They were also in need of an urgent improvement in form, given that none of those league games had been won. Tim Ward, the manager who had, only a few months earlier, overseen a famous FA Cup victory for the Cumbrians at Newcastle United, handed in his notice.
“I have done this because I believe that it is in the best interest of the club,” said Ward of his resignation. “I am not running away from anything. I have never done that in my life.”
Ward’s letter to chairman George Sheffield elaborated on his decision, suggesting the team’s poor form had led him to the conclusion. At a press conference, Sheffield went on to claim there had been a “witch hunt” over Ward, but also felt the board had little option but to accept his resignation.
Tim Ward resigned amid a poor start to 1968/89 _(Image: News & Star)_
United duly prepared for the future. In the short term, this amounted to a caretaker role for trainer Dick Young, with chairman Sheffield also supporting Young in matters of selection. A sub-committee was also established to find the Blues a new long-term leader.
As the search unfolded, Carlisle under their temporary regime lost 3-2 at home to fellow strugglers Birmingham City. This impressed further on United the need for a new figurehead. The position was to be advertised in the national press, as the Blues next went to Deepdale and earned a 2-2 draw: a brighter showing, and a first away point of the season, but not one that would yet put a great dent in their four-point deficit at the foot of the table.
In the wake of the Preston game it was revealed that more than 30 applications had been received. Speculation in some quarters linked Pat Saward, the Coventry City assistant manager, with the post, yet United secretary David Dent insisted that nobody, at this point, had been offered the job.
That soon changed. Finally, on the eve of a home encounter with Bolton Wanderers, the Blues had their man. Bob Stokoe, the former Newcastle United half-back and former Bury, Charlton Athletic and current Rochdale manager, was the chosen one. He agreed to move to Brunton Park and was poised to watch his new team from the stand against Bolton.
Rochdale boss Stokoe was United's choice to replace Tim Ward _(Image: News & Star)_
United’s requirements were pressing, yet Stokoe immediately looked to lift the burden from his players. “I don’t even want them to mention the word \[relegation\] during their training,” the new boss told the Cumberland Evening News. “I’m the manager and I’ll do all the worrying about results and relegation.”
Stokoe, who had watched the Preston game from the terraces, had further views on what might be holding Carlisle back. “I feel the offside game is one of the reasons why the team is losing so many goals at the moment. Any side which is going to be successful has to be built on a good foundation.”
The 38-year-old manager came without a contract. “That does not worry me,” he added. “I am prepared to gamble on my own ability as a manager.” Stokoe also brushed off the limited finances on offer at Brunton Park, stressing he was “thrilled and enthusiastic” about coming to Carlisle. And so the new era started. Against Bolton at Brunton Park, they showed character to battle back for a 1-1 draw, Frank Barton equalising after Fred Hill’s free-kick for the visitors.
Stokoe pictured with some of his Carlisle players after taking charge at Brunton Park _(Image: News & Star)_
Yet the hunt for win number one of 1968/69 continued, with 12 games having now passed...but number 13 proved a lucky one. At last they were able to get a victory on the board, and it came in dramatic fashion. With only 20 seconds left in a hard-fought game, Blues keeper Allan Ross sent a long clearance into the Oxford half, where Maurice Kyle, the home defender, made a misjudgement – and Carlisle’s Tommy Murray was onto things in a flash, around and away from Kyle, to slide the ball home.
United had been on the defensive for much of things, but had pounced in the nick of time. They remained at the bottom of Division Two, but the Stokoe uplift continued. Another trip came against high-flying Blackburn Rovers and, at Ewood Park, Carlisle claimed their most notable result of the campaign so far, defeating the leaders 2-0 thanks to goals by Murray and Hugh McIlmoyle after the home side missed a penalty.
“They are a canny couple of forwards,” said Stokoe of Carlisle’s scorers, both of whom were showing signs of growing into form after a difficult start to the campaign. McIlmoyle, who had rejoined United for £22,000, had now reached 100 goals in league football and was once more looking a striker on whom the Blues could pin their hopes of progress.
The new boss was quick to put his stamp on things at Carlisle _(Image: News & Star)_
Their revival went on and on, the Stokoe effect both immediate and prolonged. From his first 11 games in the dugout, Carlisle did not lose a single one, gathering six wins and five draws along the way. The early-season notion of relegation was ushered out of the door swiftly and, come the end of 1968/69, the Blues settled in the security of 12th place.
It proved a platform for further growth as the 1970s approached. Stokoe remained in charge until midway through the 1969/70 season before leaving for Blackpool. A decade later, after a substantial managerial career which famously included an FA Cup win with Sunderland in 1973, he returned to Brunton Park and, by 1982, had put a further stamp on Blues history by guiding the team to Division Three promotion. A third spell later in the decade, after the short-lived tenure of Pop Robson, cemented Stokoe as one of Carlisle United’s most enduring touchline figures.