Norwich City Programme Article Three - Saturday 28th November 2009

One of the most disappointing FA Cup days at Brunton Park came back in early March 1975 when, as a first division side, Carlisle faced second division Fulham in a quarter-final tie. United having reached that stage of the competition for the first, and what is still only time, courtesy of three narrow victories against other lower league opposition. The Blues winning 1-0 at Preston, 3-2 at home to West Bromwich Albion and 1-0 away to Mansfield in their third, fourth and fifth round ties respectively.

Coming up to Cumbria Fulham were only sitting in 12^th place in their league but they did have a sprinkling of well known names in their squad. With the likes of Alan Mullery, Viv Busby, Jimmy Conway and of course Bobby Moore plying their trade at Craven Cottage in those days. It was the name of Manchester-born Peter Mellor that would linger long on the lips of Blues fans after the game though as the then 27-year old goalkeeper produced a remarkable performance to keep United at bay.

With a crowd of 21,570 packed inside Brunton Park hopes were high that Carlisle could make it to the final four only for Mellor to end those dreams. The Whites sneaking through 1-0 to a semi-final match up against Birmingham City after a rare defensive mix-up between Peter Carr and Alan Ross had allowed Les Barrett to grab the only goal of the game in the 67^th minute.

Fulham would go on to defeat the Birmingham Blues 1-0 after extra-time at Maine Road in a replay after the first match between the sides had ended 1-1 at Hillsborough. The final was where the fairytale ended for the Craven Cottage club though as they lost 2-0 at Wembley against West Ham. The fairytale in particular ending for Mellor who was widely blamed for mistakes that led to two Alan Taylor goals for the Hammers in the space of five second-half minutes.

The next big FA Cup tie for Carlisle at Brunton Park came in the third round in 1978. The Cumbrians facing a side, in Manchester United, that they failed to play in their season in the sun, the Red Devils having been a second division side at the time. The roles were reversed this time though as the clubs faced each other for the first ever time in competitive football, with the Blues a lowly 15^th in the third division while Manchester United were occupying 14^th place in division one.

A 25,500 sell out greeted both teams as they came onto the Brunton Park turf and things looked to be going according to the formbook when Lou Macari gave the visitors the lead early on. Carlisle weren't to be overawed against their, on paper, superior opponents though and Iain McDonald headed the Blues level before half-time.

The Red Devils ending up down to ten men after the break when Jimmy Greenhoff was sent off and being grateful to the referee after the Cumbrians were denied what looked like a clear penalty for a late foul on George McVitie. The final whistle eventually signalling a closely fought 1-1 draw and a replay at Old Trafford that would take place the following Wednesday.

That match was one game too far for Carlisle however, although they did put in a good fight, losing 4-2 in front of 54,156 spectators. Lou Macari once more getting on the Red Devils scoresheet as he bagged a brace of goals, as did his team-mate Stuart Pearson. The Blues, 2-0 down at half-time, grabbing goals after the interval from Mick Tait and Billy Rafferty that would sadly prove to be no more than consolation strikes.

The biggest teams to have visited Brunton Park since then have been Liverpool and Arsenal, both in the third round of the competition and in 1989 and 2001 respectively. Carlisle losing the two matches without even managing to get on the scoresheet, the Reds winning 3-0 thanks to two goals from Steve McMahon and one from John Barnes. The Gunners meanwhile edging through 1-0 when Sylvain Wiltord netted in the 22^nd minute of a tie that would be better remembered for a crunching Richard Prokas tackle on Patrick Vieira.

These days though, for obvious financial reasons, you want to draw one of the big boys on the road in round three. Carlisle and Norwich both hoping to do just that, but first one side must get through and one must get knocked out this evening. With the amount of games that we are playing this season though a replay could be on the cards, and an exciting third round draw would make the stakes for that even higher. Let's hope that we settle matters today though and a trip to Norfolk is replaced by a trip to one of the big four.