In the 1976/1977 season Carlisle United played in the old Second Divison of the Football League which is equivalent to todays Championship League. Below is a report from the Sunderland Echo on the 24 February 1977 which tells how this friendly match came about.

The match programme below shows an exceptionally strong Carlisle United squad.

Below is the match report which appeared in the Sunderland Echo on the following day Thursday 3rd March 1977. This was a great occasion and result for Seaham Red Star and it was understandable why Bobby Moncur was so angry with his team at half time and more so at full time. They couldn't complain about the playing surface because it was, after all, played at the excellent Green Drive ground at Dawdon. Nor could they complain about being unlucky. On any other day they would no doubt win but on this occasion they were beaten by a quality Red Star side who on the day out played them and deserved to win. A result like this would normally indicate that the whole team played well but I'm not so sure about my own peformance as I didn't score and was substituted in the second half. Perhaps it was a tactical substitution to defend a 3-1 lead (just me wishfull thinking).