2024 marks the 25-year anniversary of one of the most significant moments in the English Football League. THAT Jimmy Glass goal for Carlisle United.
The 1998/99 League Division Three season found itself have one of the greatest stories in English football, it was a season which saw automatic promotion for Brentford, Cambridge United and Cardiff City, yet their story of triumph was out looked by one singular last-minute goal scored by an emergency loan goalkeeper.
Carlisle United sold their goalkeeper Tony Craig to Blackpool on deadline day therefore Richard Knight was bought in as a replacement on loan from Derby County however his loan spell was cut short due to injury. The Blues were fighting relegation and now needed a new number 1, They were forced to sign emergency loan goalkeeper Jimmy Glass of Swindon Town, a loan-spell which Carlisle fan Craig Mattinson described as the most ‘significant loanee in their history’.
United fan Craig Mattinson has supported the Blues for over 48 years, he found himself in the Wawrick Road End on that momentous day.
Together we took a little look down to memory lane and relived what Craig described as his ‘best ever moment’ supporting Carlisle United.
Craig and his son Ross at the 2023 League Two Play Off Final at Wembley against Stockport County
‘We were in a terrible state with our finances, we were selling players and then replacing them with a lower standard.’
‘The game before we had Hartlepool away and we desperately needed to avoid getting beaten, Jimmy Glass was in goal that day and he made a stunning save to deny Peter Beardsley, at the time I remember thinking what a save, it ended 0-0 and I was thinking I wonder how important that could be moving forward, only if I knew what was going to happen on the final day.’
Carlisle United sat rock bottom of the third division with just the final game of the season to play, they were to host mid table Plymouth Argyle at Brunton Park.
‘Just a day or two before the match the club held a fan meeting to rally us all up, although we were the underdogs, Nigel Pearson was telling us, “This isn’t over yet.”’
Pearson had taken over the Blues for that season in what was his first managerial position.
It was Saturday May 8th 1999 the final game of the season a game in which would decide the fate of either Carlisle United or Scarborough.
‘We started the game well, we actually had a goal disallowed, it was one of those which you can’t quite work out what was wrong’.
With minutes left in the first half, Plymouth’s Paul Gibbs sadly suffered a horrific leg break, an injury in which Carlisle fans wouldn’t have seen as significant until the extra time it meant added on.
“At half time the murmuring was starting and the crowd was getting upset” Craig said.
Less than five minutes into the second half Argyle took the lead through Lee Phillips who scored his one and only league goal of his Argyle career, it was a horror start to the second half for the hosts.
“We were pushing but we weren’t really creating a lot.”
Until, Carlisle fullback David Brightwell equalised in the 62nd minute through a volley taken just outside the box, a goal which saw United fans believing again.
Before Craig and the other Carlisle fans even knew it the commentator was shouting over the tanoy “Come on we’ve got four minutes to save Carlisle United, we need to score, the game at the McCain stadium has finished, if we score, we will stay up” The atmosphere erupted from there’ remembers Craig.
‘My dad was standing next to me in the Wawrick Road End and he actually had a black tie with him, he put the black tie on in injury time to say that it was the end of Carlisle United.’
The game between Scarborough and Peterborough at the McCain stadium had already finished, ‘The Seadogs’ had already had a pitch invasion of their own, they all thought that they’d done enough.
With just seconds to go ‘we managed to fluke a corner.’ Glass was called to help up by Pearson, The corner was swung in, the first chance was punched away to where it fell to the feet of Jimmy Glass who’s low drilled shot hit the back of the net.
‘I cannot remember what happened next, all I know is from the goal going in I was in the opposition goal box, I ran the full length of the pitch.’
The aftermath has been dubbed as the ‘quickest ever pitch invasion’.
“We all believe that if we’d gone out of the football league then that we would’ve probably never have come back, He saved the club.”
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