It ain't boring being a Carlisle fan. How often do we continue to be amazed with results? I write this the morning after the JPT Area final (with a hangover). Despite twice leading on the night we again in effect blew a two goal lead and did it on penalties. Yet when it comes to lesser opposition, particularly at home we tend to disappoint. I'm sure some of this is that as a team with our lack of striking options we are more suited to 4-5-1. On top of what has already been a really busy season for your organising committee, we can now look forward to our trip to Wembley on 28th March. We were so positive that we already had a Branch meeting lined up for two days after the area final, so as to plan the big day.

This season will already probably go down as the busiest in the Branch history from an event point of view. The number of socials has shot up, together with live games on internet and tv. We have the fans' forum to look forward to in March. We sowed the seed with the club in a series of productive pre season meetings, as a Branch at that time we felt that there needed to be a greater influence from the fans. The lack of an official fans group in Carlisle does not allow that feedback to flow so I laid out a few proposals on behalf of the Branch, all of which were taken on board in a positive way and many of which we have seen come to fruition. Where we asked for a representative from the owners to come to our 250 issues of HTB event, they all attended despite the long drive ahead of them. when invited to answer a few impromptu Q & A's there was no hesitation. The honesty we got was refreshing and as a result we look forward to the forum in March. It may be surprising to some that the biggest applause of the night was not for the guest appearance of Stan Bowles but when in direct response to a question on finances to one of the owners, the detailed answered included the fact that the club was actually trading in the black for the season. Crystal Palace are the latest team to go into administration as a result of financial mismanagement. They won't be the last this season.

We have our next sponsorship game at Brunton Park and hope that by making it Good Friday we can catch a few Exiles back in Cumbria for Easter. By subsidising the cost and making it just £25 each it is sure to be a great day out. After that there are trips to Charlton, Brighton (surely it can't rain this year?) , Southampton & Norwich for a weekend away where we hope to finish off with no pressure on the game.

It is great to see the Football League getting a bit more coverage, even if it is Leeds most of the time! The Football league show and the new Late Kick Off programme together with the availability of goal clips on the internet, all make it easier for fans to keep in touch. Is this having an effect on attendances I wonder? It would be interesting for a lower league club to experiment with free admission like Ebbsfleet or the Mansfield ' pay what you think it's worth ' idea. If home clubs get double their usual attendance, they may actually take more money on the day through sales of beer, programmes and club shop sales. As supportive as we are as a Branch, we still feel the club could be a lot more proactive in being creative around commercial activities. For example how many fans would give up a couple of hours per week to do telesales to perspective fans who may be minded to come to a home match with a little incentive thrown in? The beauty of this tactic is your callers don't even need to be ringing from the club for this to work. It is essential that the Branch continues to strengthen its ties with the club not just from a fund raising point of view but to continue to be the only recognised supporters voice. I don't get any pleasure stating this and would love nothing more than to see the formation of a supporters' club in Carlisle that was prepared to put old differences aside and work together with the club to make Carlisle United a true community club.

Simon Clarkson