Hometown hero Huntington: 'Thank you for bringing me home'

The veteran defender returned to his boyhood club last summer as part of Simmo's revolution, and captained the Blues in the capital in the absence of Morgan Feeney.

This was the Blues' first promotion since 2006, with the former Trinity School boy linking up with former Morton School boy Simpson with the hope of making the impossible dream possible.

After the highs and lows of the 120 minutes, Hunts tried his best to sum up the cascade of emotions.

"I am just trying to savour it, take it all in," he said.

"What a feeling, I am delighted, I know what it means, I am from here.

"We have done it on a big stage, this is a place for winners, and I have said that all week, we have delivered on the big stage, and I am buzzing."

After a nervy start, Carlisle grew into the game and were deserving of their equaliser, which was rifled in by Omari Patrick in the 84th minute.

Dixon's Chimney in boots (Image: Richard Parkes)

With the team inseparable it was penalties that were required, with fellow local lad, Maryport-born Taylor Charters, confidently dispatching the Carlisle winner.

Perhaps fans inside Wembley may not have felt like the Blues were going to be triumphant in the midst of the swirling emotions of the League Two play-off final.

However, Huntington, who put in another imperious defensive performance, recounted what he felt was a 'comfortable' afternoon at the home of English football.

He said: "I felt over the piece that we deserved it. First half we went through twice one on one, shot over, and then tried to square to tap it in.

"[Kristian] Dennis had the header of the line with keeper, great save, and I remember deflecting one and our keeper making a save late on but apart from that I felt quite comfortable.

"I thought there was a lot of long balls to defend and that is food and drink to me."

Huntington is no stranger to Wembley success, winning promotion to the championship with Preston in 2015 and he spoke about he called on this experience to help get his younger teammates in the right frame of mind to win and to savour the spoils of victory.

He said: "I have been here before with Preston and done it and I was 28 at the time. I am 35 now so I said to a lot of the lads that it does not come around that often, so soak it in. I was taking my time walking around the pitch, seeing so many faces I knew in the crowd.

'Captain Carlisle' Paul Huntington indulges in the jubilant post-match celebrations with the travelling Brunton Park faithful (Image: Richard Parkes)

"I said this week in the build-up, it was not lost on me, I knew what it meant and a lot of my good friends have followed the club and even as a kid, 9 or 10, I went with my dad, stood on top of the tunnel in the Paddock."

After playing 310 times for Preston North End during his ten-year spell at Deepdale, Huntington was unsure whether he wanted to even lace his boots up for the 2022/23 season, however, revealed how a desire to give back to his incredibly supportive wife Lindsey and their daughter Dolly - and conversations with Simmo - set the fairytale on its way.

He said: "I want to play as long as I can, I have played 45 games this season and I said earlier I was not sure what was happening last year. I spent 10 years at Preston.

"In nine years, I played 40 games a season, I played 310 games and then last year it did not matter how I trained, how I did in reserve games, cup games because I wasn’t going to play and I found that tough mentally.

Paul Huntington cements his place in Carlisle folklore as the Blues return to League One (Image: Richard Parkes)

"I did not really want to drop to League Two. I had never played in League Two, always League One, Championship, and I started at Newcastle in the Premier League, and then I spent the summer at home because I was unsure, Carlisle were really keen on me and [Simmo] said he would keep the number six shirt for me.

"It is probably the best decision I have made now, and I thanked him after the game. Thank you for bringing me home because I spent the summer with my young daughter, and that changed things for me.

"I just thought it was time to give something back to my wife, to be around my family. [Lindsey] allows me to be the best version of myself.”