Carlisle United were an established Second Division outfit as the 1960s came to an end and, as the seventies began to unfold, were beginning to build a side that could eventually reach even greater heights.

The side that started the 1971/2 season featured the likes of Allan Ross, John Gorman, Chris Balderstone and Dennis Martin, all of whom would taste top-flight football with the Blues just three campaigns later.

There had been change elsewhere at the club amid a strong fourth-placed finish the previous campaign. Manager Bob Stokoe had left for Blackpool with flamboyant Scot Ian MacFarlane taking his place.

United had become an admired side for the quality of their football, coached by the great Dick Young – and also for their appearance. Neat blue suits, sported by all players when travelling to away games, helped make United look a polished bunch.

“Looking at our lads when they are playing away from home, they must surely be the smartest team,” insisted trainer Young.

It was also the 50th anniversary of United becoming a limited company, their assets now worth £113,000 after being valued at £2,000 in 1921. On the pitch, things were not immediately profitable in 1971/2, bearing in mind they started with a draw to Preston and a defeat to Birmingham.

Then came Swindon’s visit, a crowd just shy of 10,000 hoping MacFarlane’s team could find a winning habit.

The Cumbrians were without summer signing Bob Delgado, who saw injury affect his early United career, but there were first starts of the league season for Tot Winstanley and Derek Hemstead. They both contributed to a hard-working display against the Robins which did not, alas, allay all the early-season frustration.

United made a hesitant start, Swindon’s Peter Noble testing Ross with a long-range shot, and it took left-back Gorman’s best efforts to deny Don Rogers after that. Eventually, Carlisle settled and tried to make better use of the strong wind at their backs.

Balderstone had their first effort of note, his firm shot blocked by player-boss Dave Mackay, the former Spurs and Scotland legend. Gorman and Martin were next to try their luck, and Frank Barton also got in on the act, speeding past two Swindon opponents and smashing an angled attempt into the side-netting.

United had established a sense of control and on the half-hour came even closer. Barton sent the ball into the box and Balderstone glanced a header towards goal, only for Robins keeper Peter Downsborough to save sharply.

At the other end, Mike Sutton and Winstanley helped United see off danger but their team-mates were having no joy in breaking the deadlock themselves. Hemstead saw a shot deflect narrowly past the post before the interval and afterwards Carlisle could not find the goal they craved.

Their urgent efforts involved, among others, Martin and Stan Webb, who combined for what should have been the opener during a spell of better Blues football. Webb turned Martin’s cross back into the danger zone but neither Balderstone nor Martin, attacking a rebound, could find the target.

Next, Downsborough parried a Balderstone effort and Sutton, making a break from defence, shot wide. There was no doubting Carlisle’s intent, but the decisive moment remained elusive, Balderstone whistling a 35-yard effort just over the bar, and United surviving a late Swindon salvo from their former favourite Stan Harland as their second home game of the season ended like the first; a 0-0 draw.

It meant a winless start had reached the three-game mark, United sitting fifth-bottom in the fledgling second-tier table – but the wait only lasted until their next fixture, when Balderstone, Martin and Bob Hatton supplied a fine 3-0 victory at Sunderland’s Roker Park.

Inconsistent results followed, but Carlisle were again competitive – and boosted in October by MacFarlane’s signing of a certain Stan Bowles. The maverick forward joined from Crewe and did not take long to stamp his quality on Brunton Park life.

Indeed, the 1971/2 season is remembered fondly for one of the ground’s great hat-tricks: a virtuoso Bowles treble against leaders and champions-elect Norwich in December.

By the time the season ended with a defeat at Bowles’ future club QPR, United were sitting 10th. A campaign of struggle then followed – but after that it was time for the club’s most glorious rise, with Alan Ashman replacing MacFarlane at the helm to lead Ross, Gorman et al into the top flight.

United: Ross, Hemstead, Gorman, Ternent, Winstanley, Sutton, Barton, Martin, Webb (Owen), Hatton, Balderstone.

Swindon: Downsborough, Thomas, Trollope, Butler, Burrows, Mackay, Porter, Harland, Horsfield, Noble, Rogers. Sub: Peplow.

Crowd: 9,936.