It was back to school for local lad Owen Moxon recently with a surprise visit to meet the pupils at Robert Ferguson Primary School combined with the opportunity to say hello once again to the teachers and staff who’d taught him when he was a youngster.
A tour of the classrooms took him to all of the classes – from Reception to Year 6 – and some tough questions were posed with the children finding out everything from how it felt for him to score a goal, what it’s like to play in front of a big crowd, who is the best player on the team (apart from himself!) to what advice he would give on how to become a professional footballer.
With plenty of Carlisle fans dotted around the classrooms the children were amazed to learn that he’d been a former pupil, with a photograph from The News and Star of Owen in school as a four-year-old produced as evidence.
Owen also took the opportunity to meet the school’s boys’ and girls’ football teams, with plenty to talk about.
Following the success of becoming county champions the Year 5/6 girls’ football team competed in the Pokémon Primary Schools' Cup at Liverpool Football Academy, where they represented Cumbria and played against other counties in the North region. This was the first time a team at Robert Ferguson has played in a regional competition in over 10 years.
The U11s girls' football team travelled to The Stadium of Light, Sunderland, in a competition with teams from Sunderland, Newcastle, Middlesborough and Hartlepool. The team proved themselves more than worthy to be Carlisle's representatives, topping the group stage, without losing a single game, before unfortunately being knocked out in the semi-final against Newcastle.
And the year 3 and 4 boys attended the Go Active Competition and were Europa League winners in 2021/22, and our Year 5 and 6 boys were Carlisle Schools Competition runners up.
Justine Davidson from Robert Ferguson said: “Owen spent the afternoon with us and made a lot of children incredibly happy with memories they will treasure, and the inspiration that big things can happen if you work hard and enjoy what you do.
“Using his own experiences he was able to add that if it doesn't happen instantly then you should keep going and persevere.
“As his teachers we are incredibly proud of the young man he has become and he is a credit to Carlisle United Football Club.”
“It was fantastic to be able to visit the staff and pupils at my old school,” Owen told us. “The questions I was asked were really well thought out and it was good to meet the football teams and hear about their success.
“Hopefully I didn’t get in the way too much and it was good to be able to take a few selfies and do some autographs with so many of the children.
“I’d like to thank everybody for inviting me and for making me feel so welcome.”
