It is the most famous season in Carlisle United’s history – and it’s about to turn 50.

The 1974/75 campaign saw the Blues playing in England’s top-flight for the first and only time.

It saw Alan Ashman’s Brunton Park heroes mixing it with stars from clubs such as Liverpool, Arsenal and Everton.

And, incredibly, it saw United top of the entire Football League for a few precious days early in the season.

To mark the 50th anniversary of Carlisle’s iconic First Division adventure, the News & Star is launching a new series charting the events of 1974/75.

Every Thursday we will delve through the archives to tell the story of the famous campaign, 50 years on.

In a series exclusively for subscribers, we will recall the matches, all the big stories and all the fascinating details of United’s season in the sun, as stars like Les O’Neill, Bobby Parker, Allan Ross, Chris Balderstone, Joe Laidlaw, John Gorman, Bill Green, Hugh McIlmoyle and more went up against England’s footballing elite.

Our series, Top-Flight Blues, will run every week throughout the season, and is set to get under way in the coming weeks.

In order to make sure you don’t miss a word of it, take out a digital subscription to the News & Star now.

We are currently running a special discount offer which gets you unlimited access to this and all our other United coverage for just £4 for the next four months, which is a major discount on our regular price of £4.99 a month – to subscribe click HERE.

Alternatively, you could stay covered for a full 12 months – which will include this series in its entirety, as well as everything we write about the Blues for the 2024/25 campaign and beyond – for just £31, which is a 40 per cent discount. Click HERE.

These discount offers are only available for a limited time, so you’ll need to be quick! Either click the links in the above paragraphs, or tap the 'Subscribe' button at the top of the page.

Don’t miss the chance to relive a season like no other at Carlisle United...