Homes of Football: “Bobby Moore recalled in snow” Carlisle United

In 2004, CCUIST became The United Trust. Acronyms were proving unpopular so the new name, together with new logo, were largely welcomed by members. Kate Rowley was put as chair and board rep in place of the departed Alan Steel. However the new identity and new personnel at the top didn’t mean a smooth year ahead. It turned out to be anything but. On the pitch, United had just been relegated to the Conference, ending their 76 year stay in the Football League. Problems quickly developed off the pitch, too.

In March 2001 a meeting of four football supporters occurred in a pub outside Carlisle. They didn’t know each other, but they all had a common goal – to get an organisation together that could ultimately buy a share of their local football club. Different groups had been talking separately about setting up such a venture but that day, four of them came together to pool their collective talents and get a committee up and running to do just that. These were:

The Fans for Diversity campaign will be supporting a one-off game ahead of Brighton’s pride event next month to celebrate LGBT culture in football.

While the excitement and celebration of this weekend's Football United event has been attracting the attention of the LGBT+ community and the media, it may perplex some football fans about why events like this are needed, and why they are important.