The second leg of the play-off is on Thursday night at 7.45 and it’s live on Sky TV. It’s a day earlier than the original schedule, as the police refused to allow us to come to town on the Friday.

Brunton Park is about a mile to the east of the town centre and is easy to find, however you’re travelling. By car you need to leave the M6 at junction 43 and take the A69 towards Carlisle, which will take you straight to the ground. It’s that large object on your right, a mile after you’ve left the motorway. The club car park (cost £1.50) can be found by taking the first right immediately after Brunton Park into Victoria Place and then turn first right onto St Aidans Road, and the only other option is street parking.

It’s also about a mile from Carlisle railway station. From the main exit, walk the short distance around The Crescent until reaching Warwick Road, then just keep on down this main road and you can’t miss it. There is an excellent chippie on the other side of the crescent from the station, should you be in need of some scoff as soon as you arrive.

I don’t know what the door policy will be adopted by the town’s pubs on the night, but bearing in mind the trouble earlier in the season, I can’t guarantee that you’ll be able to get into any of the places I’m about to mention. There is one pub near the ground, 'The Beehive' which is on the main Warwick Road, which normally allows away supporters in. If you’re coming from the station, you’ll pass the ‘White House’, which is more spacious than the Beehive, but won't allow away fans in wearing colours. Other options are the Carlisle Rugby Club next to Brunton Park on the main road and the ‘Howard Arms’, just off Warwick Road near the ‘White House’.

The usual away section is the Petterill End terrace, which is at the opposite end of the ground from the main road. This end is open to the elements, and there is nothing behind but open fields, so it can get pretty blustery to say the least. There used to be a wooden scoreboard at the back of the terrace, which would sway in the wind, but it was replaced by an electronic effort when the terrace was refurbished a few years ago. At least we have a clear view of the action from this end.

The terrace holds 1,700 fans, and bigger clubs usually get an additional section of seating in the relatively modern Cumberland Building Society (East) Stand.  But in their infinite wisdom, the police have decided that we should only get the smaller allocation, because of the trouble in Carlisle earlier in the season. I’ve never seen any evidence that having fewer away fans prevents trouble, and this will only encourage Leeds fans to get tickets among the home support. The usual adult price for away fans on the terrace is £14.

Carlisle’s web site currently says they have sold 11,000 tickets, which presumably means they have about 4,000 home tickets left to sell (total capacity is 16,981, less the away section). They don’t mention any restrictions on who can buy them, so if you live in Cumbria and haven’t yet got your hands on a ticket, then it might be worth trying your luck.

 Some of the info in this piece came from www.footballgroundguide.co.uk.  

Photo: Action Images

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