Carlisle United: Changing face of Brunton Park under Piataks

Tom snr and Patty Piatak, whose family recently bought the Blues, have been quick in making some changes to the look at feel of United's ground.

Having overseen an enhanced fan zone at their opening game against Charlton Athletic last month, more new features were visible at the Northampton Town game.

For one thing, the ground was surrounded by new banners featuring individual players as well as manager Paul Simpson.

A banner of Paul Huntington overlooks the west side entrance to Brunton Park (Image: Barbara Abbott)

Banners of players are on display outside the Andrew Jenkins Stand (Image: Barbara Abbott)

Banners of players are on display outside the Andrew Jenkins Stand (Image: Barbara Abbott)

Work on some of the interior of the ground was also clear on the west side of the stadium.

One area which has been subject to change is Foxy's Restaurant, where a carpet featuring the logo of former sponsors and financial backers Edinburgh Woollen Mill has been removed.

The new blue carpet in Foxy's (Image: Barbara Abbott)

Foxy's Restaurant (Image: Barbara Abbott)

In a symbolic sign of the recent change at the top of the club, the EWM carpet has gone and been replaced by a simple blue surface.

The Piataks have also ordered an overhaul of United's boardroom and evidence of that was shown to our photographer Barbara Abbott before Saturday's game.

The refurbished boardroom at Brunton Park (Image: Barbara Abbott)

The refurbished boardroom at Brunton Park is set up for a pre-match team meeting (Image: Barbara Abbott)

Detail from the new-look boardroom (Image: Barbara Abbott)

The refurbished room is also used as a team meeting area by Paul Simpson ahead of home games, while another room on that side of the ground has been transformed into The 1904 Lounge (1904 being the year Carlisle United was formed from the previous Shaddongate United club).

The former players' lounge is now The 1904 Lounge at Brunton Park (Image: Barbara Abbott)

Tom snr, meanwhile, showed off his skills by having a go at one of the football challenges in the fan zone before the game.

Tom Piatak snr tries a football challenge in the fan zone (Image: Ben Holmes)

Blues manager Paul Simpson said the new owners are not wasting time in making significant changes behind the scenes.

"I’ve been speaking to them every couple of days on Teams meetings [whilst they've been in the USA], and there will be many more," said Simpson. "And now they’re here for the next few weeks.

United legend John Halpin shakes hands with new owner Tom Piatak snr in the directors' box (Image: Barbara Abbott)

"The visible changes inside the ground, what they’ve done is absolutely magnificent.

"They’ve really tidied that up, they’re making it a better environment Monday to Friday for the players to do their preparation, there are loads of things going on and they are fully backing us to try and get a group of players to compete even better than we have [on Saturday]."

And to top off the festive theme of the new-look ground, even the great Hughie Mac was getting into the spirit of things...

Hugh McIlmoyle's statue sports a blue Santa hat (Image: Barbara Abbott)