Young Carlisle United fans give up half-term to paint Warwick Road End

Having boosted the atmosphere at Brunton Park in recent months, the teenage supporters are now setting about sprucing up the Blues’ home terrace.

A group of young fans are giving up their half-term school holiday to head down to United’s ground every day this week.

They are painting crush barriers and walls in the Warwick – and giving the home end a much-needed makeover.

It was the young fans’ own idea and is being backed by the club and supporters’ groups.

It is the latest initiative which has grown out of the Warwick Road End fans’ movement, which has also seen a big fundraising effort recently along with marches from the city centre to Brunton Park.

The young fans are giving up their half-term holiday to spruce up the Warwick Road End (Image: Jon Colman)

Sonny Kirkwood, 15, was busy painting one of the breezeblock walls in the Warwick blue when the News & Star caught up with the lads.

Sonny, who is behind the ‘warwickroadend’ social media pages, said: “It really just started from a group chat, and we all had an idea to kind of transform the Warwick – with more colour, more energy, to make it a better place for the supporters.

“There was maybe 15 or 20 of us who come to the games, but we started getting our mates involved, and the marches have helped get more numbers in.

“We did the GoFundMe, which raised more than £1,500 to go towards banners and flags, and then I had a suggestion in my Instagram comments, saying we should paint the railings and the walls blue.

Sonny Kirkwood, 15, applies a coat of blue paint to one of the walls in the Warwick Road End (Image: Jon Colman)

“So I gave the idea to the club and they gave us the green light.”

Eight young fans were today busy scraping some of the peeling old yellow paint from the bases of the crush barriers before applying fresh coats.

They are also turning the silver barriers blue.

United’s supporter liaison officer Simon Clarkson, who is helping supervise the work along with other representatives from supporters’ groups (CUSG), paid tribute to the young fans’ efforts and said the club and local businesses were backing the project.

The young fans' painting project is being backed by the club and fan groups (Image: Jon Colman)

“It’s another great example of fans coming up with an initiative – and, as supporter liaison officer, my role is to try and feed that back to the club,” he said.

“The club were very keen right from the off. They are funding it, 100 per cent, and we’ve had great backing from a local firm, Paintwell, who have not only provided the materials at a good price, but given us some really good practical advice too.

“We really have to emphasise that it was the lads’ initiative. These are the fans of the future and the fact they’re willing to give up their only week off school at this time of year…you can’t get any better commitment than that.

Local firm Paintwell have provided the materials for the fans' initiative (Image: Jon Colman)

“We won’t get everything done this week but hopefully when fans are next back here, they can see what’s been happening and the lads will get a lot of pride from doing it.

“Hopefully it’s something they’ll want to come back and do in the Easter break too. It’s outdoors, a bit cold and wet at the moment, but their love of the football club is coming through.

“It’s another layer of vibrancy and colour in the Warwick.”

The eight fans doing the painting work today attend five different schools and have come together through their love of following the Blues home and away.

The young fans say they want to help make the Warwick a more colourful place (Image: Jon Colman)

Members of the Warwick Road End group have also met club officials and police as their movement grew in recent months.

Sonny said they wanted to play their part in successful times at United.

“I've been coming since I was six or seven, and I've never seen Carlisle out of League Two,” he said.

“Simmo [Paul Simpson] coming back has given everyone a bit of hope again.

“We knew about him before, but we didn’t know everything about him, but he saved us from relegation and has really turned things around.

“He’s brilliant. We all love him.”

The young fans are also planning some new banners and flags after a recent crowdfunding initiative raised more than £1,500 (Image: Jon Colman)

The fans have teamed up with CUOSC’s vice-chair Dan MacLennan over the GoFundMe banners project, and are awaiting quotes from suppliers on some of the displays they have planned.

“It’s just a case of everyone getting together and making it a better place for everyone to come, and hopefully bring a bit of atmosphere and colour,” added Sonny.

The fans involved in the painting work this week are Harry Crook, Kyle Douglas, Sonny Kirkwood, Ben Wilkinson, Caden Corrigan, Shaun Petry, Sam Davidson, Jay Mackay, Callum Conley, Jamie Mulholland, Gabriel Timperon, Amos Bulman, Finnon Tobin and Kian Storey.