Carlisle United F.C.

1896–1904: Shaddongate United

Shaddongate United F.C. are first reported in 1896 as the winners of the Carlisle Association Charity Shield and are recorded as playing at Willow Holme in the Shaddongate area of the city, now an industrial estate, and wearing blue and gold stripes. At the time Carlisle Red Rose and Carlisle AFC were the pre-eminent clubs in Carlisle but the new club quickly gained a following and by the time Carlisle AFC folded in 1899 they were considered a force to be reckoned with. By 1903 they had overtaken Red Rose and were further cemented as the city's biggest club when Red Rose's entire team were banned for four months by the Cumberland Football Association for taking part in a Scottish amateur tournament in contravention of league rules. A myth has persisted that Shaddongate and Red Rose had merged to form Carlisle United and this likely led the club to adopt 1904 as their official date of foundation, though Red Rose continued until 1906 at which point they folded. Only in 2017 did more information about the early part of their history come to light.

1904–1928: Carlisle United

On 17 May 1904 at Shaddongate United's annual general meeting the club's members voted to change the team's name to Carlisle United at a heated meeting in Caldewgate, and it wasn't without its detractors. In fact, a breakaway group decided that Shaddongate United should live on and they continued to play under that name. However, they didn't have much of a…

League

Second Division (level 2) Promoted: 1973–74 Third Division (level 3) Champions: 1964–65 Runners-up: 1981–82 Fourth Division / Third Division / League Two (level 4) Champions: 1994–95, 2005–06 Runners-up: 1963–64 Promoted: 1961–62, 1996–97 Play-off winners: 2023 Conference (level 5) Play-off winners: 2005 Lancashire Combination Division One Champions: 1907–08 Lancashire Combination Division Two Champions: 1906–07 North Eastern League Champions: 1921–22 Cup

Football League Trophy Winners: 1996–97, 2010–11 Runners-up: 1994–95, 2002–03, 2005–06, 2009–10 Cumberland Senior Cup Winners (29): 1901–02, 1902–03, 1904–05, 1908–09, 1910–11, 1912–13, 1921–22, 1923–24, 1927–28, 1928–29, 1929–30, 1930–31, 1931–32, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1938–39, 1939–40, 1979–80, 1989–90, 1992–93, 2001–02, 2004–05, 2007–08, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2018–19

League history

To date Carlisle United have played 82 seasons in the Football League, their relegation in 2004 and reinstatement the following year remains the only departure from the Football League since the club was first admitted in 1928 (excluding wartime). United are currently the only club to have reached the final of the Football League Trophy on six occasions. This, alongside their two wins, makes them the most successful club in the competition's history. The club's highest achievement outside of cup competitions came in 1974 when the club was promoted to the first tier of English football and spent a short period of…