United began the season hopeful of a return to Division Two but by the end those hopes lay in ruins as they crashed straight down to Division Four for the first time since 1964.

Harry Gregg took over as manager in the summer and his first signing was Scott McGarvey from Portsmouth who had impressed while on loan during the previous campaign. McGarvey though, suffered an early injury and never looked the same after returning to the side and was sold to Grimsby in March.

Despite a good early success at Blackpool, United began to falter by the autumn and hit the buffers by the end of the year with an awful eight-match losing run. A 3-1 home win over Blackpool ended that sequence in January but further poor results meant Carlisle were relegated well before the end of the season.

Experienced former England under-21 defender Billy Wright was another close season acquisition but his lack of pace and defensive subtlety never endeared him to the fans and United were indebted to Wes Saunders, who had an excellent season alongside him.

Mick Halsall was another player to depart, also being sold to Grimsby and the few players Gregg could afford to bring in were unable to halt the slide. A chronic shortage of goals was the major problem, and even the return of old favourite Malcolm Poskett did not help in that direction. Just eight goals came in the last fifteen games when United needed them most to beat the drop.