New facilities aimed at making Brunton Park a better place to visit for all Carlisle United fans will come into operation for the first time at the start of the new year.
A refreshments bar serving food and drink at the back of the Paddock towards the Warwick Road End will be open to supporters from the home game against Walsall on Saturday January 3 (kick off 3pm).
The bar, which supporters will be asked to name, has been created to help relieve queueing at the George McVitie bar at the other end of the Paddock. Access to it will be from the Paddock, although the bar itself is within the West Stand structure.
A second bar, to be called Legends 1921, has also been created in an adjoining area of the West Stand. Access to this will only be from the West Stand. On match days, the bar will be used as a players' lounge and it will also be open to members of Legends 1921. Half-season membership details are to be announced later.
Legends 1921 will be open for the first time at the Walsall game but it will also be available for hire on non-match days, with interest already being expressed among Carlisle United's sponsors and advertisers.
The third ground improvement which will also come into operation at the Walsall game is a lift up into Foxy's restaurant which can accommodate fans in wheelchairs. This has been installed near the disabled toilets in the Paddock at the Waterworks End. The only way to gain access previously has been up a flight of steps, which meant it was out of bounds for wheelchair-users and many other disabled fans or those with medical conditions like heart problems.
United's managing director John Nixon said: "The new bar in the Paddock South was in response to comments from a lot of fans about difficulties they had been having getting a drink or something to eat at matches. It'll be somewhere they can go for a pie and a pint. We hope it will ease some of the pressure there has been in that part of the ground, particularly around the George McVitie bar. We'll have a competition to name it, perhaps after a player or whoever fans feel is appropriate.
"There are also a massive amount of businesses in Carlisle and beyond that we are very keen to get involved with us. We believe a lot of them would be delighted to support the football club in some way if they knew there was scope for them to do so. We believe that Legends 1921 will help us to do this by providing a top-quality full bar facility with food, which doubles as a players' lounge.
"One of our overall aims at Carlisle United is to make Brunton Park and its facilities attractive and available to everyone. Installing the lift will enable elderly or infirm people, as well as those with disabilities, to gain access to Foxy's restaurant for the first time ever, not just during matches but for the conferences we host there."
The club would like to thank all the local businesses for their generous support in helping carry out the latest round of ground improvements. Among them are Simon Rees of Print Graphic, Shaun Nugent of DSD Construction, Martin Hughes of System Recruitment, Shaun McDermott of S&M Flooring, Nelson & Pattinson Decorators, Andy Brown of AP & J Brown joinery, Ian Milburn of Miltech Electricals, David Freshwater of Premier Electricals, Andy Clode of Castellum Ltd, and former United player Derek Walsh of Creative Ceilings. Thanks also go to Scottish & Newcastle Breweries and Unison, in addition to the club's three major sponsors, Stobart, Cumberland Building Society and Edinburgh Woollen Mill.
