A Season to Remember – Carlisle United 1974/75
The 1974/75 season was definitely the most memorable for Carlisle United fans as it was their first and only season in the top tier of English football. It was also their most successful as the club reached the Sixth Round of the FA Cup, before losing 1-0 at home to eventual finalists Fulham.
Having gained promotion the previous campaign after finishing third in the Second Division, the club were in uncharted waters. Their fans had the exciting prospect of playing the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur over the course of the season.
At one point, Carlisle United even topped the First Division for the only time in their 115 year history. It was after only three games but they still have the honour of being able to say that at one time, they were the top dogs of the Football League!
United made two summer signings, bringing in defender Robert Parker from Coventry City and Hugh McIlmoyle from Scottish side Greenock Morton.
The season began on a bright sunny afternoon at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge. United sprung the surprise result of the opening day of the First Division as they beat Chelsea 2-0, with goals from Bill Green and Les O’Neil.
Carlisle would go on and prove that the Chelsea score wasn’t a fluke by winning their next two games. The first game was a 2-0 victory away to Middlesbrough and they beat Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 in their first home of the season. 18,426 were present to see the first game at Brunton Park and the win put Carlisle top of the league for the only time in the season.
There must have been an error with the fixture computer as Middlesbrough were the visitors on 27th August. They took both points in a 1-0 victory to knock United off their perch. This was followed by a 1-1 draw away to Leicester on the third Saturday of the season.
September started with a 2-0 home defeat to Stoke City. Carlisle fans then had a visit to Newcastle United to look forward to. Newcastle were their nearest rivals geographically, with a distance of 59 miles separating the two clubs. John Tudor scored the only goal of the game in a narrow 1-0 win for the Geordies.
Two clean sheets at home followed in a 1-0 win over Stoke City and a 0-0 draw with Manchester City. The month ended with a 3-1 defeat at Luton Town.
Carlisle also played in their first Cup match of the season in September, beating Bradford City 1-0 at Valley Parade.
Liverpool were the first opponents in October, drawing in a bumper crowd of 20,844 at Brunton Park. The visitors won 1-0 with Ray Kennedy scoring the only goal of the game.
Four days later, Third Division Colchester United caused a shock by beating Carlisle in the Third Round of the League Cup. The 2-0 win at Colchester’s Layer Road ground was one of the shocks of the round.
A 2-0 defeat to Wolves at Molineux made it four defeats in a row and the reality of just how tough it was in the First Division was starting to sink in.
A 1-1 draw away to Tottenham was followed by an impressive 3-0 home victory over reigning Champions Derby County. Any thoughts of a revival were short-lived as Carlisle lost their next six games, all five of their league games in November.
The run came to an end with a 2-1 win over Arsenal at Brunton Park. In the remaining four matches of 1974, Carlisle lost three matches and only won once, in a 3-1 win away to Everton.
One of the defeats came at home to local rivals Newcastle United. They were beaten 2-1 on Boxing Day in front of a bumper 25,000 crowd.
A tricky FA Cup Third Round tie at Preston North End was won in the first week of January, giving Carlisle temporary respite from their tough league campaign.
There were only two other league matches in January, a 2-1 defeat to Arsenal at Highbury followed by a 2-1 win over Ipswich at Brunton Park.
The last game in January was a hard-fought 3-2 win over West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns in the FA Cup Fourth Round.
Carlisle then lost six games on the bounce, sending them to the bottom of the table for the first time of the season.
During that run, there was a tricky tie to be played at Mansfield Town in the Fifth Round of the FA Cup. Mansfield had won the Fourth Division title the season before and were a difficult opponent. A single goal from Bobby Owen put United into the Quarter Finals for the first time in their history.
Carlisle were drawn at home to Second Division Fulham in the Quarter-Final and the First Division strugglers must have fancied their chances of reaching the Semi-Finals.
The match was a tale of two goalkeepers. Fulham’s Peter Mellor had a fantastic game, keeping out everything Carlisle threw at him.
At the other end, Carlisle’s Alan Ross had a communication mix-up with a defender. The two of them collided and the ball dropped kindly to Fulham’s Les Barrett who was on hand to tap the ball into an empty net.
Two goals from Joe Laidlaw in a surprise 2-1 win over Manchester City gave United fans false hope as they then lost their next two games. The first of those defeats was a 5-2 demolition at Stoke City, their biggest defeat of the season.
There were two home games over the Easter weekend against Everton and Burnley on the Easter Monday. Carlisle won them both, scoring seven goals in the process (three against Everton and four against Burnley). This would be the first and last time that they would win back–to-back games in the League.
In the last four games, Carlisle won one, lost one and drew two. The only defeat came in a 2-0 reverse at Liverpool. They won their last home game 1-0 against Wolves.
Despite Carlisle only losing once in their final six games of the season, the damage had already been done. The club finished bottom of the League and were relegated, five points off safety.
This season may not have been a successful one as the club were relegated, but it was their first season in the top flight. It was an adventure for all Carlisle United fans everywhere.
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