dowie recommended carlisle to queens park rangers manager gerry francis, who paid a transfer fee of £250,000 to sign him on 25 may 2000. he played his first match for the team on 12 august 2000 in the 0–0 draw with birmingham city at loftus road. he made a further 31 appearances in the 2000–01 season and scored three times, earning himself a call-up to the england national under-21 team. however, his season was cut short on 31 january 2001, when he suffered his first major injury after a tackle by rufus brevett during the 2–0 defeat to fulham. it was found that carlisle had torn his posterior cruciate ligament, an injury which kept him sidelined for a year and caused doctors to believe that his career might be over. while he was out of action, queens park rangers suffered relegation to the second division after finishing 23rd in the league. soon after the injury he attempted suicide, and years later was diagnosed with major depressive disorder. upon his return to football, carlisle was injured again in a reserve-team match against bristol city, sparking fears that he had aggravated his previous injury. the damage proved not to be particularly severe, although it delayed his return to training by a further month.