‘Some semblance of normality’: In 1974-75 Carlisle United reach Division One

[email protected] January 23, 2021

Of all the pronouncements made on the game by Bill Shankly, among the lesser known is an assertion that Carlisle United reaching Division One in 1974 was ‘the greatest feat in the history of the game.’

Far by it for me to contradict the great man, but down Shrewsbury way we make a similar claim based on our team playing in the old second division for ten years (1979-89) – but beyond dispute is that Carlisle did make it all the way to the top tier of English football and for a brief moment sat at the very summit looking down on the rest.

Ultimately their time at the highest level proved fleeting and became an episode described in astonished tones by those who recall it – ‘believe it or not‘ attached to the memory of the Cumbrians being top of Division One three games into the 1974-75 season.

Their subsequent slide to the foot of the table and relegation has come to be regarded as an inevitable consequence of a club way out their depth, but in truth the campaign is not the complete disaster it is often portrayed. Despite finishing bottom, their points tally was superior to half a dozen clubs who had previously been relegated during the 70s – twelve wins double that of Sheffield United who finished last the following season.

It also seems ironic, appropriate even, their one term first division residency should coincide with the most curious topflight campaign of the decade.

In a season when Derby emerged from a clutch of challengers to take the title with just 53 points, the lowest championship winning tally for twenty years, the eventual champions dropped three (two for a win at the time) along the way to basement boys Carlisle. 

Indeed, membership of the first division put Carlisle United on equal footing with grandees of the English game, the fixture list now including journeys to such places as Highbury, Anfield, Goodison Park and Elland Road, with reciprocal visits to Brunton Park creating huge anticipation.

There was however, one notable absentee from the schedule. In going up Carlisle passed Manchester United moving in the other direction – on April 27, 1974, the day Carlisle secured promotion, Denis Law back-heeled his former club toward the second division with the only goal of a Manchester derby, thus taking Old Trafford off the list of forthcoming attractions.

That Carlisle should find themselves challenging near the top of Division Two was nothing short of miraculous in itself. The previous season (1972-73) their second division status had been preserved with only a point to spare – with the new season bringing little in the way of relief as Carlisle recorded just two wins in their opening seven league matches, one of the defeats a 6-1 drubbing at Luton Town.

But with only one defeat in the next ten and a strong tendency to record three and four match unbeaten runs, Carlisle came into contention for a top three place – their last day home victory over Aston Villa, a fourth win from five, ultimately secured third spot when results elsewhere (and later the following week) enabled them to clinch promotion to Division One for the first time in 46 years of league football.

In charge since 1972 had been former player Alan Ashman. Now in his second spell as manager, some notable success in his first saw him leave for first division West Brom in 1967, winning the FA Cup with Albion the following year. To his promotion squad Ashman added Coventry defender Bobby Parker and from Greenock Morton brought back striker Hugh McIlmoyle for a third spell at Brunton Park, his previous two yielding almost 80 goals.

But if the close season was comparatively quiet for a club about to take exciting steps into the unknown, the summer was typically hectic for long-serving midfield man Chris Balderstone.

Combining professional footballer and first-class cricketer roles (his all-round sporting prowess bringing recognition in just about every football annual of the time), Balderstone had top scored for his county side Leicestershire in their July Benson & Hedges Cup Final defeat against Surrey at Lords.

But like his Carlisle career, things were on the up, Leicestershire winning the John Player Sunday League a few weeks into the football season.

Prior to commencement of the league season, Carlisle contested three Texaco Cup fixtures. Played on a regional basis and open to clubs not competing in Europe, they recorded a 1-0 victory at Middlesbrough with whom they had been promoted – Jack Charlton’s side winning Division Two by a stretch – and drew with both Newcastle and Sunderland.

But start of the campaign in earnest brought a trip to Stamford Bridge. Twelve months on from an opening week League Cup encounter with Workington, stalwarts such as Balderstone, centre-half skipper Bill Green, striker Frank Clarke, goalkeeper Alan Ross and midfielders Joe Laidlaw and Les O’Neil, found themselves facing Chelsea big-timers Peter Bonetti, Ron Harris, Charlie Cooke and John Hollins – their line-up also including expensive new signing David Hay, the former Celtic man part of the Scotland squad who a few weeks before had contested the 1974 World Cup.

On a balmy West London afternoon, by way of irony Manchester United were starting life in Division Two across town at Leyton Orient (such halcyon days when the leagues began on the same day at 3pm on the appropriate Saturday) a goal in each half from Green and O’Neil ensured a surprise result and winning start.

Three days later a rapid return to Ayresome Park produced a 1-0 victory and when a Balderstone penalty was enough to beat a Spurs side containing Pat Jennings, Mike England and World Cup winner Martin Peters in the Brunton Park first division curtain-raiser, Carlisle found themselves at the apex of English football – this unforeseen turn of events momentarily knocking the Don Revie-Leeds United-Brian Clough ‘loath triangle’ of the previous month off the back pages.

In what seems bizarre scheduling by latter-day standards but routine for the times, Middlesbrough visited on Tuesday 27 August – scoring through David Armstrong, they ended the winning start and knocked Carlisle from a perch to which they would never return.

Taking a point from Filbert Street on the final day of August by virtue of a goal by McIlmoyle gave an excellent return of three wins and a draw from the first fortnight of the season. Defeats against Stoke and Newcastle in the next two league games were almost offset by beating Birmingham 1-0 and holding Manchester City to a goalless draw – but they were followed by four straight losses (one of which was a League Cup reversal at third division Colchester United), the run ending with a 1-1 mid-October draw at Tottenham.

In defeating high-flying Derby 3-0 at Brunton Park, Ray Train, Dennis Martin and Frank Clarke each opened their account for the season, but rather than herald a revival, these two results proved precursor to run of six straight losses – the November 23 home defeat to Leeds bringing Clarke into opposition with younger brother Allan, the visitors now managed by Jimmy Armfield after 44 stormy days with Clough in charge.

The tables were turned on Arsenal, the next visitors to Brunton Park, who only three points better off than Carlisle were beaten 2-1 as United brought their losing streak to an end. Seven days later Chelsea gained revenge for the opening day by departing Cumbria with the points – then on the shortest day of the year, second in the table Everton appeared to be making short work of the away side in taking a 2-0 lead.

But in their most inspired half an hour of the season, Laidlaw scored twice to wipe out the deficit, a remarkable comeback completed when Balderstone headed a late winner.

On the face of it Mud having the 1974 Christmas Number One with the sickly ‘Lonely This Christmas‘ has no relevance in the scheme of Carlisle being in Division One, but perhaps a degree of topicality in relation to the Festive television highlight of that year – namely the brilliant Christmas episode of ‘Whatever Happened to The Likely Lads.’

In a scene where Bob (Rodney Bewes) and Terry (James Bolam) are discussing their respective Christmas plans – Bob still enamored by the festive season and facing a round of social engagements, Terry bemoaning the commercialism of it all – Bob is appalled to learn Terry will be spending the time alone.

Terry responds by saying he hates Christmas Day, adding:

‘I’m just waiting for Boxing Day and some semblance of normality to return – when Newcastle play Carlisle.’

In a superb piece of topical script writing by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, the two teams did meet on December 26 – and if Yuletide malcontent Collier had made the 59-mile journey across the A69 from Tyneside to Cumbria his seasonal spirits would have been lifted as Newcastle, in front of a 25,000 crowd, recorded a 2-1 win.

The first of three successive league defeats by the same scoreline, brief respite came when Clarke and Laidlaw were on target in the victory over visiting league leaders Ipswich Town on 18 January. But the five consecutive defeats that followed left them in a perilous position – although in the meantime, three wins over lower league opposition carried Carlisle into round six of the FA Cup for the first (and so far, only) time in their history.

When second division Fulham arrived at Brunton Park on Saturday 8 March, a semi-final place looked there for the taking. But on a day when they found England World Cup winning captain Bobby Moore in peerless form, Carlisle were sunk by a breakaway goal from Les Barratt, the Craven Cottage outfit taking another step toward an unlikely FA Cup Final appearance.

With the stuffing well and truly knocked out they slipped to another 2-1 league defeat, this one at fellow strugglers Luton. 72 hours later two Laidlaw goals brought a glimmer of hope as they overcame Manchester City at Maine Road, yet it proved another false dawn as a trip to The Potteries resulted in the heaviest defeat of the season, Stoke running out 5-2 winners – the 2-0 midweek defeat at Birmingham City another severe blow.

With the game almost up, a 3-0 Easter Saturday home win to complete the double over Everton showed commendable application – the defeat putting paid to the visitors title-winning aspirations.

On Easter Monday Carlisle went one better in beating Burnley 4-2 but winning back-to-back fixtures for the first time since the opening week still left survival a tall order, six points from their last four matches the minimum requirement – the scale of the task increased by two of the remaining fixtures being against sides challenging for the championship.

Sent to the brink when held to a goalless home draw by Coventry – while Spurs, the only side they could realistically catch, were defeating Luton – their fate was duly settled at Anfield a week later, Liverpool maintaining their chances of winning the league with a 2-0 triumph.

The last two matches brought the consolation of closing their home programme with a win, Wolves defeated by a goal from Martin – and on the final day they held Derby to a goalless draw, a point still enough for the home side to be crowned champions.

Scoring just once in the last four games told its own story, Carlisle relegated along with Luton and their opening day victims Chelsea, who with 42 goals were the only team to score fewer, Spurs avoiding the drop by a point. Despite finishing four points from safety, Carlisle recorded four away wins, a better return than six other sides and double that of Manchester City who finished eighth.

There is something strangely apt about 1974-75 being the season Carlisle United played in the first division, a sense it was the time when meant to happen.

As they toiled in the topflight, in Division Two four big clubs, Manchester United, Aston Villa, Norwich City and Sunderland largely contested the three promotion places (the Roker Park side the ones to miss out).

When Carlisle made their 1975-76 return to the second division, the top three berths were taken by Sunderland, Bristol City and West Brom – and in the days when ‘parachute payments’ was sponsorship money collected by people jumping out of airplanes for charity, in finishing fourth bottom Carlisle just managed to avoid the ignominy of another relegation.

Since creation of the Premiership, the one season stays of Barnsley and Blackpool have brought comparison, but the game had moved on to an era of Sky dictating kick-off times, mass arrival of foreign players and clubs in the control of billionaire owners – so connection to the mid-70s feat of Carlisle United is tenuous to say the least.

For two seasons in the mid-80s, Shrewsbury Town, a club of similar stature to Carlisle, finished eighth in successive division two campaigns. Rarely losing a home match and devilishly hard to beat if they scored first, had Shrewsbury been blessed with a proven goalscorer at that time (oh for signing a John McGinlay four seasons earlier), then the unthinkable does not seem that outlandish.

All of which, however, is hypothetical – what Carlisle United achieved in 1974 happened in reality.

Therefore Bill Shankly, as ever, called it about right.

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NEIL SAMBROOK is the author of ‘MONTY’S DOUBLE‘ – an acclaimed thriller available now available in paperback and as an Amazon Kindle book.

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