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Weekly Briefing
December 31, 2022



Dear <<First Name>>


 

Happy New Year to all our members!



Review of 2022


The year of 2022 will be remembered as a year for United with more ups and downs than the Blackpool Big One.

It can be comfortably divided into four roughly equal quarters, because there were four distinctly different phases in the past 12 months that saw significant movement up and down the division for the club.

The year curiously began and ended at Brunton Park with league fixtures against Bradford City. The circumstances of those two games, both victories, were rather different, however.

That January 8 game at Brunton Park which saw United defeat Bradford 2-0 was the last of three successive league wins under Keith Millen. They had started 2022 with a New Year's Day win at Scunthorpe. At that point, with United some eight points clear of the drop zone, it would have been easy to think the former Bristol City and Crystal Palace coach had engineered a serious improvement in fortunes. Had they followed up with another win in either of their next two games, both at home against Crawley and Hartlepool, it may well have been the breaking point of a largely frustrating and disappointing campaign, allowing Millen to lead Carlisle to comfortable safety.

Instead draws in those two games failed to provide the extra comfort blanket that the struggling team needed. Forest Green, the leaders, who would end up second behind Exeter City in the final table, inflicted a 3-0 defeat in the next away match and United soon slid back into trouble. A slew of January signings, the most significant of which were the returning forward Omari Patrick, the experienced striker Kristian Dennis and defender Dynel Simeu, on loan from Southampton, failed initially to halt the decline.

The February 19 capitulation at home to Swindon Town and the returning mischief maker Harry McKirdy, saw to it that Millen was shown the door, along with director of football David Holdsworth, who had been in his post since 2018.

The same day that Millen and Holdsworth departed, a familiar face was re-introduced to the United faithful. Paul Simpson returned after almost sixteen years away, with a simple remit: Keep United in the league. He had 15 games to save the season.

So began the second quarter of a year of tumult and change. Despite having no real means to change the squad, Simpson re-energised the whole place. Beginning with a 1-0 win at Leyton Orient, who had just sacked their own manager Kenny Jackett, he went on to record four wins on the bounce. The gap that created between Carlisle and the relegation places was significant. From that point on, the Cumbrians were locked on to achieve survival.

20th position was scant reward for the efforts of Simmo. He had turned a team that seemed set to go down into one that would comfortably occupy the top half of the table on the form they had shown under him.

Summer transfer activity was steady rather than spectacular but with midfielder Owen Moxon, keeper Tomas Holy and striker Ryan Edmondson the main arrivals, it made for an improving picture after the shock decision at the end of the campaign to release player of the season Mark Howard, who had kept so well between the sticks. Thus the campaign began with another phase of the year - one of consolidation, for the most part.

Shortly after the season began, defender Paul Huntington arrived to finally don the Blue of his home city. Results early on in the new campaign were also steady rather than spectacular. United did not win away until an impressive 2-1 success at Grimsby in late September but it was the gradual improvement in their displays away from Brunton Park that gives the most reason to be optimistic about their chances heading into 2023.

The 3-1 win at Hartlepool, coming from behind, was arguably the start of the final distinct phase of 2022. A later 4-1 success at Salford, inspired by a great goal from Callum Guy, cemented United's place in the play-off places. The win at Crewe this week means the less than stellar results at Brunton Park of late have not stalled the advance under Simpson. The manager will want to see more goals and more wins in front of the home faithful. Over 8,000 saw the narrow win over the Bantams that was the first in over two months in the league and could and should have been more convincing. Neverthless fourth place, now just 4 points behind the promotion spots, would have been something Simmo would have grabbed back in July had he been offered it.

The defence looks solid enough, there are goals in the team with Dennis already on 13 for the season, and there are players coming back from injury after a dozen or more have been stuck on the treatment table. Given more luck with those injuries and a decent signing or two in January, Simmo may just give us a 2023 to remember.

 

Thanks to all of you who bought tickets. Thanks to your generosity a sum of £2,600 has been raised to support projects funded by the CUSG.

For details of all the prizes and the full list of winners, click HERE 
 


Engagement Corner

Billy,
Recently, in The News & Star you were quoted as saying that there is a debenture on Brunton Park, related to the Purepay loan.

I presume that you were referring to The Charge being on Brunton Park as security for the stated loan. Is it a fact that The Charge is on Brunton Park and nothing else or does The Charge cover any other 1921 assets? If it covers any other assets please can you state which other assets it covers or is it simply on all 1921 assets?

It could be understood, from the quote in The News & Star, that The Charge is solely on Brunton Park.

I look forward to you clarifying the position by email at your convenience.



Thank you for your email.

I will try to clarify the position re the debenture that has now been novated to Purepay Ltd.

The document is quite a long one but it is available on Companies House website for any member of the public to view.

The agreement is totally transparent as you will see if you take a look at it by clicking the link below. Basically the short answer to your question is that it covers all assets of Carlisle United 1921 Ltd.

I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression with my comments in answer to members question, it certainly was not an attempt to minimise the effect of the debenture. I can assure you the Club and the Directors have always been open and honest about the situation re the document.


https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00175280/charges




Your membership details are now online

We have recently implemented an upgrade to our membership system which allows members to join, renew and update their personal details online. We are using the tried and tested system, MemberMojo which is also used by the Supporters' Club London Branch. MemberMojo allows you to update your details and also make payments online using a debit or credit card. We are asking all members to check the details we hold, and make any changes if necessary. Many thanks to all of you who have already updated your details. To access your membership data, please visit our website via the link below:

cuosc.org.uk/apply-for-membership/

IMPORTANT: Those of you who receive your briefing due to being an e-member, a scheme we introduced some years ago, will need to re-register as a member using the above link to continue to receive the briefings and other emails from us. Membership is free if you provide us with a postal and email address, but without voting rights or any other benefits. E-members representing media outlets will be automatically added to our database so will continue to get the briefing.




The column returns in the New Year



Latest from Brunton Park



New Year's Day fixture:

Doncaster Rovers v UNITED (SkyBet League Two)

Sunday, January 1, 2023
Kick-off 3pm, Eco-Power Stadium


Current CUFC squad:
Goalkeepers

Tomas Holy, Gabriel Breeze, Scott Simons, Michael Kelly
Defenders
Jack Armer, Morgan Feeney, Corey Whelan, Joel Senior, Jon Mellish, Jack Ellis, Ben Barclay (on loan from Stockport County), Finley Back (on loan from Nottingham Forest), Paul Huntington
Midfield
Taylor Charters, Josh Dixon, Callum Guy, Brennan Dickenson, Lewis Bell (loaned out to Gretna 2008), Jordan Gibson, Max Kilsby (loaned out to Annan Athletic), Jamie Devitt, Owen Moxon, Sonny Hilton (on loan from Fulham), Jayden Harris
Forwards
Sam Fishburn (loaned out to Morpeth Town), Omari Patrick, Kristian Dennis, Oluwatobi Sho-Silva, Ryan Edmondson, Jack Stretton (on loan from Derby County)



Proposed meeting dates 2022-23

Board meetings

Venue: Online, Brunton Park or Upperby

Next meeting: January 18

AGM 2023/24
To Be Announced

Catch-up meetings – to arrange as and when needed

Members’ Meeting Dates 
Venue: Online or Brunton Park

Next meeting: To Be Announced


CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES ON THE CUFC BOARDS

To contact Billy Atkinson or Nigel Davidson, your representatives on the CUFC Holdings and CUFC 1921 boards respectively, please drop an email via info@cuosc.org.uk - you can raise any issue with them. Some things may not be relevant at board meeting level but both our reps have regular contact with various people at the football club and your issue will be raised with the appropriate personnel, should it require an answer from the club. As attendees at meetings of Carlisle United Supporters Groups we also have the opportunity to raise concerns, queries and issues in that forum as well. If Nigel isn't available, we will pass on your query to his deputy, Carol Wilson. 

Next CUOSC Board Meeting - January 18
Next CUSG Meeting - January 23



Quiz Time


Spot the player
Identify the player from the following clues:

Position: FORWARD
Career: 2001-19
Clubs: Feyenoord, Arsenal, Manchester United, Fenerbahçe, Feyenoord

Last week's answer: DION DUBLIN (first correct answer from Sam Pocock)

Spot the Club
Identify the club from the team line-up and season :

Category: EASY
Season: 1975-76
Line-up: Brown, Calvert, Bradford, Eddy, Colquhoun, Flynn, Woodward, Field, Guthrie, Currie, Speight

Last week's answer: BLACKBURN ROVERS (first correct answer from Malcolm Brew)

Answers in next week's briefing




Acknowledgements
Weekly Briefing editor: Alastair Woodcock
News & Star column: Malcolm Nugent

If you have any items you'd like to include in this briefing, please reply to this message.

Don't forget to let us know if your email address changes.

Contact CUOSC
Tel: 07999 73 73 90
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