Like many other Carlisle United fans I made an unexpected journey back to Brunton Park during the close season to attend the funeral and subsequent celebration of the life of Derek Lacey. I have used the word celebration deliberately as this is what Derek would have wanted. He was a top bloke and although his commentaries were not of the highest quality they were great entertainment value. I'm sure he will be sorely missed by many United fans and matchdays will never be the same again. I write this on a day when football lost another great man after a long illness - Bobby Robson.

I only caught one of the pre season friendlies and as a result I'm not as optimistic as I sometimes am at this time of year. Since the glorious end of last season we have made some tough decisions around our playing squad. At least the owners came out and made our financial position clear. This is to be applauded and makes our expectations a little more realistic, or at least it should for the level headed fans. Only time will tell if Matty Robson is better than Lewis Neal and Jeff Smith. Was Chris Lumsdon past it and is Lenny Pidgeley as good as Ben Williams, particularly given that we gained 60k? The major concern is the farce over the departure of Danny Graham. How can it be that he is allowed to play for Watford, they delay the tribunal and we are left without a striker ? Smaller clubs losing out again ? It will be very interesting to see how this unfolds on 6th August. One thing for sure is that we must bring in a striker before the big kick off otherwise we are going to be relying on set pieces.

This season will be another great one for the Branch. There are a lot of members working hard behind the scenes not only to raise money to donate and sponsor CUFC activities but to organise two celebrations. It is our 35th year and this will be commemorated by a special event. Before that we are doing a special 250th edition of HTB which should be out before Christmas. Keep an eye out for some new Branch merchandise too.

I had a very productive meeting with reps from the club around suggestions to increase revenue and interact more effectively with the fans. The suggestions have possibly been made before but were all made by fans like you who just want to see the club succeed. We await with interest to see how these suggestions are furthered. Already as a result of the meeting we are looking to bring a fans' forum to the South of England, so watch this space.

I write this before departing for holiday just a week before the season. I always knew I would miss the first game of the season and it actually worked out well as I'm back in time for one of the highlights of the season - our trip to the New Den! Putting my optimistic hat back on, we may be top of the league.

Keep the faith,

Simon Clarkson