Carlisle UTD 1994-95 Division Three Champions

MICHAEL KNIGHTON was a visionary and when his bid to buy and turn Manchester United into a global brand failed he bought Carlisle United instead.

- Neil Fissler

Within a couple of years, Carlisle won a Division Three title and reached the Football League Trophy final.

Goalkeeper Tony Caig recalled: “Michael Knighton had a vision to take the club forward, it was a good place to be.

“He was a bit of a maverick but I quite liked him. During my time at the club, all I can say is he was different.

“He did things his way. He wanted the club to progress and had all of those bold plans for the stadium to be redeveloped and for hotels, all kinds of kinds.

“He tried to buy Manchester United and then came to us. He had done his research and had looked at Carlisle being the only club in the area and thought he could get people to come.

“And he was right, we were getting 11,000 to 12,000 regularly and he invested money in those early years, on players and the coaching staff.”

Caig says he knew promotion was on the cards after a game against Scunthorpe in early September, the month which saw them start a 19-game unbeaten run.

That went a long way to getting them the 91 points which saw them take the title from second-placed Walsall, who were eight points behind.

“It sticks in my mind, we played Scunthorpe away and we were 2-0 down,” he said.

“We had been awful with 80 minutes on the clock, but we won 3-2 and I thought ‘this could be our year’.

“It kind of just hit you. We had been that poor, got a penalty, it was saved but we scored the rebound. Jeff Thorpe, a winger, comes on and scores a diving header from the edge of the box.

Pandemonium

“And he then bends one in the top corner with his right foot. He won’t thank me for saying it but his right foot was for standing on! It was pandemonium. It was then I thought it was our year.