The Great Escape

Brighton& Hove Albion 1-0 Carlisle United
Saturday 6 May 2000

Thank God that's over...

Having endured the emotion of last season I'd turned down an opportunity to go to today's game (had already said I'd play cricket when the offer of a lift to the match came through). I couldn't have faced it if things had not turned out in a good way.

As it happens the cricket fell through last minute and so I had a choice to make...did I stay in and join the massed ranks in the chatroom with my chants of "UNITED! Clap, clap, clap!" or did I try and forget that the game was happening in the belief that it would all be alright in the end?

With the sun beating down I opted for the latter option...but not once could I get the game out of my head. Drove my friends (not bothered about football - Oxford were already safe) potty as we decided on a plan of action for the rest of the afternoon - beach? Shopping? Chilling? The time seemed to fly by until about 3:30 when I sneaked their TV on to catch some of the rugby as they made up their minds. It was half time and Steve Rider ran through the latest scores...as if the Premiership is THAT important! The bad news appeared in blue and white on the screen...we were one down, but at least the other games where 0-0.

Off to wander the streets of Bristol to do some errands...3:55 and my mate nipped into the bank. I couldn't hold out any longer. Popping into a nearby phonebox I called home to get the latest. Got a brief report and confirmed that scores were unchanged at half time. Time to do some chilling and praying.

Headed for Blue Juice (Bristol's finest juice bar, Cotham Hill. Run by a couple of cool northerners, Angelo (who apparently played with Shaun Teale at U-18? level in Liverpool) and Christian (who's from Chester!)) a cool place to chill...Sat out in the sun, explained the gravity of the situation to my mate and warned that there could be tears as I counted down the clock until full time...

As 4:45 arrived we headed back to the house past some phone boxes...I couldn't pass them...back on the phone to home to get the latest position to hear that the Shrews were winning and we were still one down. My heart sank, only to be lifted again as Chester were also one down with time almost up.

So, imagine the scene...stood in the middle of Bristol on the phone listening to Radio Cumbria via a payphone. Then the news of the final whistle at the Deva came through and the cheering and general merriment caused much amusement amongst a group of young ladies who happened to pass the phone at that moment...how little they knew! I instructed parents to gain some additional confirmation of the Chester result as I turned my attention back to the commentary, praying that we didn't concede 2 more goals! It must've been the longest 3 minutes in my life, stood on the phone in the street, mate looking on embarrassed. Even when the final whistle went I still had to wait for confirmation to be relayed by parents that they had seen it on Ceefax...'Chester relegated to Nationwide Conference'. Cue more celebrations of a happy bunny all the way back the house... In general was a v good day...Munster came from behind to beat the French...Derby got the point they needed to be safe...Sir James even kept a clean sheet...the only blot was that Burnley went up with Nob End - at least both of them will get a hammering next year with any luck... Hopefully we won't need any...

UNITED!!!

UNITED!!!

UNITED!!!

UNITED!!!

Martin Armstrong

martinarmstrong@bigfoot.com

ICQ # 63655221

Hi!

YES you little beuty!

Who cares how we did it, but we did it again!

The blues are staying up and now they will belive us!

Brighton 1-0 Carlisle

Thankyou POSH!

jon

Gawd, that was a tense time in the commentary / chat room but why the hell do we have to be in this position again.

We will never do anything until we get rid of Knighton and Wilkinson, they are not class material.

We would do better bringing back Bob Stokoe and he's retired plus Balderstone and Ross and they're both dead.

Oh hell, did I really say that? Well, you know what I mean.

I'm hitting the hay! Glad to stay up but disgusted we are in this position AGAIN!

Come on you blues!!

Jeff Steel

this is wat it is all about ----- guys stopping up all night in Australia to find out wat is happening - Carlisle fans are the best in the country and deserve a better team than we have got. They say how fanitical and wonderful Sunderland fans are but Carlisle fans are much better.

At least the sweet taste of success will taste so much better now

And thank you Barry Fry

Unfortunately I had to watch this on Sky Sports and there was times that I thought(and my neighbours) that we were finished.

Yes Yes we live play another day!! "We need to learn this time and get rid of all the idiots - that dont really matter at the mo.

Pleased that it was Chester and not Shrewsbury. Chester deserved it, but I could not get Jimmy Glass out of my mind and though Jamie Robinson would equalise last minute...but no and Im off to get rat arsed!

Wonder wat Luke Beckett is thinking now - TxxT

The blues are staying up!

Graeme Dixon

My sentiments entirely. A great day again for carlisle, but will it be the same again next season. Unfortunately unless Knighton go's I think so. It seems fairly obvious he is the bad egg in the camp. down here in Ipswich Kevin Beattie writes an article each week in the local rag, and he is convinced Knighton has to go before Carlisle will improve.

Sorry to spoil the party . Have a great night celebrating and think of us Ipswich fans tomorrow trying to finally make it to the Premier league after 3 seasons in the play off's. Yes we know what tension is down here as well.

Rob Smith

PHEW - well we've done it again! (or to be more precise The Posh did it for us, bless 'em)

So no credit to the Blues, but we live to fight another day (season) and that's the operative word "fight". We do not want a third helping of this uncertainty.From here in Crawley this afternoon was interminable as I was unable to get a ticket for down the road (after being promised one). So it's up to the powers-that-be (or will be) at BP to get their act together properly for next time round as the fans have done their bit,particularly of late, both home and away.

So to all Blues fans wherever you are enjoy a well earned break from the strain and anxiety, and thanks for lots of interesting E-mails and the faith kept by so many for the Club's salvation.

Ron Bell

Call me a miserable sod if you like but personally I'll keep my congratulations for the day Carlise do anything other than stay in the Football league thanks to the efforts of Peterborough.

According to the bloke on the radio the blues didn't create a single chance....and this on a day when our very future was at stake.

Like everybody else I can only be thankfull to Baz Fry's men for saving us again....however, the way we're going the only thing that will save us next season is if there's no relegation !!

The last 2 seasons have seen the blues survive by the skin of their teeth thanks to the efforts, not of themselves, but of other teams. This miserable chapter in the history of Carlisle has now got to be closed forerever. A complete clear out is needed in the summer, starting with a bloody proven, experienced manager. We need another Knighton puppet like we need a hole in the a head.

Heres to a better future, and once again thank you Peterborough.

Paul Clements

Have to agree. In the words of Lou Reed : "This is no time for celebration" and he was an expert on lower Division football (& heroin). Last season when when most people were ecstatic I was angry that it had come to that. This season when most people are relieved I'm sad.

The most importnat thing now isn't whether Knighton goes or whether a trust takes over, it's getting rid of Wilkinson. Apparently he said after the match that once he heard Chester were losing he decided to play for a 1-0 defeat hoping we'd stay up on goal difference. Words escape me.

I'd prefer Teale to Aspinall who'd be a complete liability, but there are dozens of experienced managers and people with feeling for the club. What about Steve Hoolickin?

Andrew Ashbridge

Mixed emotions. Absolutely delighted we survived, but I am so angry that it was so close. We survived on goal difference. We cannot carry on like this, something has to change this summer, something big. We simply cannot be in the same situation next season, we have to make major changes.

Jeff Graham

Well - what an afternoon....on our adventure into enemy territory!

Thankfully we managed to exchange our tickets from the Chester stand to get in the Peterborough seats (the bit where we had that big banner that never quite got unfurled!) After a bit of passion from Chester at the start, it was all downhill really. Peterborough were resting quite a few players in anticipation of the play offs and never really got fully into their stride. Once they scored (and calmed the nerves a bit) they always looked by far the superior side. Their passing was excellent - far better than when we were down there!

Chester were dire. Their fans made no noise at all (except when someone falsely announced that Exeter had equalised with minutes to go!), the players didn't really get into the game with any passion (Beckett huffed and puffed, Heggs did nothing and Finney was taken off after 30 minutes!!).....and at the end the Chester fans all just trudged away looking a bit downhearted. No great tears, no excess emotion...nothing.

In fact, once the Peterborough fans realised who we were, they were urging their team on to get a second and kill it off! (No love lost between them and Ian Atkins - because of his Northampton connection!)

A few nasty scenes at the end with Peterborough fans goading Chester...plus it would appear Paul Dodd and a few other thugs who hadn't been at the match stirring up trouble at the entrance to the car park.

But, at the end of the day.....THANK YOU PETERBOROUGH!

A combination of madness, sympathy with us that Brighton's ground is crap and the ticket allocation is appalling.....and to be honest, a bit of excitement for them to liven up a rather pointless (from their point of view) end of season "We're safe in the play-offs" party in the sun.

To be honest, it didn't take much to work us out - a rather nervous bunch sat there listening to radios....mobiles at the ready....screaming Peterborough on.....head in hands at one stage when the Brighton and Exeter scores were coming through.

One thing that did intrigue me though was how come Radio Cumbria at one stage thought it had gone 2-0 to Peterborough. Where did that come from?

Stuart Davidson

I had the misfortune to be listening in the car to Radio Cumbria's commentary. They did say that some fans in the ground (Brighton's that is) were shouting that Posh had scored a second goal but they did not confirm this and indeed went to some length to say it was only the crowd who were saying this.

It is a pity mind you, it would have eased my nerves all along the last twelve miles of the A66 if it had been true...

Graham Minshaw

From all those in the Chat room today (over 50 at one point) I would like to say a big thank you to Stuart and the Chorley Blues for going to Chester today. Stuart phoned through latest match action and provided pitch-side commentary of the Chester injury time.

A brave lad and an absolute star!

Thanks Stuart

Ah, but the Chat room had someone at the match. Stuart Davidson was there. He phoned through very quickly to confirm the 1-0 scoreline.B (Star! Star! Star!)

Blues- you were all brilliant today! What other team would have fans that would go to the lengths that we did to keep all and sundry informed? Everyone, give yourself a clap!

Special thanks to: (and this isn't meant to be an exclusive list so add if you know someone)

Al,

bumble

chris mcfatty

Stuart

Lee (on r.cumbria again)

the other 599 fans at brighton

God.

Barry Fry

Radio Cumbria

Peter Keen (MOM?)

and the countless heros who made it count for every other game this season - online and off!

I've just got one of them Cheshire Cat Grins on me face!

For those, already moaning... yep you're right, we should never have been here again in the first place. - And things have got to change - but this weekend, c'mon, live a little will you?

This is something to celebrate. We've another chance to put things right. Had we have gone down, we would have done a Newport.

Newport???

I rest my case.

Looking forward to League Division 3 Football in 2000/2001!

Rog Porthouse

Well we live to fight another day.

As some have already said we relied on other clubs to do us a favour, if we can't help ourselves we don't deserve to be in the league but believe me, I'm bloody well glad we are.

The only positive things we can hope for are 1, bye-bye BFB - 2, bye-bye useless coach (although respect to him for having the balls to take the job on his poxy wage) - 3, hello Mr Moneybags who will save us (wishfull thinking) - 4, Hello Master Tactician Manager and genius assistant - and finally - 5, hello team who can play, keep their heads up, keep shape and avoid last day drama's (unless it's for promotion).

Big thanks to all for the chatroom commentary, without you my life would have been miserable yesterday.

It just gives you a buzz to know you have survived, but the feelings of turmoil inside you completely buggers you up!

Richard Gibson

No one seems to have mentioned the sending off of Prokas . This just shows he his a liability if he his prepared to do that in the most important game of the season surely now he has played his last game for Carlisle and so should many others.

MY RETAINED LIST

WEAVER

KEEN

WHITEHEAD

REID

HALLIDAY

TEALE[has manager with baker his assistant]

And thats it we need a clean sweep right through the club so lets hope whoever Knighton gets rid of the club to [and lets hope its not his son] sorts the club out or we will be in the same position again next season.............Thursby Blue

Neal Black

See you all at Kidder, thank Barry Fry for that, thanks to the chat room for keeping me informed, thanks to CUFC online a great site. Guess what !!! do I feel better. You bet, roll on next season. I am going to make a great effort to see more away matches next year. I only saw one this year at Chester but what a goal and what a result. Might even get to some of the home matches. Will the chat room be used during the off-season ?.

Jim Kirkbride

I had to work on saturday, so could only get the scores via my pager(thanks to Jeff Graham). I didn't start until 4pm so listened to TalkSport so i new it was 1-0 to Brighton and the others were 0-0 at half time. My manager had sympathy for me when i told him Brighton were winning. I got the confirmation we were safe at 4:54pm at which time i ran round the department like a nutter with a massive grin on my face. I had to restrain my self as there were quite a few customers in.

Well our two victories over chester did prove critical as we were level on points, and the 4-1 SOS game proved that those goals were very valuable.

Lets hope were at the right end of the table next season.

COME ON CARLISLE!!!!!!

Mark Mandale

What a tense afternoon, having to rely on results elsewhere (fortunately the wife thought to bring a radio!) It was quite clear that we were not going to make it easy by winning the game. To be fair, the team came out and showed some passion and intent for the first quarter of an hour or so, and were camped round the Brighton goal. Unfortunately there was nothing to show for it. However, Hore was clearly out of his depth from the start (although any confidence no doubt evapourated after two nasty fouls by one of the Brighton defenders in the space of a couple of minutes).

The play then deteriorated rapidly and by the end of the first half all the action was round Keen's goal. It was so inevitable that Brighton would score - our defence seemed to have the usual problems clearing the ball. I was suprised we went in only one behind.

The second half was dire, with little sign of intent or desire from our players. To be honest, I didn't think Prokas' departure altered the way the match was being played much at all (there did seem to be a lot going on between Prokas and some of the Brighton players, but most of it was on the other side of the pitch, so I didn't see exactly what was happening). Every free kick we got was wasted - the ball almost always went out of play before anyone could reach it. Teale was particularly guilty of this. It was the same old story of balls being hoofed forward, only for Halliday to be beaten in the air by tall defenders. On the odd occasion he did get the ball at his feet his skill was immediately apparent, but the team as a whole clearly do not have the confidence to play the ball on the ground. However, this problem has been apparent for ages, and yet nothing has been done about it...

There was one incident in the second half (after a corner? it's all a bit of a blur...) when Brighton's keeper seemed beaten and there were several of our players in front of an empty net, but one of their defenders managed to clear the ball. That's the only real scoring opportunity I can remember. Keen made at least one fantastic save that I can remember, and in general seemed to have a good game. I keep forgetting that in at least one of the games he played earlier this season he had a broken ankle and couldn't even kick the ball).

It was a terrible moment when we heard the Shrews had scored (esp when we realised it was 2 in 2 mins). Of course, it was a relief when Posh scored, but tempered by the fact there was still time for them to come back. Even when Chester's defeat came through as final, I was still worried we'd concede two quick goals before our final whistle! When the whistle came, the feeling was relief mainly. It was hard to feel very happy after team's performance.

After the match, we got on the wrong bl**dy Park & Ride bus and had a nice trip all round Brighton, returning to the ground without ever getting to our car. By the time we got back all the football buses had gone and so we had a lovely walk up the A23 to the football Park and Ride. Fortunately, we got there just before our car got towed away...

Relieved for now, but pessimistic about next season...

Dave

P.S. We were pleased to see Forest Green stayed up, Paul!

P.P.S. I was really sorry to hear about the Swansea fan who died after pre-match trouble.

David Herrick

We should not forget about the result from the Chester game in January. Had we scored one less goal, we would have been relegated. So did we contribute to our own survival? We'll never know for sure, but players are lifted by a supportive crowd. Thats's why teams win more at home than away. Well done to whoever it was that suggested it, it may have made all the difference.

Bryan Briggs

Prokas was a bloody disgrace. To get himself sent off in the way he did in such an important game was totally irresponsible. We could easily have conceded more goals and as such been relegated. He should have even gone earlier than that with the most blatant albowing of an opponent I have seen in some time. If I had my way he would never play for Carlisle again.

One other point about playing 17 year old Hore from the start of a game like that. All I can say is that whoever was responsible for that has no place being involved in a professional Football Club. As for the majority of the rest of them they were a disgrace and did not deserve the 'lap of honour' at the end. A firing squad would have been more appropriate.

Sorry, but I had to get that off my chest after witnessing that farce on Saturday.

Give me the job Knighton( or whoever) - I'll shake the f**ckers up!

Dave Walters

It might be only me that thinks this, but I think you have a serious attitude problem

This season Prokas has improved his discipline a lot, not getting half as many yellow cards, but it was more than enevitable there would be trouble at the game as the two teams playing were the top two in the Division 3 discipline table.

You seem to pick on Richard, who has had overall a great season (one of very few), but you fail to notice that Brighton should clearly have had a man sent offm after just 15 minutes, tha bloke Cullip (who should also have been sent off at Brunton Park!).

I agree on the point of Hore. What is Wilko on about saying he is big? He's tiny! He had a good start, but after the first reckless challenge by Cullip, his confidence totally drained.

Teale and Keen both had superb matches, and both deserve new contracts. As does Searle. But something tells me Keen and Searle wont get them....

Lee Rooney.

Sorry Lee but i have to agree with Dave walters on this one. To be sent off for violent conduct in a game of that magnitude was downright irresponsible. Yes, his overall performance has improved this year and yes, he can be relied on to provide a bit of steel in midfield, but if he continues to lose his head when the pressure is on then he is nothing other than a liability.

Keep Singing The Blues!!

Andy Hall

Saturday was an extremely tense time for all involved, things were slightly worse for me when the modem on my PC packed in for some reason, now thankfully restored. This meant cancelling the plans to be in the chat room, although I did make it for a while, and listening to Derek Lacey via the phone. As soon as safety was guaranteed there was no hanging round, straight into Manchester to celebrate!

Anyway, now its time to look back on a terrible season for the Blues and wonder where we go from here?

Well MK has gone, well he will no longer be involved but he still owns the club. Okay he may say that he is willing to give the club to the fans but I'm sure we are all wary of what this may involve, rent etc.. Nevertheless as soon as he walks out on the club I am sure that the average attendance at Brunton Park will rise. There are many people who would not go simply because of MK, with a campaign they could be brought back. As for who will come in then thats anybody's guess, can the fans supply the financial backing, in the long term I say yes but there needs to be significant up front investment, where this comes from I do not know.

As for the playing and coaching side well we all know this needs a big change. Wilko must go, in fact what is he still doing there? I would like to see John Rudge come in with a younger assistant, whether Teale is that man or not remains to be seen. We do have some good players at the club, Weaver and Halliday are the obvious ones but I feel a decent manager could get the likes of Searle and Clarke to perform more consistently, the basics are there. Anyway...

OUT

Knighton

Wilko

Baker

Anthony

Durnin

Tracey

....as a start.

Lee Smith

After suffering one of Carlisle's worst ever performances at Brighton, now is the time for going back to square one.

Our current crop of players are simply not good enough and that was so apparent at Brighton.

We barely mustered an attack of note and failed to test the Brighton keeper in the 90 minutes. This in a game where players futures were at stake as well as the future of their employer.

It would be nice to think that a saviour will appear to take over from Knighton, bringing in a new board, new management and a completely new set of players.

As supporters we are the only consistent thing about this club of ours, everything else comes and goes. We need wholesale change or we are looking at much the same round of misery again next season.

I am unable to offer any solutions, only a wish list and hope that things will change. Let's hope someone out there can see the potential, has a few bob to spare and would accept that their only return would be a sea of smiling Cumbrian faces.

Mike Corry

Living in Perth and having to watch Sky's text service for the second season in a row. Bad enough when Carlisle went down to 10 men, then Posh scored, then such a long, long, wait. Exeter scored, but only made me think Chester would also score. Then a flash to say David Reeves had scored in the 90th minute for Chesterfield at Blackpool, was this a mocking sign of bad things to come? Then Scarborough scored in the 90th minute, a further bad sign, then it was all over at Brighton and I could only watch and wait and hope Chester didn't get a 94th minute corner.

The Chester game had been one of the first to reach half-time, but was then one of the last to reach full-time, another twist of the knife, but we're safe for another year. I drank champagne to celebrate 73 years in the league, but it didn't taste as good as it should have. I fear most fans must now hate us. They shot 44 after the Great Escape. Who'll get shot this time?

Derek Scott

Well it was a close run thing. I said I wouldn't return until Carlisle were safe and as fortune would have it I was saved from having to find a job and live in California and have now returned safely to London.

I managed to catch the second half of the Brighton game in the chat room. We were is Los Angeles at the time and I found a cybercafe in Hollywood Boulevard that opened at 8:00am. I was there as it opened!

Thanks to those who organised the enlarged chat room as we would have had no chance of logging in without it.

As everyone in Los Angeles is mad, it didn't seem to matter. We flew back to the UK on United Airlines, so nobody minded us chanting 'United!' all the way home either!

Whilst glad the United survived, I don't think that anyone should underestimate the enormity of the task if front of the club. We are in a far worse state at the end of this season than we were last season.

Wilkinson is still expecting to be fired - not helped by the fact that Shaun Teale has bought himself a house in Wetheral. It appears that Teale may be on a promise from some of the directors waiting for Knighton to leave. (Knighton is opposed to Teale being made manager - he wants someone with experience).

Disturbing rumours are circulating regarding certain players' behaviour prior to the Brighton match. I am not at liberty to reveal any details, but it may be that the players in question will not be with the club next season.

Regards

Malcolm Fawcett

Teletext submission 11.05.2000  ==  
Reeves is offside again!

A national brewery has this week warned
pub customers not to gamble with pub
staff in north Cumbria, labelling 
Carlisle as being home to the "luckiest
bar stewards in the world".

So, CUFC scraped through again. By goal
difference. It just goes to show how 
important the SoS 2000 4-1 result over
Chester City was.

In Valen's name, let this not happen
again next season.......

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