London Calling – November
6 – 0! For once it was almost a pleasure to listen to Derek Lacey over the Internet, although I have to admit that you need to listen to Radio Cumbria with Sky Sports News on in the background as back-up to find out which team has actually scored (or whether a goal has in fact been scored), as this is not always evident from Degsy’s commentary.
Last month we were chuckling about the London Branch member who was allocated tickets for the final day of the Ashes Test but sent them back in disgust because he was convinced that it would be all over by then. His mates were not too impressed. This month we were amused to find that the London Branch Social Secretary gave in to his son’s pressure to return South on the day before the Stockport game to allow his son to attend a birthday party! Never again!
We knew that October was going to be a struggle and it started out that way. The defeats against Bristol Rovers and Oxford United took us on to a four-game losing streak that was thankfully interrupted by the visit of Mansfield. Notts County was a thankful draw, but could so easily have been all three points if United had shown a little more aggression in front of goal. Hawley’s curling shot in the final seconds deserved to be a matchwinner, but few could grumble with the final result. The win against Stockport was sublime and now means that we’ve gone three games unbeaten and are up amongst the play-off candidates again. It’s amazing how quickly things can change in this Division this season.
November looks an interesting month. First we have the diversion of the FA Cup and following both teams’ results on Saturday the odds must be in favour of a United victory, although who really cares? A week later we are back in Torquay, one of the London Branch’s favourite haunts. We usually make a long weekend of it and sample the pubs, clubs and restaurants of the English Riviera – the added bonus this year is that we might come away with a result. We finish the month with two home games against Oxford and Wycombe both of which could be winnable if we can recapture the form we showed against Stockport. The Wycombe game will be a great test to see whether we have improved since the opening day of the season.
A couple of months ago I wrote an article about the position between the Trust and the Football Club. I hadn’t expected to return to the subject so soon afterwards. The recent announcement on the official website that the Football Club is taking steps to remove Kate Rowley as a director comes as no surprise at all. Kate’s position as Chairman of the Trust and supporting the legal action against the Football Club puts her into direct conflict with the Board. As I have said before, in my view she should resign. This is not a criticism of Kate – I think she has done the best job that she can with the brief that she has had to follow, but the fans of Carlisle United who have joined the Trust need someone who can represent all of the Trust’s members’ views and the Board of Carlisle United need a Fans’ Representative that they can work with. It’s long past the time to bury the hatchet and get to work in putting Carlisle United back on the map.
See you on our travels
Malcolm Fawcett
Information@carlislelondonbranch.org