Part six of our weekly 50th anniversary series charting the events of Carlisle United’s 1974/75 top-flight season.
The spoils of Carlisle United’s fine start to life in the First Division continued to emerge, even if the Blues’ extraordinary beginning to the 1974/75 season had since been checked by a defeat and a draw.
Their efforts in August, which brought a trio of wins and, briefly, a place at the top of the table, were enough to earn Alan Ashman the top-flight's first manager of the month award of the season.
United’s boss received a cool £100 and a gallon of Bell’s Scotch Whisky. Carlisle’s form earned Ashman the prizes when a panel of 25 leading journalists met, the judges preferring the Blues leader's case than that of Ipswich Town’s Bobby Robson.
If that was something to sing about, so was a new record celebrating United’s rise. ‘Looking Good (We’re Carlisle United)’ – a Blues themed track to the tune of ‘D’ye ken John Peel?’ by Tim Barker and the Carlisle United singers was adopted as the club’s “official song” and out for release on September 7, 1974.
United task to remain in tune on the pitch encountered some varied news as they progressed through the second month of the season. While their strong start had delighted supporters, it had left one or two players disaffected at their absence from the side.
The previous season’s top goalscorer, Frank Clarke, was one such figure. He had struggled to regain his place given the bright early-season showings of the returning Hugh McIlmoyle. The result was a transfer request, submitted in writing to the board by Clarke, yet he had to be patient for a reply given it was a fortnight before directors would meet to discuss the matter.
In the meantime, Clarke trained with a group of players who were not involved in the 1-1 draw at Leicester City, as Ashman pondered his options for the next game – the visit of a talented Stoke City side to Brunton Park.
Before the Potters encounter, Ashman and chief scout Hugh Neil made a trip to Valley Parade to check out United’s forthcoming League Cup opponents Bradford City of the Fourth Division.
Other scouts, meanwhile, were casting their eye over the Blues, with speculation that Burnley, fresh from banking £300,000 from the sale of midfielder Martin Dobson to Everton, might be interested in spending some of it on one of United’s top-flight risers.
United waited to see if anything would materialise there, as they prepared for Stoke. Tony Waddington’s side were among the most admired in the top-flight, their squad littered with impressive players, not least England’s 1966 World Cup hat-trick hero Geoff Hurst, the former Chelsea midfield icon Alan Hudson - whose £240,000 move from Stamford Bridge was a British record fee - and another man with England aspirations, left-back Mike Pejic.
It drew a crowd of 14,507 to Brunton Park for the stadium’s third experience of First Division football – and, all in all, it proved the first occasion when Carlisle could say, and admit, that they were outclassed at the summit of the English game.
Stoke were without Hurst but Hudson was magnificent, the midfield man full of skill and control to organise attacks for Waddington’s team. His intelligent play had Carlisle chasing too often for comfort, and he also played a principal part in the visitors getting in front early on.
It came from a typically fluent Stoke attack, as Geoff Salmons moved through the middle, Sean Haslegrave crossed and Hudson arrived, holding off Peter Carr before slipping the ball past Blues keeper Allan Ross.
It was a sixth-minute blow from which Carlisle toiled to recover. United took time to grow into the game in the face of Stoke’s poised play although, either side of half-time, the Cumbrians did threaten, Mike Barry testing keeper John Farmer with a cross-shot, and John Gorman enterprising as ever at left-back.
Up front, McIlmoyle’s movement was typically astute but Carlisle struggled to back this up with true creativity. Their task then became steeper still when, in the 58th minute, Stoke came at them with pace, Hudson and Jimmy Greenhoff combining before John Ritchie followed up the latter’s shot, which Ross had partially saved, to force the ball home.
Carlisle’s immediate task was not to go under at this point. Ross saved valiantly from Ritchie and Greenhoff, then superbly from Pejic. United’s attempted response brought a chance for Chris Balderstone, after good work by McIlmoyle, but Pejic denied him, and there was little argument about the result the longer things went on.
It was certainly a lesson in the exacting standards of England’s top division, while Ashman looked to place things into perspective. “It is seven points out of 12, and despite the Stoke result, I have been saying thank-you to the players for the start they have given me,” the manager said.
Ashman, though, could not avoid the truth of Stoke’s superiority. “We could have employed a hatchet-man to mark Alan Hudson, but that’s not our style. We laid up on him trying to cut down his space, but he was too clever.
“On the day, Stoke deserved to win. We knew that the match would be decided in midfield, and that’s where they won it.” The Blues were left to lick their wounds, and then prepare for the League Cup.
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