INTERVIEW: PAUL SIMPSON

The Carlisle gaffer chats League One ambitions, World Cup ecstasy with England Under-20s and battling kidney cancer

- Ian Murtagh

When you returned for your second spell with Carlisle, in early 2022, the club sat 91st in the Football League. Could you have imagined, 18 months on, you’d be preparing for a League One campaign?

No. The very prospect seemed crazy, though I have to say that after staying up in 2021-22 with games to spare, we didn’t head into last season intending to just keep our heads above water. Realistically, I thought promotion was achievable by the end of my three-year deal, so it’s come earlier than expected. I’ve learnt in football that if a chance presents itself, you have to take it – my players grabbed it with both hands.

It’s rare for a boss to enjoy success at his hometown club. Does it mean more, being Carlisle born and bred?

Yes it does, in the sense that it affects my immediate family and friends. At any club you’ll see familiar faces in the crowd, but at Brunton Park I’ll regularly spot neighbours or people I went to school with and it’s a different feeling. Mind you, so many have come up to me claiming they were in my class at Morton Secondary School, there must have been about 300 pupils in it! Over the years, I’ve learnt that you have to enjoy any success you achieve because there are plenty of lows in this game. It’s been a great experience returning to Carlisle and feeling the buzz around the place. At times, with the supporters flocking back, matchdays have brought memories flooding back of my playing days at Manchester City and Derby.

You sealed back-to-back promotions from the Conference to League One during your first Carlisle spell, then joined Preston and almost led them to the Premier League in 2006-07…