After one season in the wilderness otherwise known as The Conference, Carlisle United bounce back into the league formerly known as Tier 3 (and Tier 4) and now stupidly known as League 2!! I don't see the point. It is silly. And childish! We're in Tier 4. We were just in Tier 5. Let us call it as it is!! I am not the first to refer to tiers, of course. It is logical, and I am all for logic.
OK, so bearing in mind that I only saw a couple of games in the last two seasons, what are my comments and expectations?
Our last Tier 4 (then known as Division 3) season started under Roddy Collins and finished under Paul Simpson. Our form in the last half of that season was play-off level, and so everyone was expecting Carlisle United to run away with Tier 5 (the Conference). Many of us suspected it would not be the case, and so it proved.
We've got a good team, and Paul Simpson is building on that. We have a sensible owner who insists that the club must develop and survive from its own income sources. History shows that teams coming up from Tier 5 tend to do well in Tier 4. My conclusion? Well, I'd like to think we will be pushing for promotion, and I think we will be.
It is also nice to see Workington Reds in Tier 6 North and it would be nice to think that they can get into higher tiers in comings seasons, especially as my eldest Brother is a Reds fan.
I won't dwell too long on why RIOA hasn't been updated much lately: my wife Clare died of stomach cancer in November 2004, just days after our wedding. I know I've got to move on with my life, whilst never forgetting Clare and how much I loved her. She was more important to me than anything else, including Carlisle United.
I've had time to mull over things over the last year. I'm not religious, but do live my life by my own beliefs/tenets.
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