Last updated 11:42, Tuesday, 01 July 2008

WASN’T it great to see those Carlisle United legends of the not so distant past rolling back the years in the Northern Masters a fortnight or so ago?

Didn’t it bring back great memories of when they adorned our beloved blue and white? And who was the star man?

That’s right, Paul Simpson. The wing wizard with the trusty left peg who came back home in the twilight of his career and led us to unprecedented back-to-back promotions following the darkest spell in our history.

The man who sorted out the shambles he inherited from Roddy Collins, unfortunately the damage already done was too great to prevent us from the dreaded drop out of the football league, but by heck, he left us in a good position when he accepted the opportunity to manage another team, albeit someone else relatively local but hardly a rival (I mean when we were last in the same division as them?), on the brink of The Premiership and in doing so, provide his family with greater security.

Don't get me wrong, we all love Carlisle United and the place where we all grew up, but would you have honestly turned it down? The contributions of Keiren Westwood, Paul Arnison, Peter Murphy, Chris Lumsdon and Simon Hackney last season are testimony to Simmo’s legacy.

So after an excellent start, ultimately it didn’t work out at Preston. Such is life. He is now the boss of Shrewsbury Town, a club similar to Carlisle United in terms of size and ambition.

I hope he succeeds in rebuilding his promising managerial career and gets another chance to operate at a higher level. He has even started building a ‘Little Cumbria’ there with the shrewd recruitment of Grant Holt, Paul Murray and Stephen Hindmarch.

The eagerly-anticipated Carling Cup clash at Oteley Road certainly has plenty of spice. When the two sides meet in mid-August, I really hope that Paul gets the rapturous reception from United fans he so richly deserves for his achievements at Brunton Park, rather than being booed like a pantomime villain and having ‘Judas’ chanted at him.

Thankfully, the plankton that behave like this, the same imbeciles that invade the pitch and jeer their own players, are in the overwhelming minority. However, it doesn’t stop them giving Carlisle and the football club's supporters a bad name. They should be ashamed.

In recent years, similar vitriol has been aimed at Holt and Paul Huntington, other sons of The Great Border City. I, for one, look forward to the day when two of the finest footballers ever produced here are wearing the shirt of Carlisle United. Can we not forgive and forget? Or are we too stubborn and narrow minded?

Frankly, it is about time this great city rid itself of its small-town mentality and started to celebrate, rather than condemn, its sporting heroes. Why do such ‘local boys done good’ of whom we should be proud never return home after leaving?

Anyone ever wondered why?

CHRIS AYERS