The club's traditional kit is blue with white and red detail, whilst the badge takes elements from the city's coat of arms by including two Wyverns.

Their 76-year stay in the Football League came to an end with relegation in 2003–04, though player-manager Paul Simpson secured an immediate return after leading United to victory in the 2005 Conference National play-off final.

are first reported in 1896 as the winners of the Carlisle Association Charity Shield and are recorded as playing at Willow Holme in the Shaddongate area of the city, now an industrial estate, and wearing blue and gold stripes.

The initial idea having been proposed by Newcastle United officials who felt it would aid them when applying to regional football leagues if they represented the entire city.

[12] It is at Carlisle where he met local player Geoff Twentyman, who he would later sign as head scout at Liverpool, and lifelong friend Ivor Broadis.

The end of the 71–72 season also saw Carlisle play their only European competition in the club's history, the Anglo-Italian Cup, and in June 1972 they beat A.S. Roma 3–2 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

Bill Shankly, an FA Cup and League Championship winning manager by that time, branded Carlisle's climb to the top as "the greatest feat in the history of the game.

It was Bobby Moncur's first full season in charge in 1977–78, the Newcastle legend having succeeded reluctant boss Dick Young the previous autumn.

A 1–1 draw at Brunton Park is also remembered for the controversial decision not to award the Blues a second-half penalty, and eventually they bowed out with a 4–2 defeat in the Old Trafford replay.

[19] Carlisle went into the start of the 1979–80 season struggling for consistency but looked to climb up the divisions with 22-year-old York City striker Gordon Staniforth arriving for £120,000 in October, making him the club's most expensive purchase at the time.

Attendance slumped to the lowest in the club's history and only 1,287 saw the league game against Chester in May 1987 and the introduction of automatic promotion/relegation to the Vauxhall Conference posed a new threat.

[24] Seventeen-year-old defender Steve Harkness was sold to Liverpool at the end of the season and his place in the team was filled by Middlesbrough's Paul Proudlock.

Carlisle's good progress continued into the new decade, but their play-off hopes were ended on the final day of the season by a 5–2 demolition at the hands of Maidstone United.

This was a disappointing end to an encouraging season during which the Cumbrians had topped the 1989–90 Fourth Division on Christmas Day and for a while in January as well before a late slump in form cost them dearly.

[23] In 1992, Carlisle endured one of the worst seasons in their history as they finished bottom of the Fourth Division, but were lucky because the demise of Aldershot mid-season resulted in no relegation to the Conference taking place that year.

In October 1993 a club record transfer fee was paid in the first three years of Knighton's reign, acquiring a much-needed prolific goalscorer with the purchase of David Reeves for £121,000 from Notts County.

This season also witnessed the club's first appearance at Wembley in the Auto Windscreens Shield Final against Birmingham City, with a record crowd, for this competition, of 76,663.

York knew in advance that they only needed to win or score three goals to survive the drop themselves, and won 3–1 at the Goldstone Ground, sending United back to Division Three.

With Peter Beardsley still unable to make up his mind whether he wished to join Carlisle as team coach, it was left with the Wilkes and Halpin partnership to steer the club forward.

In the 95th minute of stoppage, goalkeeper Jimmy Glass, who had signed in an emergency loan deal from Swindon Town after the transfer deadline, sprinted from his goal line, arrived late in the box for a corner kick, Scott Dobie's flashing header was parried by the Plymouth goalkeeper straight to the feet of Glass, who with the last kick in the game wasted no time in smashing the ball home in one of the most dramatic ends to a season ever witnessed.

The moment the referee blew the whistle to re-start the game, he also signalled the end of the match, in a glorious survival and retention of Football League status for Carlisle.

Carlisle's coach, Neil Cooper had already left by early January and both replacement, Paul Baker and manager Martin Wilkinson followed suit by the end of the season.

In July, Atkins quit at the end of the season to take the assistant manager's job at Cardiff and was succeeded by Roddy Collins who had inspired Bohemians of Ireland to their historic UEFA Cup wins over Aberdeen and 1.FC Kaiserslautern.

The highlight of the season was the third round FA Cup tie at home to Arsenal, the Blues made the Gunners work hard for a 1–0 victory and were unlucky not to grab a replay.

[49] "Simmo" led the blues to eight wins, one draw and six defeats which was enough to pull the club from the relegation zone and keep Carlisle in the Football League, finishing in 20th place.

On 3 April 2011 Carlisle United wore black armbands in the Football League Trophy final in respect of Edward Stobart (son of Eddie), who had died three days earlier.

[58] Source:[59] As Shaddongate United the club played at two grounds, Millholme Bank, to the south of the city, and Devonshire Park, where Trinity School now stands.

In 2011, a plan was introduced to move to a 12,000 capacity all-seater stadium to be built in the Kingmoor Park area of the city which was to be locally known as project Blue Yonder.

The club was relegated to the English fourth tier that season and only narrowly avoided losing Football League status due to a last minute goal by goalkeeper Jimmy Glass in 1999.

[28] Knighton became increasingly unpopular with the fans in the following years and the supporters' United Trust was formed to push for better ownership, this came in the form of John Courtenay after a seven-month battle in July 2002, ending Michael Knighton's controversial decade-long reign[69] The main area of Carlisle support can be found within and around Carlisle itself and, due to being the only professional football club for a long distance, it attracts fans from across the county of Cumbria, South West Scotland and parts of West Northumberland.