Can it be lucky 13 for Carlisle United this weekend?

To date, the Blues have a dozen opening-day victories when a league season has started away from home.

From 40 away-day openers since the Cumbrians joined the Football League, they’ve won 12, drawn 12 and lost 16 when asked to hit the road for fixture number one.

Coming back unbeaten in 60 per cent of those games seems a pretty respectable record as they prepare for opening-day trip number 41 to Gillingham this weekend.

United were due a bit of travelling for their first fixture of a new campaign, given their previous three seasons have all started at home.

They are also, it’s fair to say, due a win given that none of their last five away-day openers have produced victory.

The last time Carlisle began a season with a win on the road, it was 16 years ago, and a 3-2 victory at Bristol Rovers at the beginning of the 2008/09.

Danny Carlton, with two, and Marc Bridge-Wilkinson got the goals to get John Ward’s team off to a strong start.

As if to prove that game one of 46 isn’t always a perfect guide, United went on to endure a tortuous League One season which saw Ward gone by the autumn and Carlisle survive on the last day under Greg Abbott.

That, in fact, is the only one of their last nine away-day league openers that have resulted in victory. Their most recent such trip was at the start of the Covid-hit 2020/21 campaign, when Chris Beech’s side came home licking their wounds after a 3-0 defeat to Cambridge United.

Before that, the John Sheridan reign began with a 3-1 loss at Exeter City on the first day of 2018/19.

Prior to that, there was a trio of 1-1 draws at Portsmouth (2016/17), Mansfield Town (2015/16) and Stevenage (2012/13) respectively.

Indeed, 1-1 is a common recent result when United start a league season on their travels, since before the Bristol Rovers anomaly in 2008 there were three more draws of that scoreline, at Walsall (2007/08, the game that preceded Neil McDonald's sudden sacking), Wycombe Wanderers (2005/06) and Southend United (1997/98).

There have been times when Carlisle have started well on the road and continued in the same vein, such as in 1996/97 when Rory Delap hit the only goal at Doncaster Rovers at the beginning of a third-placed Division Three promotion season (WATCH BELOW).

The 1964/65 season began with a long trip to rival the imminent one, given the Blues were tasked with travelling to Colchester United for game number one. Thanks to Hugh McIlmoyle, they returned with a 1-0 win at the onset of a third-tier title-winning campaign.

Carlisle’s very first game as a Football League club also brought an away win – 3-2 at Accrington Stanley in August 1928 – and the Blues went on to record a respectable eighth-placed finish in their debut Division Three North campaign.

There have been other occasions, though, when a good start has heralded nothing but failure. For instance, in 1991/92, when Aidan McCaffery’s side dispatched Doncaster 3-0 at Belle Vue yet eventually finished bottom of the entire Football League (WATCH BELOW).

In 1976/77, Billy Rafferty fired United to a 2-1 win at Southampton in game one, yet they ended up relegated from Division Two.

Then there’s the most famous Carlisle campaign of all, 50 years ago – 1974/75, when they defeated Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in their first top-flight game amid an incredible start that put them at the top of the First Division before a gradual slide back down (WATCH BELOW).

United’s best ever result in an opening-day game away from home came in the first fixture of 1951/52, when a hat-trick from Alan Ashman and a strike by Billy Hogan earned a 4-0 win at Rochdale.

Another notable start on the road was the 3-0 win at Derby County’s Baseball Ground in August 28, thanks to a brace from Alan Shoulder and one from fellow summer signing Malcolm Poskett at the start of the 1982/83 Division Three seasno.

A three-goal margin also benefited the Blues at the start of 1937/38 when they went to Accrington and won 4-1.

More forgettable starts on the road, meanwhile, include a 5-1 whacking at the hands of Tranmere Rovers in 1936/37 and a 5-2 reverse at Stockport County in 1954/55. None of that this weekend please, lads...

CARLISLE UNITED'S OPENING-DAY AWAY LEAGUE GAMES (victories in bold)

1928/29 – Accrington Stanley 2 Carlisle United 3

1930/31 – Chesterfield 2 Carlisle United 1

1931/32 – Hartlepools United 2 Carlisle United 2

1932/33 – Rochdale 0 Carlisle United 1

1934/35 – Tranmere Rovers 3 Carlisle United 1

1936/37 – Tranmere Rovers 5 Carlisle United 1

1937/38 – Accrington Stanley 1 Carlisle United 4

1946/47 – Oldham Athletic 0 Carlisle United 2

1950/51 – Southport 1 Carlisle United 0

1951/52 – Rochdale 0 Carlisle United 4

1952/53 – Gateshead 2 Carlisle United 0

1954/55 – Stockport County 5 Carlisle United 2

1957/58 – Oldham Athletic 1 Carlisle United 0

1960/61 – Exeter City 0 Carlisle United 0

1964/65 – Colchester United 0 Carlisle United 1

1966/67 – Crystal Palace 4 Carlisle United 2

1967/68 – Hull City 1 Carlisle United 0

1968/69 – Bury 3 Carlisle United 2

1970/71 – Middlesbrough 2 Carlisle United 1

1972/73 – Burnley 2 Carlisle United 2

1974/75 – Chelsea 0 Carlisle United 2

1976/77 – Southampton 1 Carlisle United 2

1977/78 – Tranmere Rovers 3 Carlisle United 2

1978/79 – Hull City 1 Carlisle United 1

1979/80 – Southend United 1 Carlisle United 0

1982/83 – Derby County 0 Carlisle United 3

1986/87 – Chester City 2 Carlisle United 2

1987/88 – Peterborough United 1 Carlisle United 0

1989/90 – Hereford United 2 Carlisle United 2

1991/92 – Doncaster Rovers 0 Carlisle United 3

1996/97 – Doncaster Rovers 0 Carlisle United 1

1997/98 – Southend United 1 Carlisle United 1

2005/06 – Wycombe Wanderers 1 Carlisle United 1

2007/08 – Walsall 1 Carlisle United 1

2008/09 – Bristol Rovers 2 Carlisle United 3

2012/13 – Stevenage 1 Carlisle United 1

2015/16 – Mansfield Town 1 Carlisle United 1

2016/17 – Portsmouth 1 Carlisle United 1

2018/19 – Exeter City 3 Carlisle United 1

2020/21 – Cambridge United 3 Carlisle United 0