The Carlisle United fans who went viral after wearing the Blues’ colourful away kit at Wimbledon say they are delighted to help promote the club.

Kenny and Carol Milburn were captured by the BBC cameras wearing United’s distinctive pink, yellow and black shirts.

The striking kit drew a sniffy remark from the commentator – but footage of the couple was shared far and wide.

And lifelong United fans Kenny and Carol, from Bolton Low Houses near Wigton, said the response to the shirts at the famous tennis championships was incredible.

Kenny, 67, treated his wife to debenture tickets at SW19 as a silver wedding present – and, before then, made sure they got their hands on United’s new kits.

“When the strips came out we thought it would be a good idea to promote the club – and we thought it might just by chance get on the TV because of the colours,” he told the News & Star.

They did not, though, expect to come in for quite so much attention.

“The response at Wimbledon was fantastic – people from all over the world were stopping us, asking what team it was and where we were from,” Kenny added.

Carol, 61, added: “We were sitting in a restaurant and could hear a guy with an American accent talking – I glanced over and he asked about the shirt. He was from Chicago and we had a good conversation about it.

“Even one of the Army men, when we were getting shown through our gate, looked and said, ‘Are you from Carlisle?’

“It got a lot more attention than we anticipated.”

The couple then realised they had become unwitting television stars when their phones repeatedly buzzed during one of the intervals in Wednesday’s quarter-final match between Daniil Medvedev and Chris Eubanks on Court One, where they were watching that day’s action.

“We were checking our phones for the score on Centre court, and Kenny had loads of messages and so did I,” Carol said. “We were wondering, ‘What’s going on here?’

News and Star: Kenny and Carol watched the action on Court One as well as the outside courts at SW19Kenny and Carol watched the action on Court One as well as the outside courts at SW19 (Image: Kenny and Carol Milburn)

“That’s when we realised. People were sending us clips [of the TV footage], and things just went mad. Facebook, Messenger, texts galore…

“One of our friends’ son was watching live in Canada and messaged to say, ‘I’ve just seen Kenny and Carol on telly”’. Our friend in Australia, our nephew in Barbados…all sorts of people have seen it.

“It’s funny – beforehand we put a picture on Facebook saying we were ready for the tennis at Wimbledon, but was Wimbledon ready for the Carlisle United away top?

“Since then it’s been a pretty crazy 48 hours.”

Footage and photos of the couple have been shared hundreds of times on social media.

And Kenny reckons the attention proves the Blues’ garish kit – nicknamed ‘fruit salad’ by fans – has the potential to become an all-time United classic.

“We’re both old enough to have the deckchair strip as well [the famous 1994/5 green, red and white striped kit]," he said. "I remember way back then going to Spain and seeing young kids on the beach playing in the deckchair strip.

“I thought this current one could become as iconic as the deckchair was.

“We’re not the stars of this show, it’s the shirt…and any pound it puts into the Carlisle United coffers will hopefully better the team.”

As a season-ticket holder, Kenny said he snapped up United’s new shirts on the first day they went on sale, also buying one for his two-year-old grandson as well as his wife.

Carol added: “My brother lives in north Yorkshire and he’s got one too – he does a lot of cycling and is going to wear it when he’s out on the bike.

“I think this shirt’s going to be seen in a lot of different places.”

Kenny added: “I’ve described it as ‘marmite’ – but that’s usually what makes things become iconic.

“Whatever you call it - the Liquorice Allsorts strip, the Fruit Salad strip – it’s Carlisle United’s strip and that’s how it will always be known.”