BIG MATCH PREVIEW: Exeter City play-off semi-final

All you need to know ahead of the Exeter City home game

United host Exeter City on Sunday evening in what is bound to be an exciting and nail-biting encounter as two good sides begin the battle for the right to play in the big promotion finale at Wembley at the end of the month.

Manager Keith Curle said: "We have two difficult fixtures coming up but we'll go through every scenario and we’ll take one game at a time. They’re a dangerous animal away from home and it’s probably their away form that’s seen them get into the play-offs. We’re mindful of that and we’ll prepare for it.

“I think momentum going into the play-offs is vitally important. There’s an air of arrogance and confidence within our group and that’s brought belief in what they’re doing with it. We’re in a place where we know we’re going to score goals and we know we can compete.

“The crowd will have a massive part to play on Sunday. We want a partisan atmosphere here because this is Brunton Park and this is our home. We need the fans to help us as much as they can because if they’re roaring us on I know we will perform."


Remember, you can purchase your tickets by telephone on 0844 371 1921* or buy online and print at home, or order for collection, by clicking HERE

*Calls to this number are charged at 7p per minute from landlines. Charges from mobiles may vary. A booking fee of £1 applies to all online transactions.

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Thank you to our Big Match Sponsors

This weekend we welcome Heineken UK and Robert Tweddle Timber Merchant Haulage as our Joint Match Sponsors. Heineken UK are also our 72-page special edition Match Programme Sponsor.

We also welcome Opera Bingo and Lattimer Homes as our Associate Sponsors.

Our Match Ball Sponsors for the big game are Investaac, Inspira and House of Vodka.

We hope they and their guests all have a great day.

Remember, you can upgrade your match ticket to book a place in Foxy’s Restaurant - £25pp for a two-course meal or £30pp for a three-course meal.

We have an extensive range of sponsorship opportunities available, from Match Day sponsorship to Player and Ball sponsorship packages. For more information please contact the Commercial Department on 01228 554 155 or email commercial@carlisleunited.co.uk.

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Foxy's Fan Zone

We are delighted to confirm that we will be operating an open air Fan Zone, supported by Border Barriers, adjacent to the entrance of Foxy's Restaurant on Sunday evening.

Fully licenced, the zone will be serving bottles of Fosters and Bulmers, cans of John Smiths, soft drinks and snacks. A catering van will be in situ for the purchase of food.

The Fan Zone opens at 3pm on Sunday and will also be open at half time.

Fan Zone drinks offer: Bottle of Fosters - £3, four bottles for £10 between 3pm and 4.30pm.

Meanwhile former-Blues favourite Paul Boertien will be our main guest is Foxy's Restaurant on Sunday evening and he will also be making an appearance in the Fan Zone. He'll be talking about his career in the game and taking questions from the floor, as well as doing Golden Gamble draw and Shirts for 7's duties on the pitch at half time.

The Fan Zone is open to adults and children.

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The Mascots

Our mascots for this game are Macie Curle, Nylah Curle-Aburezeq, Mia and Mason Rodda and, representing Exeter City, we have Olivia Hancock. 


Macie and Nylah have Keith Curle as their favourite person at the club - no surprise there!. Mia is a huge Mark Gillespie fan (he even gave her his gloves at the recent Open Training Session) and Mason will be rooting for Jabo Ibehre. Olivia has two favourite Grecians - Jordan Moore-Taylor and Ollie Watkins.

Have a great day gang!

Our match mascots are chosen at random from our Junior Blue membership - to find out more about our Junior Blues membership, click HERE.

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The Man in the Middle

Our match referee this weekend is Mr David Webb.

Mr Webb has been in charge of 44 games this season and has shown 117 yellow cards and three reds.

This is his fourth visit to Brunton Park this season having already taken charge of our home games against Mansfield in the Checkatrade Trophy and Newport County and Grimsby in the league.

Our betting partner Sky Bet has some fantastic odds available on all match markets – click HERE for more details.

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The Match Programme

Issue 26 of The Blues is on sale from our usual programme selling points and outlets around the ground.

It's a bumper 72-page play-off special with features, interviews and articles covering everything from Exeter City's past play-off exploits to members of our first team squad discussing their previous experiences in play-off games.

The manager chooses his peformance of the season, we have a season review from chief executive Nigel Clibbens, and we say thank to the home and away Blue Army for their exploits through what has been a fantastic campaign.

With history, stats, facts and all of next season's Season Ticket information, it's your must have match day publication.

Priced at just £3 - it’s a sepcial edition not to be missed.

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Match Day Ticket Sales

Match Day Ticket Sales are as follows:

Main Stand [B, C, Pirelli Family Stand and EWM] – from the ticket office situated on the west side of the stadium.

Paddock – from the Paddock ticket office situated at the southern end of the Paddock.

Pioneer Foods Stand and Warwick Road End – from the Pioneer Foods Stand ticket office situated on the ground floor on the east side of the stadium.

Away fans – from the away ticket office situated at the northern end of the Pioneer Foods Stand.

Remember – during the working week our Pioneer Foods Stand ticket office, situated on the first floor of the Pioneer Foods stand, is open for ticket sales for ALL areas of the ground.

The ticket office on the west side of the stadium is open on MATCH DAYS ONLY.

The ticket office is open from 10am to 5pm on weekdays (and until kick off for midweek games) and from 10am to 5.15pm on weekend match days.

It is worth noting that entry can be gained on match days by showing your ticket confirmation email on your smart phone or equivalent device. Simply present the relevant section of your eTicket for scanning at point of entry.

For full ticket office opening times and ticket prices, click HERE.

Remember, you can purchase your tickets by telephone on 0844 371 1921* or buy online and print at home, or order for collection, by clicking HERE

*Calls to this number are charged at 7p per minute from landlines. Charges from mobiles may vary. A booking fee of £1 applies to all online transactions.

Please note - ticket collections (home and away fans) are from the Ticket Office window on the west side of the stadium.

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It’s Happy Hour Again ...

Our Sunset Suite and Sporting Inn will be opening at 3pm on Sunday afternoon.

The Pioneer Foods Stand will be opening at 5pm.

We will be having a Happy Hour in all areas until 4.30pm - bottle of Fosters - £3, four bottles of Fosters for £10 or £3 a pint for Fosters, Strongbow and John Smiths.

It’s a great way to start the day – we’ll see you there ... and it’s your round!

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Golden Gamble

Keep your eye out for our Golden Gamble sellers around the ground ahead of kick off.

Your tickets can be purchased for just £1 (or at 3 for £2) and give you the chance to win either £100, or the share of a cash pot, in our half time draws.

And, while we’re on the subject, why not sign up to our exciting Blues Lotto? For just £1 you can purchase 10 lucky numbers for our weekly draw giving you the chance to win cash prizes from our fund of nearly £60,000.

There is now the opportunity to pay an additional £1 per week to upgrade to Premier Membership where there is another £17,000 cash, 3 new cars and many other prizes waiting to be won.

For more details visit www.blueslotto.co.uk or email lottery@carlisleunited.co.uk.

Alternatively call 01228 526 237 and ask for Ewan Wood.

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Catering

The catering outlets in the Paddock and Warwick Road End will be serving the full range of hot and cold food for every game this season.

Fans can purchase burgers, hot dogs, pies and hot drinks inside the stadium, as well as from the catering van situated in the main car park, as normal.

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The Blues Store in the East Stand Club Bar

We are delighted to confirm that our Blues Store will be operating from the Club Bar adjacent to the Family Zone in the Pioneer Foods Stand once again this weekend.

A full range of stock will be available with the emphasis on smaller items, suitable for the younger visitors to our extremely popular Family Zone games and play area. 

Keep an eye out for our East Stand Tuck Shop which sells a full range of soft drinks and confectionery.

Replica kit sales continue to go well in our main Blues Store on Warwick Road and it would be great to see you in your favourite colour [blue, red or white] as you cheer on the lads in the big game.

Blues Store opening times: 

Monday 10am-5pm
Tuesday 10am-5pm (open until 7.45pm on a match day)
Wednesday CLOSED 
Thursday 10am-5pm
Friday 10am-5pm
Saturday 10am-3pm (open until 5.30pm on match day)  
Sunday CLOSED

Telephone sales: 01228 554 138 (during store working hours only).

Click HERE to shop at our online Blues Store.


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Challenge 25

We are operating the ‘Challenge 25’ policy at Brunton Park this season. 

Please do not be offended if you are asked for ID when purchasing alcohol and if you appear to be under the age of 25 to our bar staff.

Thank you for your cooperation.

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The Supporters’ Car Park

Our supporters’ car park is open with parking available at the stadium at just £2.50.

Please be aware that the ground is still soft underfoot, so take care when navigating and walking around the area.

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Local Match Day Travel with Stagecoach

Carlisle Footyrider – get to the match for half the cost!

Stagecoach Cumbria and Carlisle United are working together to make it easier for you to get to Brunton Park on match days.

The Carlisle Footyrider ticket will get you to every first-team home game for half the price of a normal dayrider ticket.  

Stagecoach service 76 and 685 takes you straight to Brunton Park. Simply catch service 76 from The Crescent (Stand U) near the train station or service 685 from Carlisle Bus Station.

What you'll need

To get a Carlisle Footyrider ticket you’ll need to show our driver one of the following:

+ A valid Carlisle United season ticket 
+ A ticket for that day's match

Where you can travel 

You can get to Brunton Park from anywhere across Cumbria and North Lancashire. Depending on where you’re travelling from, you can purchase a Footyrider ticket from within the:

+ Carlisle dayrider zone
+ Carlisle dayrider plus zone
+ Explorer zone

How much does it cost?

+ Carlisle dayrider - £1.50
+ Carlisle dayrider plus - £3.35
+ Explorer - £5.40

Click HERE to visit the Stagecoach website for full travel details.
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