A group of Carlisle United fans have been sprucing up Brunton Park in anticipation of the start of a new era this weekend.
Blues supporters have been cleaning seats and tidying hospitality areas at the stadium.
The fans responded to an appeal from supporters’ trust CUOSC for help with some “quick wins” at the ground.
It comes on the eve of the first game under the club’s new owners, the Piatak family.
A group of about 15-16 fans have spent Thursday and today scrubbing seats in the Andrew Jenkins Stand and cleaning other areas of the stand.
It is part of a wider project aimed at refreshing parts of the ground under the new regime.
CUOSC chair Matt Spooner said: “It all started as a result of a conversation with Tom [Piatak snr] and Nigel Clibbens [United’s chief executive] after the members’ meeting in September.
“There was a discussion about the idea of doing some things for the Charlton game – that was the first inkling we were aiming for that game for completion.
“We met with Nigel and [finance director] Suzanne Kidd and, after putting an appeal out, we’ve compiled a list of about 50-60 people who said they’ll volunteer.
“This the first of probably three events for this season, then we have a schedule for the close season.
“We’ve started with instant impact things – seats cleaned, hospitality areas in the concourse tidied, hard surfaces tidied – so people, when they come to the game, hopefully recognise the difference.”
Future plans including painting the Paddock and Waterworks End railings blue to match the Warwick Road End, a full pressure wash of all the terraces, and further work outside the ground.
The fans involved said they wanted to play their part at the start of a new era for the Brunton Park club.
Spooner added: “The takeover has given everyone a fresh lease of life, and the appetite to want to help and be involved in probably the most exciting point in Carlisle United’s history in my lifetime.
“Everyone here is doing it because they care about the club and want it to be at the heart of community, the way it used to be.
“The start of this feeling was when Paul Simpson came back and it was similar in his first spell at the club – we want to bring that back.
“Any community club needs a network of people, creating that feeling of a club being fully integrated. That involves players going out into the community, but fans coming here as well.
“If we can get people into the habit of caring for Brunton Park like this, hopefully that will lend itself to an increase in crowds and crowd behaviour back to where we all want it to be too.”
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