Why Chorley's Andy Preece deserves Carlisle United respect

Before the revival, there had to be the groundwork – the renovation of a squad that was slapdash in too many areas, and the return of some professional values which had been too easily traded in.

Along came Andy Preece.

The current Chorley FC manager was just eight months younger than Carlisle’s veteran player-boss when he joined the Blues in the winter of 2003. Yet Preece helped to refresh and renovate United in a way that will always be regarded as fundamental, and worthy of lasting respect.

His move was in one sense unorthodox given Preece’s previous and very recent role was that of manager himself. He had only just departed the top job at Bury, his contract terminated amid a financial pinch at Gigg Lane (sound familiar?), when Simpson, a few months into his original Brunton Park spell, chanced his arm.

It is an understatement to say Carlisle, adrift at the foot of the Football League, were in need of as much experience and quality as they could get. Preece, 36 and with a substantial goalscoring career behind him at such places as Stockport County and Blackpool, could tick both boxes, if he was willing.

Andy Preece joined Carlisle under Paul Simpson in 2003 (Image: News & Star)

It proved one of many hunches that paid off handsomely for Simpson. United’s era-defining turnaround can in many ways be traced to the afternoon of December 20, 2003: the visit of Torquay United, and an almost iconic moment from one of the oldest players around.

Carlisle were on a mammoth losing run. Their good name was being held together by Simpson’s credibility and the remarkable faith of supporters who remained on board in the post-Roddy Collins days.

Along came Preece: sprinting onto a ball over the top with the stride of a younger man, finishing with the expertise of a veteran, sending Carlisle towards their first (and only) league victory since September. Their first points since September.

From that day, which was also embellished by a wondrous Paul Arnison goal, United were never quite so brittle again. They regained some sort of aura. Preece was almost prevented from playing against Bury in Carlisle’s next game – a position United managed to overturn, winning 3-1 at Gigg Lane to boot – and he went on to play a fundamental part in what was so nearly a stunning escape.

There were only two more goals from Preece that season but Carlisle's change remained near-total. Along with other hardened pros such as Kevin Gray, Tom Cowan, Kevin Henderson and Arnison, he brought know-how where such a commodity had been painfully lacking.

He offered a route through demanding fourth-tier games, where before Carlisle were only acquainted with getting lost in them. At Mansfield Town, in their third-last game, he rifled home a free-kick in a 3-2 win that kept hope alive.

Preece in action for Carlisle against Macclesfield (Image: Peter Barton)

When it duly faded, and relegation to the Conference sadly followed - much less inevitable than it had any right to be, but always the likeliest outcome - Preece helped them re-establish themselves at the unfamiliar level of the Conference.

With the Blues suddenly a big deal and a big target at that tier, Preece scored in three of their first four games in 2004/5 and, having been a wise foil for young strikers such as Matty Fryatt and Craig Farrell the previous term, was a help to others like Karl Hawley and Magno Vieira in the new one.

There were 20 more appearances that term, and seven goals, before managerial ambitions took him to Worcester City in February. By then, United were in promotion shape, on course for a return to the Football League without him, but partly because of him.

"You are at an all-time low when you lose your job," Preece said in 2003 upon joining United. "To have a message from Simmo on my answering machine as soon as I got home picked me up.”

Tonight he faces the manager and club he helped lift in turn. Even 20 years on, gratitude is not too strong a word.