A 100-year milestone in the history of Carlisle United

It was precisely a century ago that ‘Carlisle United Association Football Club (1921) Limited’ – the limited company that controls the Blues – was formed.

It came at a time United were competing in the North-Eastern League, still seven years away from becoming a Football League club.

The move aimed to put the fledgling club on a more solid financial footing as they sought to grow in the aftermath of World War One.

This was not the birth of the football club, which had evolved from the original, 19th-century Shaddongate United who changed their name to Carlisle United in 1904.

But June 20, 1921 remains a significant mark in time - and a date which remains a visible and defining part of the Blues today.

United had previously been run as a limited company until financial troubles took their toll in 1911.

That spring saw directors resign with the club carrying debts of £200 and a £300 mortgage, with falling attendance numbers blamed for the worrying financial position.

The limited company was no more, although, as noted by author Jon Tait in his book ‘The Gate’, United were then reconstituted on the original basis similar to that of the old Shaddongate club, managed by an annually-elected committee.

The club steadily got their affairs in better order but it was a decade – a period which included the Great War from 1914-18 – before United’s recovery was sufficient for officials to form a new company to steer the Brunton Park club’s affairs.

The Cumberland Evening News that week in June 1921 noted that “a prospectus had been issued of the Carlisle United Association Football Club (1921) Limited, with a capital of £5,000 in 5,000 ordinary shares of £1 each.

The full Cumberland Evening News report on the formation of Carlisle United Association Football Club (1921) Limited

“The minimum subscription upon which the directors may proceed to allotment is 500 shares.”

The company, the report said, had been formed to take over the whole of the liabilities and assets of the Carlisle United Association Football Club, which was revived after the war, "for the purpose of renewing and improving the Association game in Carlisle and district".

“The old membership in the North-Eastern League was renewed, and during the last season the standard of play resulted in the team attaining a higher position in the table than ever before reached,” the report added.

Alongside this sunnier outlook, it was reported that the owners of Brunton Park had granted the club “an option to purchase the ground, together with the grandstand, hoardings and equipment for the sum of £2,000.”

Completing this deal was described as the new company’s first priority, with an undertaking given that the ground would "not be mortgaged or charged in any way without the consent of a majority of the shareholders”.

The freshly-formed Carlisle United Association Football Club (1921) Ltd also set their sights on a Football League future, pledging that their aim was “the maintenance of a high standard of football, and also admittance to the Northern Section of the Third League at the earliest opportunity”, something which indeed came about in 1928.

Describing their present financial position as “good”, directors also appealed for a full take-up of the allocated shares. The United directors listed at this time were headed by chairman William Pattinson, a lithographic printer from Melbourne Road.

He was joined on the board by departmental foreman John Crosthwaite, store clerk William Fraser, block cutter Robert Foster, delivery foreman Edward Hodgson, printer’s cutter John Kirkpatrick, storekeeper Thomas McMath, biscuit machinist James Muir, clerk William Nicholson and fitter John Taylor.

Also being co-opted to the board after the allocation of new shares were financial secretary George Ellis and general secretary George Bristow, the latter also effectively in charge of team affairs.

This, then, was the initial look of the company which, until the advent of CUFC Holdings (previously Knighton Holdings), has been solely responsible for United’s affairs ever since.

The 1921 company remains the operational side of United’s business today, its current directors being Nigel Clibbens, Suzanne Kidd, John Nixon and CUOSC’s Jim Mitchell, with the Holdings board (Nixon, Andrew Jenkins, Steven Pattison, Lord Clark, CUOSC’s Billy Atkinson, EWM’s John Jackson) overseeing the club’s strategic side.

As for 1921, those business developments came at a time of on-field progress, and – usually typical for this time of year – negotiations with new players.

It all took place ahead of a North-Eastern League season against the likes of Chester-le-Street, South Shields, West Stanley, Newcastle United, Jarrow, Seaton Delaval, Bedlington, Scotswood, Sunderland, Preston Colliery, Middlesbrough, Shildon, Blyth Spartans, Spennymoor, Houghton Rovers and two much-anticipated fixtures with Workington, which were arranged for holiday dates (Boxing Day and January 2) in the hope of attracting big crowds.

Reassuringly for supporters, with this calendar in mind, it was added that “the players forming the backbone of the United team last season have been re-signed for next season.

“Mr G Bristow, the secretary of the club, is at present in negotiation with several smart players in the Tyneside district with a view to securing their early signature.”

New players included the sought-after John Cole, a forward from Seaham Harbour, who had plundered 55 goals in league and cup the previous season.

Wouldn’t it be a timely way to mark this particular centenary if Carlisle United Association Football Club (1921) Limited could locate someone similarly prolific this summer?