Archive for the ‘Awards’ Category
The relegation battle in League One was a competitive one, with five teams still unsure of their future going into the final day of the season.
No one was surprised that Hereford, Cheltenham and Crewe were relegated. Crewe and Cheltenham only just avoided relegation last year, and newly promoted Hereford didn't have the resources to compete at the higher level. Northampton were the other team to go down, which surprised many after they finished in the top half of the table last year.
But the big under-achievers of the League One season were Carlisle United.
Carlisle only just missed out on promotion to the Championship a year ago, losing to Leeds in the play-offs after looking certainties for automatic promotion with a few weeks of the season to go.
Many people expected the Cumbrians to be up there challenging again this season, but they struggled for most of the season despite being second after five games.
Manager John Ward was sacked in November after a run of just one point in 10 games, and this led to a brief revival. Ward's successor Greg Abbott was talking about a challenge for the play-offs as the season entered its final third, but this never looked likely. After another dismal run of eleven games without a win Carlisle dropped into the relegation places with one game to play.
Carlisle needed to win their final game to have any chance of staying up. Opponents Millwall had one eye on the play-offs, Carlisle raised their game and won 2-0, Northampton lost, Carlisle were safe and their fans invaded the Brunton Park pitch.
Carlisle showed during the season that they were capable of much better, wins over MK Dons and Leeds and a draw at Leicester being notable examples. But the good performances were few and far between, which is why Carlisle United are the Relegation.com League One team of the year for 2009.
Disagree with our decision? Use the form below to add your comments. Comments will appear once they have been approved.
