A fan’s guide – the club from early doors to today
After 132 years of football, it came down to a single penalty kick at Wembley. Taking it was veteran captain Bryon Webster, who had seen his Bromley team twice lose the lead against Solihull Moors in the National League play-off final of 2024.
For either side, a win, now being decided by a shoot-out, would open the door to the Football League for the first time, the step up to the hallowed 92. Former Millwall centre-back Webster made sure it was Bromley, sidefooting his shot home and putting the Ravens into League Two for the 2024-25 season.
The victory was a triumph for ambitious owner-chairman, Robin Stanton-Gleaves. Taking over in 2019, this locally born businessman has developed a professional infrastructure around the club – a top-of-the-range gym, expanding the club’s academy t offering diplomas in higher education, a panoply of junior teams for both sexes, an on-site café open seven days a week – as well as launching initiatives such as Project 30,000 to fill Hayes Lane during the ultimately successful run-in during 2023-24.
Until recently, suburban Bromley was better known for its musical connections, the sundry Banshees who followed the Pistols and David Bowie’s schooldays. Released shortly before the current owner’s tenure, a feel-good feature film set between the two eras, The Bromley Boys, captures this era, and what it was like to follow the Ravens in the lower reaches of the Isthmian League.
But Bromley didn’t join (and, in fact, win) the Isthmian League until 1908, 16 years after their formation in 1892. Before being swallowed up by Greater London – it’s nearly ten miles south-east of the metropolis – Bromley was a rural market town in Kent, until the railway arrived in 1858.
When Bromley FC became a founder member of the Southern League in 1894, opponents such as New Brompton and Uxbridge also represented communities connected to London by rail half a century earlier. Games were first played at Queensmead Recreation Ground in Shortlands, then Glebe Road at Bromley North. The move to Hayes Lane, close to the club’s current ground, came in 1904.
Founder members of the London League in 1896, Bromley won its Division Two and took Thames Ironworks, forerunners of West Ham, to two replays in the London Senior Cup.
After transferring to the Kent League, Bromley joined and won the Spartan League in 1907, competing against sides who would become big names in the golden era of amateur football after World War I, such as Dulwich Hamlet and Leytonstone.
The move to the fervently amateur Isthmian League n 1908 placed Bromley at the top of the non-professional game. Winning consecutive titles in their first two seasons, the Ravens won the first of three Amateur Cups in 1911, the second coinciding with Bromley’s best run in the FA Cup in 1938. That same year, Hayes Lane was opened by later FIFA president Stanley Rous,
Crowds flocked to the ground in the football boom of the immediate post-war period. Bromley holding Reading of Division Three South to a 3-3 draw in the FA Cup in 1947, then playing a Nigeria XI before a record attendance of 10,789 a year later.
For the FA Amateur Cup final of 1949, the first to be played at Wembley and the last Bromley would win, 96,000 watched the Ravens beat Romford 1-0.
Riding high in the amateur game until the 1970s – the grim period covered in The Bromley Boys film – the Ravens struggled on until the arrival of Jerry Dolke as chairman in 2001. A former Bromley player himself, Dolke wanted to lift the club out of the doldrums, his mission coinciding with the realignment of lower-league football, merging tiers of the Isthmian League and creating a Conference North and South to streamline England’s league pyramid.
Improving year-on-year, in 2006-07, Bromley made the First Round of the FA Cup, playing before 5,500 at Gillingham, then finished runners-up in the Isthmian League, ahead of local rivals, phoenix club AFC Wimbledon. Facing the Wombles in the one-leg play-off semi-final, Bromley edged a tense 1-0, then overcame Billericay on penalties in the final. They had reached the Conference South.
Alongside Dolke, the driving force behind this surge was another ex-player, the chairman’s brother-in-law Mark Goldberg. An associate of notorious Crystal Palace owner Ron Noades, he had led the South London club into administration and out of the Premier League. Offered the manager’s job at Bromley, Goldberg had a point to prove, silencing his critics with promotion to the new sixth tier. It was a rare case of failed chairman turning successful manager.
Making the First Round of the FA Cup four times in six years – bringing crowds of 4,000-plus to Hayes Lane for the visits of Colchester and Dartford, a 3-4 thriller in 2014 – Goldberg’s Bromley became a credible force in the semi-pro game. Alongside, his son Bradley came through the ranks at his home-town club, from under-9 to under-16 level. After spells at Charlton and Dagenham & Redbridge, Goldberg junior returned to Bromley to become leading scorer in the 2013-14 campaign.
His 23 goals in a single season would be a club record in modern times, later equalled by Michael Cheek as Bromley edged towards the Football League. To get there, they first had to reach the National League. Losing the play-off semi-final to Ebbsfleet in 2014, Bromley topped the Conference South a year later, averaging a four-figure crowd at Hayes Lane, another first.
Off the pitch, Dolke had bought the freehold for Hayes Lane, adding an academy and a 3G training pitch. Now in the fifth tier, all was going in the right direction for Bromley FC.
It nearly all backfired. Initially out of their depth in the National League against the likes of former Football League mainstays Grimsby and Tranmere, Bromley needed a change of manager to reboot, bidding farewell to Goldberg after eight years.
His replacement, his long-term assistant and former Fulham midfielder Neil Smith, proved to be the ideal candidate. Already in the Bromley set-up for five years, Smith knew how to get the best out of a relatively modest squad. Sitting comfortably mid-table in the fifth tier, Bromley reached a first FA Trophy final in 2018, a first game at Wembley since the golden post-war era.
In front of 31,000, Bromley looked set to lift the trophy until veteran defender Roger Johnson guided a loose ball into the net on 96 minutes to take the game to extra-time, then penalties. Goalscorer in normal time, Lebanese international Omar Bugiel skied his kick to give underdogs Brackley Town the advantage in the shoot-out, and the trophy went to Northamptonshire.
A year later, Jerry Dolke handed over the reins to local businessman Robin Stanton-Gleaves, who had ambitious but realistic plans for the club’s contemporary development. As for the team, he brought in as manager Andy Woodman, a former Brentford goalkeeper, who learned his football with Gareth Southgate as a youth at Crystal Palace.
Overcoming the cup heartbreak of losing to Yeovil in stoppage time of extra-time in the First Round in November 2020, Bromley picked up in the league under Woodman, goals coming from bullish centre-forward Michael Cheek. Making the play-offs for the first time, the Ravens lost to Hartlepool by the odd goal in five but held on to Cheek to vital effect for 2021-22.
Before 4,400 at Hayes Lane, Bromley beat York 3-1 in the semi-final of the FA Trophy, two struck by Cheek. Facing celebrity-owned Wrexham at the Wembley final, Woodman’s men held their nerve despite the 46,000 crowd and the Hollywood icons in the VIP box. A solitary Cheek goal settled matters and granted Bromley a first major national trophy since 1949.
After another dramatic finish – Cheek hitting a 99th-minute equaliser to send the 2023 play-off semi-final into extra-time – Chesterfield pipped the Ravens 3-2, and duly went on to Wembley.
Knocking on the door of the Football League ever since Andy Woodman took over in 2021, Bromley could now plan their assault on full league status without Wrexham or Notts County, both promoted in 2023. Picking up experienced keeper Grant Smith from Yeovil, the Ravens also had the benefit of academy graduates coming through, such as Bromley U-18 forward Ben Krauhaus and Jude Arthurs, a midfield mainstay at 22.
Krauhaus was sold to Brentford for a club record fee halfway through the campaign. Loaned back to Hayes Lane for the rest of the season, the Ravens’ near ever-present for 2023-24 broke his metatarsal early in the play-off semi-final against Altrincham, and missed Bromley’s historic showdown with Solihull Moors at Wembley.
Anchoring the side as captain, stalwart Bryon Webster had rejoined his former fellow Millwall defender, Alan Dunne, now assistant coach at Hayes Lane, where he ended his playing career in 2019-20. And it was Webster, now 37, who sealed the deal, converting the crucial penalty against Solihull Moors at Wembley to send Bromley into the Football League for the first time.
As well as League Two, another bonus was entry into the League Cup – and a dream draw against former Isthmian League rivals AFC Wimbledon.
ground Guide
The field of dreams – and the story behind it
Bromley’s home since 1938, charmingly old-school Hayes Lane is the centre of chairman Robin Stanton-Gleaves’ mission to have the infrastructure in place for a League One club years before the fact. Some of this isn’t obvious to first-time visitors here for a football match of a Saturday afternoon – the well-equipped gym, the training facilities for the academy – but Hayes Lane has always been a notch above even in Bromley’s amateur days.
It was Stanley Rous, then a top referee and Secretary of the FA before he became FIFA supremo, who opened Hayes Lane in 1938, the same year that he rewrote the Laws of the Game.
That such a prestigious personality would deign to travel down from London for the sake of a team in the Isthmian League wasn’t unusual – back then, like the non-professional game itself, the FA Amateur Cup, which Bromley that same year, was a huge draw. Played at The Den, the final attracted a crowd of 33,000 – when Bromley won it again, in 1949, the attendance at Wembley was 96,000.
So Hayes Lane, a few hundred metres from the recreation complex where Bromley FC had been based since 1904, was created to accommodate regular gates approaching 10,000 – in fact, it broke four figures for a showcase fixture with a Nigeria XI in 1948.
A main wooden stand contained 2,000 seats and four times that number could stand on grass banking alongside and around the other three sides. Floodlights arrived in 1960. Concrete terracing was also installed but the legendary tea bar remained.
Until 1992, that is, when a fire destroyed the main stand, replaced a year later, wood consigned to the past.
Now called the John Fiorini Stand, after Bromley’s match secretary and long-term servant who died suddenly at an away game in 2001, it holds 285 seats. Opposite is the open terracing and crush barriers of the Cricket Club Side, the north section of which is allocated to visiting supporters, linking with one third of the North Terrace.
Home fans can watch the game in roofed comfort of the Glyn Beverley Stand in the south Norman Park end, named after the club president before Jerry Dolke. Part seated, part standing, it holds 1,450, bringing overall capacity to 5,150 including 1,606 seats.
Recently groundshared by Cray Wanderers – one of the world’s oldest football clubs – and Crystal Palace Women, Hayes Lane is now used exclusively by Bromley FC, who bought the freehold rights to it in 2006.
getting there
Going to the stadium – tips and timings
Trains leave regularly from London Victoria (15mins) and Blackfriars (35mins) for Bromley South. From there, you can either hop on bus 314 for three stops/5mins to Hayes Road/Hayes Lane or walk up High Street, turn right into Westmoreland Road, then left into Hayes Lane, allowing 15-20mins.
The sat nav code for Hayes Lane is BR2 9EF. While crowds remain fairly modest, there should be enough free parking outside the stadium behind the main stand. There are also spaces at the Norman Park Community Sports Centre (BR2 9EG) next door or alongside Hook Farm Road (BR2 9SX) on the other side of the park, adjacent to Bromley Common.
getting in
Buying tickets – when, where, how and how much
Tickets can be purchased in person from the Jim Brown club shop (Mon-Fri 9am-4pm) or from the match-day outlet (from 1.30pm Sat or 6.15pm weekday) by Entrance 2 of Hayes Lane. Online sales are also available, either to be printed out or downloaded to your mobile, then scanned at the turnstiles.
Bought in advance, admission is an across-the-board £20 or £24 on the day. Discounted prices are £15/£19 over-65s, £7/£11 under-18s and £5/£7 under-12s if accompanied by an adult.
Availability is rarely an issue except for high-profile cup ties.
what to buy
Shirts, kits, merchandise and gifts
At the stadium, the recently unveiled Jim Brown club shop (Mon-Fri 9am-4pm, match days) stocks home shirts of white with black collar and cuffs, and the words ‘We Are Bromley’ proudly stamped beneath the back of the neck. Away tops are black with white collar and cuffs, and gold markings around the arms.
Pin badges, pint glasses and woolly gloves also carry the rather elaborate club crest – note the White Horse of Kent in the bottom right-hand corner, dating back to Saxon times.
Where to Drink
Pre-match beers for fans and casual visitors
Coming out of Bromley South station and crossing the High Street towards Hayes Lane, the first pub you come to is a Wetherspoons, The Richmal Crompton, named and themed after the author of the Just William books who taught at Bromley High School.
Further up in the same direction, where Masons Hill meets Tiger Lane, the Crown of Bromley operates more as an Asian restaurant set in a traditional pub, but offers ten beers on tap (Moretti, Amstel, Neck Oil) and flat-screen TVs for sport-watching.
On Masons Hill itself, the Bricklayers Arms is a homely local showing sport on several wide-screen TVs, including one in the split-level garden. It’s a Shepherd Neame pub, so a pint of Spitfire or Whitstable Bay can accompany your pie or burger.
Packed on opening day in 2022 when Bromley hosted York in the FA Trophy semi-final, Broomfields Sports Bar & Kitchen operates at the ground seven days a week. On match days, it’s accessible to those with tickets for the East Terrace, Glyn Beverly Stand and West Terrace, who enter through turnstile 1. In the build-up to kick-off, players walk through on their way to the dressing room.
Large, with eight screens inside and three more around the outdoor bar, it packs people in early with its offers such as half-priced drinks between 12.30pm-1.30pm on Saturdays. Burgers and loaded nachos feature on the concise match-menu, beers include Singha, Bear Island and Moretti.
Outdoor bar Bear Island also allows visitors to drink alfresco, rain or shine.
Those with tickets for the North Terrace and John Fiorini Stand, ie Zone 2, entering through turnstile 2, can access the Ravens Lounge, on the ground floor of the main stand overlooking the pitch.
