Brunton Park

Sunday 20 April 2014

Carlisle United 1-1 Walsall

Aerial shot of Brunton Park (Bing Maps)

Programme - £2.00

Ratings

Overall Ground Quality : 4/10

Ease of getting there : 8/10

Atmosphere : 5/10

Programme : 7/10

View of Action : 8/10

Quality of the game : 7/10

The "football" feeling : 4/10

Chances of coming here for a random game : 1/10

Legroom : N/A

Surrounding area : 8/10

Overall : 52/100

The Hugh McIlmoyle Statue

Warwick Road End

Main Stand

Petterill End

East Stand

Main Stand

Warwick Road End

Main Stand

East Stand

Turnstiles for the Warwick Road End

East Stand

Petterill End

Warwick Road End

One of the 3 unusual floodlight pylons

Carlisle's Olga the Fox
Note the way he's holding his chin, maybe its a costume malfunction

Referee Darren Drysdale removing the famous stuffed fox
from the centre circle before kick off

Petterill End

East Stand

Warwick Road End

Carlisle United 1-1 Walsall

With only 7 more grounds to complete, we can be limited as to where we can go. We targeted a trip to Brentford who were to play Preston North End yet when we tried to buy tickets, we couldn’t as we had no previous ticket history with the club.

Our next choice was, yes, the long haul of all football ground trips being Carlisle United’s Brunton Park.

We set off just before 8am making our way up the M1 Northbound onto the M18 and A1 up until we got to Scotch Corner. We then went across the A66 north of the Yorkshire Dales to Penrith before briefly going up the M6 into Carlisle.

When we got to the ground, we noticed it was on the edge of a residential parking zone so we parked further towards the motorway junction just off Warwick Road on the other side of the River Petteril.

Once we parked up, we walked to the ground to collect our tickets before taking some photos outside the ground.

By the time we finished taking photos it was time for some lunch. On the other side of the road from where we parked was a Brewers Fayre pub called Lakeland Gate where both enjoyed our Grilled Gammon Steak.

Following our pre match meal, we walked into the city centre where we admired the Citadel towers whilst sitting on a bench in the spring sun before walking back towards the ground.

Brunton Park holds around 18,200 and hasn’t seen too many changes over the years. To date, Brunton Park is the largest football stadium in England which is not all-seated. Before the 2012/13 season Cumbria County Council inspected Brunton Park and they deemed that certain areas of the stadium were unsafe. As a result they reduced the capacity to 17,001 for the forthcoming season.

In 1953 the original wooden grandstand which sat where the current Main Stand now sits was burned to the ground in a fire cause by an electrical fault. The sale of local player Geoff Twentyman to Liverpool for £12,500 enabled the club to rebuild the Main Stand as it stands today.

Warwick Road End is the most distinctive of the four stands at Brunton Park with a unique covered terrace with a triple triangle roof is situated at the southern end of the stadium which holds around 3,500 supporters.

East Stand is a 6,000 seater single-tiered cantilever stand. Although having been constructed a number of years ago, the club still have not completed the interior of the stand as well as the spaces at the top of the stand for executive boxes still stand empty. One thing you may notice is that the stand actually runs 20yrds past the goal line at the Northern end of the pitch. This is because the club had erected the stand with a view of moving the pitch further northwards so a new stand at the southern end of the ground could also be built. These plans never materialised though, and the problem still stands today.

The Petteril End is the only other uncovered stand in the ground alongside the lower tier paddock. The stand is a small capacity (2,000) terrace with a small seated area to the east.

In 2005, Brunton Park was on the receiving end of harsh flooding from the River Petteril which completely flooded the ground.

Onto the game and it was a fair score line but one that doesn't help Carlisle United in their attempts to avoid relegation from League 1.
The game was a real mix of dreadful mistakes, scrappy play but moments of real excitement as well, the woodwork being hit on 4 occasions!
It was United that took the lead, Liam Noble’s shot cannoned off the post and ricocheted into the net off the back of the luckless Walsall keeper Richard O’Donnell. Both sides created half chances, the best of which in the first half saw Potts hit the crossbar for the Cumbrians while young Jordan Pickford made a brilliant save to deny Andy Butler’s header.
In the second half, Walsall continued to play the better passing football but with no end product to the frustration of their manager, Dean Smith. Sam Mantom did fire a shot against the post, while Noble crashed one against the underside of the bar for the home side. Carlisle’s right wing back David Symington also created problems with some excellent runs on the right and several decent balls into the box.
However just as it looked like Carlisle would hang on for a much needed victory they received the killer blow with 7 minutes left. Two Saddler’s subs combined to level the scores. Kieron Morris’ corner was headed across goal by Liverpool loanee Micheal Ngoo and nestled in the corner of the unguarded net, 1-1.
The result is a real blow to Carlisle and dropped points see them drop into the division’s bottom 4. Confidence appears fragile and with some difficult away games to follow, you fear for Carlisle United’s status in England's 3rd tier.
As for Walsall, they have had a good season. They won't quite make the play offs but they play an attractive passing game similar to Swansea City.

After the game we didn’t wait around, we ran straight out the ground and back to the car for our long journey home getting back at 8pm.

Carlisle United are clearing struggling to stay in the third tier of English football but in other ways they are to be commended.
Brunton Park is one of the few stadiums left where supporters can stand on terracing as opposed to being forced to buy a plastic seat. This consequently means cheaper admission. Buying a ticket in advance for an Adult was £16 and £10 for an Under 22. I felt this represented good value.
The programme was priced at £2 as opposed to £3 (or if you go to White Hart Lane £3.50) as you would expect not the 80 odd page volume of its football rivals, but do fans really want a programme the size of a Bible? The Carlisle programme was a basic affair and could be read in 15 minutes. We prefer this. The programmes of today are overpriced; uninformative full of corporate advertising and every article is delivering the same message whether penned by the manager, captain or player. How many fans read in depth reserve, youth team ladies football articles?
Meal deal at Carlisle is also good value for only £5 you get a hot drink, a pie, a chocolate bar and a packet of crisps. Consider this when you are queuing for overpriced food and drink at your next league game!