Carlisle’s new keeper Michael Kelly was prepared to pay for his own flight over from Dublin to prove his potential at Brunton Park.
In the end he was rewarded with a one-year deal, and has already sampled the EFL from the Carlisle bench.
Manager Paul Simpson revealed that the former Bray Wanderers keeper had been recommended to the club’s goalkeeping coach Paul Gerrard and initially they had him watched.
Simpson said: “He’s a fella who we’ve been talking to for a few weeks and with that he said that he’d pay for his own flight, hire a car over from Newcastle and show us what he can do.
“It’s a really good deal for the club, but it’s not a great deal for him, but he’s said I’ll take it and show you I deserve something better.The challenge for him is to show us that.
“He’s got a great personality about him and I’m delighted we’ve managed to get him in.
“There’s a very small fee just to get him out of Bray, an undisclosed fee, but we had to do it. The whole deal works out really well for us as a football club and I’m hoping he shows us what he’s about.
“All signings are a gamble, this is a gamble, because he’s never played over here, but he has to show he deserves to.”
Kelly could make his debut for the Blues tonight in a friendly against Lowland League side Gretna at Raydale Park at 7-30pm.
