In pictures: Carlisle United's former Leeds United and Sunderland star Michael Bridges

Was it the glorious volley against Northampton? The double step-over against Darlington? The elegant dribble against Chester? The elusive strike on a bog of a pitch against Lincoln? The hat-trick at Boston? The last-gasp winner against Notts County?

Every Carlisle United supporter has their favourite Michael Bridges moment, and the joy of remembering the striker is how spoiled for choice we always are.

It is coming up for 15 years since his first, mesmerising United spell came to a climax and it remains easy to conjure thoughts of Bridges at his skilful, matchwinning best.

His goals alone form a formidable highlights reel, and then there is the general memory of football ability which, more often than not, soared high above League Two standard.

Bridges decorated United - but the Blues also helped him. He arrived in the autumn of 2005 as a falling star in need of a boost.

A spell at Bristol City had not proved the lift Bridges required after injuries had sabotaged the soaring Premier League career he had enjoyed with Sunderland and, after a £5m move, Leeds United.

Bridges joined Paul Simpson's Blues initially on loan, reuniting him with old north-east pals Chris Lumsdon and Paul Arnison, in the hope he could revive that undoubted ability and a love for the game which fate had done its best to challenge.

His decision to drop to the fourth tier in Cumbria proved a glorious success. Bridges made his debut as a substitute against Oxford in November 2005 and did not take long to impose his class on Simpson's high-flying side.

While Karl Hawley was the most ravenous goalscorer in that season's team, Bridges embellished it with displays that often left League Two defenders humiliated.

His first United goal came in a 4-0 win at Rushden & Diamonds in December, and from there he kept on delivering. He scored the spectacular and the crucial, settling tight games during the run-in as Carlisle swept to a second consecutive promotion, and in this case the League Two title.

He ended the campaign with 15 goals from 25 games, and a lasting place in supporters' affections.

Bridges started the following season in League One with United, under Simpson's successor Neil McDonald, but on August's transfer deadline day he signed for Hull in the Championship.

A change of manager on Humberside did not benefit Bridges and he went on to have a spell in Australia with Sydney FC - before returning to Cumbria in the summer of 2008.

This time he joined United under John Ward, his arrival on a season-long loan offsetting the summer sale of Joe Garner and again proving a popular piece of business by the Blues.

It proved a less straightforward second coming, as Ward slumped to the sack and Greg Abbott took charge for an exhausting struggle to keep United in League One.

When Bridges got regular games he still showed some of the old goalscoring prowess. During the run-in he scored four goals in six games, a classy finish at Leicester among the highlights, as Carlisle toiled to get over the survival line.

His final United appearance turned out to be on that season's penultimate day, when a goalline handball at Cheltenham saw Bridges receive the only red card of his career.

Carlisle, with Bridges suspended, went on to stay up on the final day of the 2008/9 season.

After an eight-goal, 34-appearance season, the striker did not return to Cumbria, instead heading to MK Dons for a brief spell the following term before returning to Australia with Newcastle Jets.

Bridges then moved into off-field roles, building up his coaching qualifications, and has also carved out a successful broadcasting career Down Under.

He was linked with the United manager's job after the departure of Steven Pressley in 2019 and flew back to England for talks with the Blues before Carlisle opted for Chris Beech.

Now 42, he has, since November, combined his media work with the manager's post with Northern NSW NPL side Edgeworth Eagles.

It remains to be seen whether Bridges' coaching skills will bring him back to this country in the future.

Either way, memories of what such a special player did with his boots on at Carlisle can never possibly fade.