By Jason McKeown

There was a roar, there was a pitch invasion, there were players on the shoulders of fans, there was jubilation. But none of it was for us. A party broke out in front of our eyes that we were not invited to. And so we skulked off, the sound of celebrations fading with each stride home, until all that was left was empty silence.

Yep, the last time we crossed paths with this weekend’s opponents Carlisle United, it was a very painful experience to be a Bradford City fan. A play off semi final second leg defeat in May Cumbrian sunshine. Utter despair, as the Bantams froze and capitulated. From the brink of Wembley to absolutely nothing. A season suddenly over. With little ahead but a summer of anguish over what might have been.

Carlisle United deserved their two-legged aggregate victory for sure. They went to the national stadium and – almost improbably – won again, defeating the highly fancied Stockport County on penalties. League One beckoned, whilst back in West Yorkshire we could only cover our eyes, turn off the TV and grimace some more. They’d succeeded. We’d failed. League Two beckoned. Again.

Saturday’s reunion between the two clubs will be 476 days on from that painful afternoon at Brunton Park. And as much as one team got to bask in giddy triumph that day, it’s fair to say that things haven’t since gone to plan for either club. After one season, Carlisle are back in League Two. Back in the fourth tier mud. Paul Simpson – the architect of United’s 2023 promotion – has just been sacked. His opposition manager that day, Mark Hughes, is long gone at Valley Parade. Both clubs have regressed badly since that play off contest. And they renew acquaintances trying to reverse the slide.

Carlisle’s demise is certainly curious. It is true that they were slightly fortunate to win promotion in 2022/23. They limped over the finishing line, just securing a play off spot after an end of season collapse in form. Their second leg victory over the Bantams was one of only three outright wins in their final 14 games. They were never going to go into League One and tear it up.

But still, they were utterly woeful in the third tier over 2023/24. Teams that go up from League Two to One typically stay up comfortably. Not Carlisle. Just seven wins all season (three at home), amassing a mere 30 points overall. They finished 11 points adrift of everyone and 16 points from safety. 81 goals conceded. Ouch.

All of this came despite a mid-season takeover by an American consortium, who made sizeable transfer funds available in the January window. Fees paid for Luke Armstrong, Georgie Kelly, Josh Vela and – of course – our very own Harry Lewis. It made no difference. Between January and March, Carlisle lost 12 out of 13 matches. Relegation was sealed with four games still to play. It can’t have been much fun.

You expected them to be strong this season, where once again they have been busy and potent in the transfer market. Former City striker Charlie Wyke was the headline arrival, after spending much of the summer being linked with the Bantams amongst others. Yet after starting Carlisle’s first five games this season, Wyke is yet to get off the mark. The team itself has only scored four goals, won one game and lost five, across league and cup. Lewis continues to struggle badly. On Saturday the former Carlisle (and City) forward Omari Patrick returned to Brunton Park and netted twice for Tranmere in a 2-1 success for the visitors. Simpson was booed and jeered at full time. He was out of a job by the evening.

Since that day of jubilation that stemmed from defeating the Bantams at Brunton Park, Carlisle United have lost 44 out of 58 games. It’s been bleak. Extremely bleak.

(And yes, these stats suggest we may need to reopen the Bradford City Book Of Infamy before the weekend is over.)

Looking at Carlisle from afar, the big question is: was it worth it? The happy memories of their triumph over City in the play offs will no doubt be cherished for a long, long time. As will going to Wembley and winning. But Carlisle’s 2023 promotion success – with a largely average-looking squad – left them operating at an elevated position where they simply didn’t compete. They came down from League One looking demoralised. Confidence sapped. It’s very early days, and a change of manager could get them going again, but they rock up to Valley Parade looking a shadow of what they were.

Not that Bradford City can welcome them back to BD8 with a convincing grin that all is well here. Losing that play off semi final game was crushing for the club. Crushing for Mark Hughes. The infamous substitution of central defender Matty Platt for winger Scott Banks – moments after Banks had just set up a City goal and momentum was with the visitors – was a huge blow to the manager’s standing with supporters. One he ultimately never recovered from.

So much was on the line at Brunton Park that day for City. And the heavy sense of disappointment lingered into the start of last season. League Two looked tougher for the arrival of Wrexham and Notts County. City lost the loanee services of Banks and the influential Romoney Crichlow, and the rebuild proved unsuccessful. Just like for Simpson on Saturday, Tranmere Rovers proved to the grim reaper for Hughes. An October 2023 2-1 defeat in Birkenhead spelling a change of manager. Another reset.

Around the same that Carlisle were unveiling new American owners, there were strong rumours of US takeover interest in City last January. A would-be suitor ultimately backed away. Stefan Rupp continued to hold the reigns, but came under increased scrutiny as City faltered. The day-to-day running of the club also came under the spotlight, with a drawn out search for Hughes’ replacement and failures of new signings to impress offered good reasons to question the competency of those making the decisions. The club looks underfunded, putting Rupp under mounting pressure.

City do appear to have emerged from a dark period with renewed hope for the future. But it’s clearly still in the balance – as the reaction to last Saturday’s 2-1 loss at Grimsby demonstrates. Supporters are still to be convinced of a bright new dawn. Promises of greater investment from Rupp difficult to tangibly see. More transfer ins and outs, where the jury remains in session on whether they leave Bradford City better equipped to mount a promotion push. The mood amongst supporters is unsettled.

Ultimately, City and Carlisle meet again having both experienced turbulence that comes from the effects of football’s extreme unpredictability. Over two, close-fought two legs that totalled 210 minutes, small margins helped to send the two clubs careering in different directions. If Richie Smallwood had shot instead of passed, or if someone had bothered to close down Owen Moxon before he crossed, or if Hughes had made a different sub – the landscape could now look very different. For both City and for Carlisle.

But Saturday’s meeting is also an illustration of the futility you often see in football. How happiness is so often fleeting. Carlisle are right back where they started. Possibly worse off. Thanks for the memories, but ultimately that’s all you’re left with. And because of subsequent struggles, those memories become tainted. Simpson the glorious hero ultimately gets booed and vilified. To quote Harvey Dent in Batman’s The Dark Knight, “You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”

Bradford City’s up and downs over the years have a similar feel. All that effort and sense of triumph in 2000 to stay in the Premier League, only to limply go down the year after anyway. All that progress under Phil Parkinson 2012-2016, only for City to regress back to where they started – stuck in the fourth tier. Almost every good memory eventually gets spoiled to varying degrees. I mean, really, why do we even bother?   

Carlisle might not want to trade their own special memories, and might not have new ownership without it, but maybe if they’d lost to City in the play offs 18 months ago, they’d have been in a stronger position under Simpson to tweak the squad and go again in 2023/24. Maybe, the club’s infrastructure wasn’t ready for the step up of League One and they needed another 12 months. Maybe their day of party and celebration set the club back rather than forwards.

At the same time for City – dealing with the unique pressures of being trapped in a league they are too big for stature wise – promotion in 2023 could have seen them better geared than Carlisle to make it work. Hughes’ style of football and tactical approach did have its difficulties in League Two, but might have been more successful when applied in a higher division. City’s crowd size would have allowed them to be more competitive and more attractive in the transfer market, compared to the remote, more ramshackle nature of asking players to move to Brunton Park. Everything was there for them to progress in May 2023, and now much of it has been lost.

Sliding doors. Ifs, buts and maybes. All that really matters is that in May 2023 Ben Barclay was left unmarked to head the ball past Harry Lewis, and give Carlisle fans one of their best ever days at Brunton Park. Now, all both sets of supporters on Saturday can do is hope our respective clubs can get their acts together, progress on the field, and work towards delivering a moment of triumph and celebration that justifies all the rubbish we spend most of our football-supporting lives enduring.

Categories: Opinion

Tags: BCAFC, Carlisle United