- Founded: 1904
- Nickname: The Cumbrians, The Blues
- Honours: Division 3 (1964/65), Third Division (1994/95), League 2 (2006/06)
Carlisle United came into being when members of Shaddongate United opted to change their name in May 1904. The new club was admitted into the Second Division of the Lancashire League for the 1905/06 season, winning promotion almost immediately. The nicknames are self-explanatory but the City itself has a rich military history.
Due to its obvious proximity to Scotland, Carlisle was a central hub in the supplying the forts along Hadrian’s Wall, during the Roman Conquest. Due to border wars, by the Norman invasion of 1066, Carlisle was actually part of Scotland, but in 1092 William II incorporated Cumbria back into England, and built Carlisle Castle a year later.
In 1928, Carlisle were promoted to the Football League for the first time in their history, joining Division 3 (North), though relegation beckoned soon after. It was in 1958 they returned to the League, where the club would then yo-yo between Division’s 3 and 4 for the next 7 years. After a champion’s promotion to Div 2 in ’65, The Cumbrians would achieve back-to-back promotions in ‘74/75 to reach Division 1 where they were, again, swiftly relegated.
The rest of the twentieth century saw the Blues bounce between leagues never reaching the promised land of Division 1 again. In 2004, Carlisle would be relegated from the league all together, dropping down to the conference for a season. This in turn led to Carlisle’s second back-to-back promotions into League 1 in 2006, where they would stay until 2014.
Paul Lewis scored a hat-trick as Northampton made it four wins and four clean sheets in a row with a 3-0 victory over Keith Millen’s Carlisle.
A fantastic last-ditch block by Ali Koiki stopped Rod McDonald giving the Cumbrians an early lead as the out-of-form visitors made a good start.
But Northampton improved and moved ahead just before half-time with a brilliant team move as Koiki played a slick one-two with Mitch Pinnock and then crossed low for Lewis to slide home at the back post.
Lewis came close to a second when thwarted by visiting goalkeeper Mark Howard early in the second half, but he was not to be denied after 57 minutes as he finished calmly after good work by Kion Etete.
The home side were now dominant and Lewis completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot, emphatically thumping home after Jack Armer was penalised for handball.
Northampton comfortably held on to claim a ninth clean sheet in 15 games this season.
| Played | Won | Draw | Lost | F | A |
| 10 | 6 | 4 |
PLAYED FOR BOTH
We look at a selection of players that played for the Cobblers and Port Vale.
Referee – James Bell
Assistant Referee 1 – Paul Graham
Assistant Referee 2 – Daniel Woodward
Fourth Official – Paul Newhouse
Observer – Jeff Ward
Our referee for this game is Mr James Bell.
He’s taken charge of 35 games so far this season and has shown 109 yellows and three reds.
| Date | Result | ||
| 20.4.21 | Northampton | 3-0 | Ipswich |
| 1 | Carlisle have failed to win any of their last six Football League games against Northampton (D1 L5), conceding 2+ goals on every occasion. |
| 2 | Northampton have lost on just two of their previous 11 Football League trips to Carlisle (W5 D4) and are unbeaten in their last three such games (W2 D1). |
| 3 | Carlisle have won each of their last three league games for only the second time this season, the Blues haven’t won four in succession since December 2020. |
| 4 | Since losing their first league game of the year, Northampton have only lost one of their last eight such games (W4 D3). |
