Bromley F.C.
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| Full name | Bromley Football Club | ||
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| Nickname(s) | The Ravens, The Lillywhites | ||
| Founded | 1892 | ||
| Ground | The Courage Stadium, Hayes Lane (Capacity: 5,000) |
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| Chairman |  Paul Greenwood |
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| Manager | Mark Goldberg |
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| League | Conference South | ||
| 2008-09 | Conference South, 13th | ||
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Bromley Football Club are an English association football club based in the London Borough of Bromley, London, England. They currently play in the Conference South, and play their home matches at Hayes Lane, Bromley.
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[edit] History
[edit] Early years
Bromley Football Club was founded in 1892 and played friendly games against mainly local opposition sides in its first season. Their first competitive football came in the South London League, which was won at the first attempt. However, they moved frequently between Leagues in those early days. Two seasons in the Southern Football League were followed by a spell in the London League, winning the Division Two title in 1897.
After a brief interlude in the Kent League, they returned to the London League but were expelled in 1900. They then competed in the Spartan League, and after winning the title in 1908, they had their first spell in the Isthmian League and won the Championship in each of their first two seasons. After the First World War they joined the Athenian League, winning the title in 1923.
Though the 1930s were successful on the Cup front, League honours eluded them until 1949 when they lifted the Athenian League Championship, to go with the FA Amateur Cup. Three years later they rejoined the Isthmian League, and again made an immediate impact finishing runners up at the first attempt, and going one better in 1954, reversing the previous season's six point margin over Walthamstow Avenue, who were again runners up when Bromley were Champions again in 1961.
The following season they had only two clubs below them, and in thirteen subsequent seasons only twice finished in the top half, culminating in relegation in 1975, the second time they had finished bottom.
They were promoted in 1980, and during an up and down period they went down again in 1984, came back up two years later and were runners up to Yeovil Town in 1988 - the highest league position for over 25 years - before being relegated for a third time two years later. Regaining Premier Division status at the first attempt, they remained in the top flight until 1999 when, after their best start to a season for many a year - 13 points out of the first five games - they only won four of the remaining 37 League games, and as a consequence were relegated for the fourth time since promotion and relegation was introduced.
[edit] Recent years
Their latest spell in the lower division saw them finish in 9th, 18th, 19th, 6th and 8th positions in the league table up until 2004. The formation of the Conference South in 2004, and the resulting re-organisation of the non-league pyramid, meant that whilst staying the same division, the club had effectively slipped down a division, to the 8th tier of English football, the lowest level in its history. Between 1999 and 2001 two managers resigned before Stuart McIntyre took over the reigns for the first time towards the end of October 2001. Despite starting the season strongly, McIntyre decided to step down in October 2003. He returned in early 2004 to steady the ship, after being asked back by chairman, Jerry Dolke, but a good finish to the campaign failed to prevent Bromley from just missing out on the restructuring play-off spot.
The 2004/05 season began well with memorable FA Cup wins over Fisher Athletic and Sutton United and a strong showing in the league before results tailed off through November and December and McIntyre was relieved of his duties. The club acted quickly to fill the void and asked a familiar face to take over. George Wakeling accepted the offer and just before Christmas 2004 returned to the job which he had left in 1999. His first job was to appoint his former captain and crowd favourite, Frank Coles as assistant manager.
From the beginning of 2005 the manager's role was shared between Wakeling and former Carshalton Athletic boss, Billy Smith. The new management team provided the impetus required for a climb back up the table and Bromley went on to finish 4th, claiming a place in the end of season play-offs. Metropolitan Police were dispatched on penalties after a tense semi-final to earn a trip to Horsham where Bromley secured their return to the Premier Division with a 3-1 victory.
2005-06 saw Bromley's return the Premier Division, and a safe mid-table position was secured. There was a period in the season where relegation was a brief threat but a strong end of season run secured the club's premier division status by beating by beating Billeracy Town 4-3 in a penalty shoot out in the playoff final. Bromley also won the Kent Senior Cup with a memorable win over Gravesend & Northfleet. Trailing 2-1 in the final minutes, Bromley equalised against their full-time professional opponents and then won the game with a Simon Mitchell strike early in extra time.
Towards the end of the 2005-06 campaign, chairman Jerry Dolke made the surprise announcement that the management team who had put Bromley in such a good position would be replaced by Dolke's brother-in-law, former Crystal Palace chairman, Mark Goldberg.
[edit] 2006/07 season
After making a number of high-profile signings over the summer of 2006, Bromley dominated the early stages of the season with wins against Staines Town, Ramsgate, Worthing, East Thurrock United and Harrow Borough, not to mention emphatic victories at Hampton & Richmond Borough (4-0), and against Ashford Town (5-1) and Slough Town (4-0), leaving the Lilies at the top of the table.
On October 28, 2006, Bromley reached the first round proper of the FA Cup for the first time in ten years after beating the full-time professional Conference National side Grays Athletic 2-1 at the Recreation Ground. 1400 Bromley fans then made the trip to League One side and near-neighbours Gillingham. Bromley lost the match 4-1, but the scoreline flattered the hosts, who led by just one goal until the final few minutes,Nic MaCdoanald scored for bromley in the 70th minute.[1]
The start of 2007 bought a number of less than impressive results for Bromley, but as of March onwards, results picked up. The Easter Weekend came with a 3-1 victory over Ramsgate, Easter Monday resulted in a 2-1 win over Carshalton Athletic. Bromley's biggest league win of the season, and for many years, came with an 8-0 victory at bottom side Slough Town, pushing Bromley onto top spot. Bromley continued winning and went into the final game of the season knowing that if they beat Boreham Wood, and Hampton & Richmond failed to beat Slough, they would be champions. Bromley duly won their game 2-0, and with ten minutes left there were riotous celebrations amongst the fans as news filtered through that Slough had equalised against Hampton. Sadly for Bromley, Hampton then scored two more late goals to win their match and secure the league title.
By finishing as runners up, Bromley secured a place in the end-of-season promotion play-offs. As the highest-placed of the four teams contesting them, this also meant that the club would enjoy home advantage in both rounds. On Tuesday 1 May 2007, Bromley beat AFC Wimbledon 1-0 with a header from Nic McDonnell in front of a sell-out, season-record crowd of 3,429. On Saturday 5 May 2007 Bromley defeated Billericay Town 4-2 on penalties, with Peter Adeniyi scoring the winning penalty, after a 1-1 draw. Winning the play-off final meant that Bromley F.C. were promoted to the Conference South.
Bromley retained the Kent Senior Cup with a 3-1 victory over Tonbridge Angels in front of a crowd of 926 at Hayes Lane, and were also runners up in the London Senior Cup to Tooting and Mitcham United.
[edit] 2007/08 season
Bromley's first season at the higher level saw the club finish in an eventual 11th place in the league, even though they had gone into the final round of fixtures with an outside chance of making the playoffs. Mark Goldberg resigned as manager just a few months into the season as a result of other commitments, and was replaced by Simon Osborn, who took on the role of player-manager along with coach Bobby Bowry.
The club's league form was best-described as inconsistent, with some excellent performances being matched by some equally poor ones. The best example of this came over the Christmas and New Year period, when an 8-1 home win over Thurrock was followed by a 2-1 defeat in the return fixture just a few days later.
The club reached the 4th qualifying round of the FA Cup but were beaten 2-1 by Eastbourne Borough, who finished the season as Conference South play-off winners.
In surprising developments at the end of the season, Jerry Dolke stepped down as chairman to be replaced by Paul Greenwood, while the management team of Simon Osborn and Bobby Bowry also left the club. Several weeks later, it was announced that Mark Goldberg was to return for a second spell as manager.
[edit] 2008/09 season
This season also resulted in a respectable mid-table finish.
[edit] Cup exploits
Bromley won the FA Amateur Cup three times, the third being in 1949 when a then record crowd of 96,000 watched them beat Romford in the first Wembley final. In 1911 they beat Bishop Auckland at Herne Hill, and in 1938 were victors over Erith & Belvedere in the only all-Kent final. All three Finals were won by the same 1-0 scoreline, and the goal in each game was scored by the player wearing the number 8 shirt.
The Second Round proper of the FA Cup has been reached three times (1937, 1938 and 1945), with First Round appearances on a further six occasions (1947, 1949, 1950, 1976, 1996 and 2006).
Since entering the FA Trophy in 1974 - following the cessation of the Amateur Cup - they had not gone beyond the Second Round until season 2000-2001 when they reached the Third Round after the competition had been revamped.
Bromley have won the Kent Senior Cup six times and also won the Kent Amateur Cup on twelve occasions. The London Senior Cup has been won on four occasions, most recently beating Ford United in 2003's final, with the London Challenge Cup coming to Hayes Lane in 1996.
[edit] Ground
After playing at White Hart Field, Widmore Road and Plaistow Cricket Ground, Bromley moved to Hayes Lane: some 300 yards (270 m) from their present ground - which was purchased in 1938. They had to leave the ground when fire destroyed the main stand in October 1992, but returned in September 1993. The record attendance stands at 10,798 for a game against Nigeria in 1949, but the capacity is now much reduced.
The start of the 2006-07 season saw ground improvements which had been underway throughout the summer completed. The new bar opened, which combines with the old one previously used. The stand has a new board room, new cafe, and lift system. Two new five-a-side football pitches have also been constructed along with a new club shop. The end of 2006 also came with the news that Bromley had fully purchased the land in which the club is built on, giving the club room to build on their stadium.
An extra set of turnstiles was built during the 2007/08 season, giving the ground a "B" grading suitable for Conference National football.
Rumours have also started about new building work to extend the current stand and an addition of another bar, replacing the old one, which will be similar in style to one constructed during the Summer of 2006. Note none of this information has been confirmed by the club.
Cray Wanderers and Crystal Palace Reserves also play their home games at Hayes Lane.
[edit] Current squad
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[edit] Notable former players
- Sean Devine
- Carlton Fairweather
- Jon Goodman
- Andy Massey
- Garath McCleary
- Joe Odegbami
- Sam Wood
- Trevor Aylott
- John Bumstead
[edit] References
- ^ Gillingham 4-1 Bromley - BBC Sport
[edit] External links
- Club website
- Bromley at the Football Club History Database
