They may be heading straight back to League Two but Carlisle United fans haven’t given up on their team.
The final game is at Derby County on April 27 and the home side are hoping they will be celebrating a promotion.
That may be so but Carlisle are expected to be back by close on 2,000 fans in their final game in the third tier.
Initially Carlisle sold 1,137 tickets but asked for more and they have now been given another 800 which will go on sale in the coming days.
Carlisle boss Paul Simpson is a former Derby winger who went on to become assistant manager but will still be trying to spoil their party so his Blues side can leave the Division with their heads held high.
Derby are chasing automatic promotion and depending on results this weekend, it seems certain that the final game at Pride Park will have something riding on it.
As it stand Derby need just four points from games against Cambridge and Carlisle to seal a return to the Championship.
It won’t have escaped Derby fans with long memories that back in the 1974-75 season, when Derby were crowned Division One champions under Dave Mackay, Carlisle were the final-day visitors when it finished 0-0.
It was only Carlisle’s fifth draw in the top flight and they were relegated after just the one season.
