Carlisle United confirm pre-season friendlies

Carlisle United will take on former play-off final opponents Stockport County in a pre-season friendly this summer.

The Blues have confirmed that the Hatters, who are replacing United in League One next season, will visit Brunton Park a week before the 2024/25 campaign starts.

The game on Saturday, August 3 looks set to be the first game back at Brunton Park for Paul Simpson's side ahead of the new season.

The pre-season clash with Dave Challinor's fourth-tier champions, which will kick off at 3pm, will also come at a time major work to upgrade Brunton Park will hopefully be completed or well advanced.

It will be the clubs' first meeting since the 2023 League Two play-off final which United won on penalties after a 1-1 draw at Wembley.

United have also confirmed that they will be taking on Cumbrian non-league clubs Penrith, Kendal Town and Workington Reds as part of their pre-season build-up.

Mark Fell's Reds will host the Blues in July (Image: Paul Armstrong / Workington AFC)

They will head to the Leo Group Stadium to take on Darren Edmondson's Penrith on Friday, July 5 with a 7pm kick-off.

Carlisle have traditionally faced the Bonny Blues in recent years but were unable to do so last summer because of ongoing work to instal an artificial pitch at Penrith's ground.

Next for the Blues is a trip to Kendal Town's Parkside Road ground on Tuesday, July 9 with a 7pm kick-off.

And the traditional trip to Borough Park is on the calendar once more as Carlisle take on Workington on Saturday, July 13, with a 3pm kick-off against a Reds side who will be under new manager Mark Fell.

Carlisle say they will announce more friendlies in due course. The Cumbrians are due to return for pre-season training on June 24, while their build-up to the new campaign is also likely to involve a training camp in Scotland - something the Blues have done in the last two summers under Simpson.