Brunton Park not fully opened for first home game of season

Carlisle United face Stoke tonight in the EFL Cup.

Author: Joseph GartlyPublished 13th Aug 2024

Carlisle United will be hoping for a massive bounce back tonight following their opening day of the season defeat to Gillingham at the weekend.

The blues lost 4-1, with the first goal being conceded within two minutes.

It'll be a tough ask though, with the blues up against Championship side Stoke City, who are fresh from a win against Coventry.

Adding to the difficulty of the game will be the lack of fans, with large areas of Brunton Park still closed due to renovation work around the stadium.

Manager Paul Simpson said: "I'll be honest I haven't been in (the East Stand), it's a building site. The plans for it are absolutely superb though. You've got 8 exec boxes, a board room, directors boxes and two new hospitality lounges.

"Over at the Warwick Road End you've got new entrances there, turnstiles, new concession areas, a new fanzone and proper toilets for people to use at the Warwick.

"There's loads and loads going on, all really positive stuff, that hopefully will make for a better match day experience for the supporters.

"It'll be nice to get it done for the Barrow game, but that's maybe a big ask. If we can get the Warwick Road End open and have all that done properly and if the exec boxes aren't done get the east stand open because that's a big game to look forward to.

"Hopefully we can get everything sorted for then."

First for all the latest news from across the UK every hour on Hits Radio on DAB, at hitsradio.co.uk and on the Rayo app.