A season that began slowly eventually finished with a repeat of the sixth place that had been achieved one year earlier.

The departure of manager Bobby Moncur to take over at Scottish club Hearts was a blow when it came in February, but his erstwhile assistant Martin Harvey took over and results improved once he moved into the hotseat to leave the club looking like strong promotion fancies by the end of the campaign.

Following Moncur's departure, there swiftly came another with midfield lynchpin Phil Bonnyman moving to Chesterfield. Just weeks later Bonnyman came back and scored for his new team as they won 2-0 at Brunton Park. However, this United team was by now playing with new found zest and they put together a strong finish, with this defeat a rare setback.

The find of the season was undoubtedly a young 19-year-old called Peter Beardsley who was signed from under the noses of Newcastle United in the summer and immediately marched into the first team. His arrival softened the blow of losing both David Kemp and Mick Tait, who moved on early in the season.

He made his debut against Blackburn in August and scored his first goal against Chester in September. Within a few days Beardsley had a new partner up front in £120,000 record signing Gordon Staniforth. Both players starred in what was probably United's best performance of the season, a 3-0 FA Cup Second Round victory over Jack Charlton's promotion-bound Sheffield Wednesday.

An even more dramatic match occurred in the Third Round, Carlisle's first game of the new decade, when Fourth Division underdogs Bradford City held a 2-1 lead with five minutes to go at Brunton Park. Steve Hoolickin then scored an amazing goal from 30 yards out and Steve Ludlam grabbed an injury time winner to take the Blues through to the Fourth Round, where they went out in a replay to Second Division Wrexham.