This season Prostate Cancer UK is the official charity of The Football League. To celebrate, we've asked bloggers from each of the 72 clubs to count down their top five strikers to have worn the No9 shirt, in recognition of the fact that prostate cancer affects one in nine men.

Captain fantastic: David Reeves led Carlisle from the front. Photo courtesy of PA

 

Here blogger John McGee, of keithmincher.com, selects Carlisle's five best No9s… and one to forget!

5. Malcolm Poskett (1982-85 & 1986-88)
Mally Poskett looked like a geeky extra from a low-budget remake of Miami Vice. While his flowing side-parting and well-trimmed 'tache caught the eye and became the stuff of terrace folklore, it was his goals that made him a legend. Signed in August 1982, Poskett scored on his debut at Derby and later became the only Carlisle player to net four away from home, again at Derby's Baseball Ground. Poskett's goals saw the Cumbrians riding high in Division Two before a late collapse to seventh - yet it remained their highest finish for 30 years. He left in 1985 after a bust up with Bob Stokoe, returning under the lacklustre stewardship of Harry Gregg, starring with 12 goals as a dreadful Cumbrians side finished second from bottom in the Football League.

4. David Reeves (1993-96)
"Who needs Cantona? We've got David Reeves!" Or so the terraces sang as the blond-haired son of the Wirral tore asunder the defences of Division Three during the early honeymoon period of the Michael Knighton era. Reeves' 64 goals in that period saw him dance into the league's team of the year in consecutive seasons as Mick Wadsworth's men first made the play-offs before achieving automatic promotion. Club captain Reeves led by example, scoring goals from any angle and distance, and it's a mark of the esteem he is held in that his £300,000 move to arch rivals Preston North End holds none of the bitterness that subsequent departures down that stretch of the M6 have brought about.

3. Alf Ackerman (1956-59)
The South African-born striker joined the club in 1956 from Derby County and established a reputation as one of the Football League's finest by finishing second only to Brian Clough in the top scorers list in his first season, including seven goals in two Christmas games against Mansfield and Birmingham. Ackerman was famed for a notably fiery temper and it was this that saw him through the door in January 1959 after a final fallout with manager Andy Beattie. His record of 62 goals in 96 games gave weight to the claim of his captain Ivor Broadis, "If Alfie's unmarked, he scores. It's that simple."

2. Jimmy Whitehouse (1951-57)
Down Warwick Road in recent years the chant "goal machine" has again rung out, but more because it rhymes with Gary Madine than because he's a particularly prolific scorer. The same could not be said of Jimmy Whitehouse, the first 'great' of United's post-war period whose 101 goals in six seasons - a feat which earned him the name Mr Reliable among the local fans. A single-minded direct player, Jimmy is rightly a shoo-in on any list of Carlisle's finest ever.

1. Hughie McIlmoyle (1962-65, 1967-70 & 1974-75)
Hughie Mc is as close as there is to a footballing deity at Brunton Park. It is his limber frame that greets you - cast in bronze and caught for posterity in his trademark position of hanging in the air - as you cross the threshold. It is his frail hand you shake in the sponsor's lounge and his name for whose exploits are reserved the most exultant whisper. His career brought a cool 250 league goals, with over a third coming in Cumbrian Blue over his three spells, and the wish for a man who could 'head like Hughie' still lingers on the terraces to this day.

And the worst…
Eric Gates (1990-91)
Trying to decide on Carlisle's worst centre-forward of the past 25 years is tough, as any number of earnest toilers have blustered their way to midtable by sheer guts and effort: Richard Treacy, Steve Halliday, Craig Curran, Paul Harries and Steve Livingstone - all terrible, all safe. For one man soars above them, like a blue whale breaching the surface - the Voldemort of Brunton Park, Eric Gates. When Gates arrived at Carlisle in 1990 it was as an England international, an UEFA Cup winner and a legend in Suffolk and Wearside. Yet he was fat, lazy and disinterested on the pitch and an uncouth boor to the fans off it. United lumbered to 20th place in Division Four and Gates lumbered into retirement and a reputation as Carlisle's biggest ever dud.

Follow John on Twitter @epouvantail