Floating football boots honour club's 'resilience'

Part of the artwork depicts the boot worn by goalkeeper Jimmy Glass when he scored a relegation averting late goal in 1999

A statue honouring a football club's "resilience" over more than a century has been installed.

Carlisle United unveiled the artwork at Brunton Park's Memory Garden ahead of the club's match against Eastleigh.

It features three bronze-effect football boots on poles representing different eras at the club, while a further plinth stands empty to represent its future.

Club chaplain Dave Allen said the installation, designed by University of Cumbria fine art graduates Paul Forsyth and Paul O'Donohoe, gave people somewhere they could "come and remember".

The first boot has been designed in the style of those worn at the beginning of the club's life in 1904.

Another marks the 1974 season when Carlisle played in the First Division, while the third recreates the boots worn by goalkeeper Jimmy Glass, who famously kept the club in the Football League with a last minute goal in 1999.

Dave Allen said the statue represented some "difficult moments" in the history of Carlisle United

"On that boot is a little drip that's going upwards, defying gravity," said Mr Allen.

"What that's saying is that we are resilient as a club and as a club we've come through some really difficult moments."

Mr Forsyth said: "We wanted to create something that was universal but also very specific to Carlisle and wasn't focused on a certain individual or team.

"The final post without a boot purposely doesn't have anything on it because it stands for hope and we don't know what happens in the future."

The piece was a joint project between the club, supporters groups and the University of Cumbria.