carrying logs. ‘I think it’s helped massively with what we’ve been through recently. It is about taking on the challenge,’ he said.
Behind the scenes, Carlisle are going flat out to try and stage their next home league game against York City at Brunton Park on January 23. Weather permitting, and the rain has fallen again recently, a new pitch will be laid next week.
In the meantime, and despite Yeovil’s own proud Cup tradition, the nation will be willing Carlisle to come through today and draw a big fish in the next round. They could do it as well, they are above Yeovil in the League Two table and carry a goal threat in Jabo Ibhere, who has 14 in 19 games this season.
Carlisle beat QPR and drew at Liverpool in the Capital One Cup this season. What’s happened since makes this tie even bigger.
‘The fans have really got behind the club. There is a real momentum now,’ says King.