CARLISLE's Danny Grainger says it was "heartbreaking" to see so many family holidays ruined by the floods last month with Christmas trees discarded outside front doors near the stadium three weeks before Christmas Day.
Having seen the devastation the floods caused up close the club captain insists he is doubly determined to deliver a belated gift to the community in the form of a fourth-round glamour tie back at a refurbished Brunton Park.
Grainger and his team-mates were moved to volunteer their muscles and time as a working party in the immediate aftermath of Storm Desmond, helping to clear out the homes of the worst hit families, shifting sodden furniture and carpets - a gesture which rightly earned plaudits.
It is back in the day job on Sunday, however, that they aim to deliver on Grainger's promise when they tackle fellow League Two side Yeovil in the third round, a match that will be played at Blackpool's Bloomfield Road.
Sunday's match will be their third and last home fixture on the road following temporary stops at Preston and Blackburn in the last month as work is done to have the pitch relaid at Brunton Park following the floods.
And while they are targeting their League Two fixture against fellow flood victims York on January 23 as a first home game back Grainger admitted they are looking to the last weekend of the month and the fourth round as the big one.
"Yeovil is going to be a tough game make no mistake," said Grainger. "We have played them up here already and turned them over [3-2] despite them scoring a couple of early goals.
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| Carlisle players celebrate their second goal in their 5-0 win over Welling in the 1st round |
"But after we did a professional job at Welling in the last round [winning 5-0 away] we perhaps didn't get the glamour tie we were after.
"What we did get is one we are confident we can win though and if you are in the fourth round you are generally looking at a very good team in the next round."
The prospect of hosting a Premier League outfit at Brunton Park, which, last month was submerged - pitch, changing rooms and offices - under murky brown floodwater, would complete a remarkable turnaround.
Grainger admitted he was shocked by the scale of the damage.
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| Brunton Park was completely submerged as Storm Desmond swept the UK |
"As a football club we have been moved about a bit for games and training schedules were up in the air but most of us have been very lucky. When you look at how badly some people were affected it puts everything in perspective.
"A lot of the problem is the drains back up once the flood defences are breached and when the water drains you are left with a sludge on top of sand and silt. The smell is terrible.
"Walking into people's houses 20 days before Christmas and that is in their front room is really devastating for them. Then walking down Warwick Road and the Christmas trees are all out the front doors - for some it is the second and third time it had happened to them.
"My dad has a farm just outside Penrith and, although they weren't too badly affected, plenty of the village was. In his field we found wedding photos in frames in the hedge, there were industrial wheelie bins 15ft up in trees, big slabs of concrete which a JCB would struggle to lift just flipped up and over walls and into people's gardens.
"One of our lads from Keswick was injured sitting in his front room and looking out the window when a huge static caravan passed by, swept off down the river. What is amazing is that there were so many smiles from people when we turned up to help."
There will be even bigger smiles this weekend if Grainger and co can put their team in the hat for the next round
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