Carlisle United vs Barrow
Tuesday 31st January, kick-off 7:45pm
Brunton Park
Sky Bet League Two
Opposition
Founded in 1896 as Shaddongate United, before renaming themselves to the current Carlisle United in 1904, with 3 initial football clubs fighting for the same space to be the dominant football club within the border city.
Those were Carlisle Red Rose, Carlisle and Shaddongate United themselves. Carlisle folded in 1899, along with Carlisle Red Rose in 1906, leaving the recently renamed Carlisle United (adopted from Newcastle United) as the most prominent football club in the city.
Carlisle United played their first football game under the new name in 1904 against fellow Carlisle-based team Victoria Wanderers, a game they would end up losing 2-1.
Carlisle United’s golden age came in the 60s, 70s & 80s, with promotion to the top flight of English football in the 1973/74 season after finishing 3rd in the old Second Division. They also entertained their only European fixture in 1971/72, facing AS Roma at the Stadio Olimpico in the Anglo-Italian cup. Successive relegations in the late 70s saw them tumble back down to the Third Division for the first time in 13 years.
In more recent times, they have achieved Wembley success in the Football League Trophy in 2011, and Paul Simpson currently has The Blues 4th in Sky Bet League Two, one point behind last Saturday’s opposition Northampton Town.
The Venue
Brunton Park has been home to Carlisle United since 1909, boasting a capacity of 18,202. The ground's record attendance was made in 1957 with the visit of Birmingham City.
27,500 people packed into the stadium for the clash.
Brunton Park has had a history of severe flooding, with Carlisle having to ground share with multiple different football clubs in the 2015/16 season due to such occurrence.
Head To Head
Barrow have played Carlisle once this season, albeit in the Papa John's Trophy group stage, where The Bluebirds defeated their Cumbrian neighbours 2-0, with goals from Josh Kay and Sam Foley in the second half giving Barrow progression in the tournament.
A look back at this fixture in Sky Bet League Two last season saw a goalless draw between the two sides at Brunton Park, although Carlisle would go on to defeat Barrow at Holker Street in the second half of the season.
Referee
The man with the whistle at Brunton Park on Tuesday evening will be Andrew Kitchen. He’ll be assisted by Simon Clayton and Gary Hilton; Martin Woods has been assigned to Fourth Official duties.
Kitchen’s last refereeing appointment came between Shrewsbury Town and Forest Green Rovers last Saturday where Shrewsbury walked away with a 2-1 victory, Shrewsbury scored two late goals in second half stoppage time to defeat Forest Green.
You might recognise Kitchen from Barrow's goalless draw with Exeter in August 2021, a game which produced 5 yellow cards at Holker Street but neither side could find the decisive moment to snatch all the points.
Tickets
Click here for full ticket information.
Live Streaming
We’re delighted to confirm that we’ll be live streaming all the action from Brunton Park on iFollow for supporters both in the UK and abroad.
Our live coverage will also benefit from the commentary of BBC Radio Cumbria’s Adam Johnson.
Video Match Passes are on sale right now priced at just £10 and every fan who buys on will be directly supporting The Bluebirds.
Click here now to visit the Carlisle United v Barrow Match Centre and snap up your Video Match Pass.
Live Commentary
You can purchase an Audio Match Pass for £2.50, an Audio Monthly Pass for £4.49 or sign-up for Audio Season Pass which provides all live commentary and video news for just £45.