Stoke City manager Steven Schumacher will be no stranger to Brunton Park tonight.

Indeed, the boss of tonight's Carabao Cup visitors scored his first goal in senior football there - in a Carlisle United shirt.

On top of that, the manager who signed him for the Blues some 21 years ago and gave Schumacher his Football League debut will be in the home dugout again...Paul Simpson.

The arrival of Schumacher was one of Simpson's very earliest pieces of business after taking caretaker charge at United after the departure of Roddy Collins early in the 2003/24 season.

Schumacher was only 19 and had come through the youth ranks at Everton, where he was a highly-regarded young midfielder.

United made their move to bring him in on loan in October 2003, at a time the Blues were floundering in Division Three after a nightmare start.

England Under-19 international Schumacher's debut and duly his first appearance in first-team football came on Saturday, November 1 in a trip to Lincoln City.

Paul Simpson gave Steven Schumacher his Football League debut - and played alongside him twice for CarlislePaul Simpson gave Steven Schumacher his Football League debut - and played alongside him twice for Carlisle (Image: Stewart Blair)

He went into a midfield that also included Chris Billy and Brendan McGill at Sincil Bank, with others in the Carlisle side that day including Matty Glennon, Des Byrne, Paul Arnison, Darren Kelly, Paul Raven, Brian Wake, Craig Farrell and Steve Livingstone, with Simpson out injured.

Schumacher played the full game but it was in a losing cause, goals from Simon Yeo and Gary Taylor-Fletcher earning a 2-0 win for Lincoln, whose defence included the current Harrogate Town manager Simon Weaver.

United's cause was not helped by a 20th-minute red card for Livingstone - his second in eight appearances since joining the club - for a professional foul.

It was a ninth league defeat in a row for the Blues but respite arrived three days later in the LDV Vans Trophy - when a landmark occasion for Schumacher came along.

Carlisle hosted Huddersfield Town in their second round encounter and Schumacher took just three minutes of his home debut to make his mark.

The loanee got on the end of a Craig Farrell cross to head past Terriers keeper Ian Gray, giving United an early lead and scoring his first professional goal in the process.

Schumacher returns to Brunton Park as Stoke manager tonightSchumacher returns to Brunton Park as Stoke manager tonight (Image: PA)

Brian Wake was later on target to seal a 2-0 win, Schumacher again playing the full game for Simpson's side as they kept at bay a Huddersfield attack led by Town legend Andy Booth and emerging star Jon Stead.

From there, there were four more appearances for Schumacher...all defeats. United went down 3-0 at a John Sheridan-led Oldham Athletic in the FA Cup, then lost 2-0 to Mansfield Town, 2-1 at Cheltenham Town and 1-0 at Doncaster Rovers in the league.

The latter two games saw Schumacher and Simpson play in the same Blues midfield as the player-boss returned to availability.

Schumacher battles with United's Paul Murray at Bradford in 2006Schumacher battles with United's Paul Murray at Bradford in 2006 (Image: News & Star)

The Doncaster game at Brunton Park on November 29 proved the last of Schumacher's Blues spell. He went on to join Oldham on loan and, in the summer of 2004, left Everton permanently.

A spell at Bradford City followed, Schumacher going on to play for Crewe Alexandra, Bury, Fleetwood Town, Stevenage and Southport, where he also had a spell as interim manager.

His subsequent move into coaching saw a role at Everton before joining Bury as part of Ryan Lowe's coaching staff. He followed Lowe to Plymouth Argyle in 2019 and was then named Pilgrims manager when Lowe left for Preston North End two years later.

In 2022/23 he led Argyle to the League One title and in December 2023 was appointed the new Stoke City boss, the Potters finishing 17th in the Championship last season.