Carlisle United's return to the National League for another season has left fans and pundits alike asking a tough question: Was this campaign a success or a failure?
On Sunday, over 13,800 fans packed into Brunton Park buzzing with anticipation, dreaming of a Wembley play-off final and an immediate return to League Two. After finishing third in the National League with a club-record 95 points, hopes were sky-high. But two hours of football later, those dreams were shattered as Mark Hughes' side, reduced to 10 men, fell in extra time to Boreham Wood.
The disappointment was palpable. The Cumbrian club now faces back-to-back seasons outside the EFL for only the second time since joining the Football League in 1928. The first time, back in 2004, Carlisle regrouped under Paul Simpson, finished third in the Conference, and stormed through the play-offs to beat Stevenage at Wembley—a triumph that became club legend. The goal this season was to replicate that feat.
So, did they fail? On paper, the answer seems clear. The objective was promotion, and they came up short. But context matters. Last summer, Carlisle was still licking its wounds from consecutive relegations from League One and League Two. The club was ill-prepared for the third tier after a surprise promotion in 2023-24, and the League Two campaign was a disaster under new American ownership. Mark Hughes—a veteran of 466 Premier League games as a manager—arrived in February 2025 but couldn't salvage the season. The damage was already done.
Hughes chose to stay for the National League challenge, his first at this level, tasked with engineering an immediate bounce-back. The 95 points they amassed were a club record, a testament to grit and determination. Yet in the unforgiving world of football, records mean little without silverware or promotion.
For a proud football city, this second straight season outside the EFL stings. But whether it's labeled a failure or a stepping stone depends on how you measure progress. Sometimes, the hardest battles are the ones that build the foundation for future glory.