Carlisle United’s Academy held its annual presentation night at The Shepherd's Inn on Friday 11 May and the evening was a great success for all concerned, with players from all age groups joined by parents, guardians, coaches, sponsors and guests.
Club director Steven Pattison and chief executive Nigel Clibbens were both present to show their support to the club’s young crop, and epical guests Danny Grainger and Pascal Chimbonda were on hand to offer advice and share their experiences along the way.
The event started with a game of 'Danny Grainger's best ever 11 opponents’ – with the audience invited to guess the best players Danny has ever played against.
Ethan Russell (Carlisle United under-10's) was the winner of the competition with a team including Lionel Messi, Steven Gerrard, Raheem Stirling, Yaya Toure, Kyle Walker, Dani Alves and Luis Suarez!
Up next, Danny and Pascal Chimbonda gave talks to the 260-strong audience about their respective careers. This included high points, low points and inspirational words of advice for the current crop of United's youngsters.
Each team from under-9 to under-16 was then individually presented with their awards for their hard work, dedication and commitment throughout the season.
The event concluded with a raffle for prizes such as a signed Carlisle United shirt, signed Carlisle United ball, Carlisle United Community Sport Trust Holiday Camp Voucher, Foot Golf Voucher and a pair of Scott Carson's signed goalkeeper gloves.
A big thank you must go to the parents and players for supporting the event, the Shepherds Inn for being fantastic hosts and providing excellent food, AST Signs Penrith for providing signage and banners for the room, the Academy sponsors for their continued support and finally Danny Grainger and Pascal Chimbonda, for their talks and for presenting the awards.