Carlisle United plot exciting off-field move after Man City and Crystal Palace players' success | OneFootball

Carlisle United want to open a new development centre in West Cumbria to further tap into the region's legacy of producing high-level goalkeepers.

Two current Premier League goalkeepers - Dean Henderson and James Trafford - both come from the west side of the country, and came through Carlisle's youth system before being sold on to Manchester-based top flight teams: United and City, respectively.

Both players have now left Manchester, but they have continued to uphold the long-standing legacy of West Cumbrian goalkeepers.

Man City's Scott Carson and Carlisle mainstay Tony Caig, who played over 200 games for the club in the 1990s, both come from Cleator Moor.

The physical characteristics of those from this area of Cumbria, combined with the region's love of rugby, which has a fair few parallels with goalkeeping, make it a hot spot for top shot-stopping talents, and the Blues are looking to capitalise on it.

Carlisle United want West Cumbrian goalkeeping centre

Manager Paul Simpson has revealed that part of the job of the new goalkeeper coach will be to help set up a centre to train glovesmen for the club, and that the location of it will likely be in this high-yield area of keepers.

"I want to have a goalkeeping coach coming in who's going to try and set up a development centre – probably out in west Cumbria, because of the physical profile and the transferable skills of that rugby background to be a goalkeeper, and also the history of Carlisle United producing west Cumbrian goalkeepers," said Simpson, via the News & Star.

"I want something there so that we have a progression for the future of the club, for when I've gone, whenever that might be.

"I want to try and get these things set up, so that will be a discussion that we'll have when we're talking to the goalkeeping coaches who've applied."

The club recently parted ways with its former goalkeeper coach Dave Timmins, who has rejoined Ayr United.

A brilliant idea by Carlisle United

Certain areas and regions have strong associations with attributes and skills when it comes to football, and the wider sports world as well.

West Cumbria has proved to be a place where professional level goalkeepers tend to be. Most of the talents that have come through Carlisle's youth system and gone on to top level success, in recent years, have been shot-stoppers.

If the club can build this proposed development centre up to a level where it becomes known as one of the best places for young English goalkeepers to learn their trade, but also as somewhere that bigger clubs consistently go to scout and buy players, then they could be in for a fortune from this alone.

The club's accounts from the 2022/23 campaign showed some of the money that Carlisle are going to make thanks to the sales of Henderson and Trafford, plus probably some performance bonuses from Jarrad Branthwaite too.

There's money to be made in this section of the game, and pioneering this area, becoming the best in this field, could give the Blues a massive advantage in the future.