Hayes Lane - Home from Home Part 1

With Two Footed Tackle fanzine now a thing of the past and match reporting duties for KSN on hold for the foreseeable future, it seemed like a good time to resurrect this blog. There is so much football writing out there, but I still want to add my contribution to it all and highlight the clubs and culture that mean a lot to me.

To kick it off again I thought I’d just do an intro piece about the ground where I have watched the majority of my football over the years. I’ve been watching Bromley FC play for 43 years, attending my first game in 1977 as a six year old with my Dad. Three years later he took me to see his team Cray Wanderers play at Oxford Road for the first time and I have also followed The Wands ever since.  Mainly attending midweek Cray games with my Dad, who worked on Saturdays until he retired, right up until my son was born in 2010 when travelling away with Bromley more or less ceased. Cray Wands had moved in to Hayes Lane in 1998, so I now became a regular supporter watching both senior teams who play at the historic wonderful HL ground.

Watching the majority of your football at the same ground all season may not appeal to many, and I certainly enjoyed my days of travelling around to watch game at different grounds, but I am lucky in the fact that Hayes Lane is a great place to watch the game. The ground has changed significantly since I first walked through the turnstiles, with two sides completely rebuilt, but it still has a very special feel about it. I still remember walking to my first game with my Dad, seeing the outside of the ground, the old stand, the floodlights and thinking ‘wow’. The moment I walked through the turnstiles for the first time and saw the pitch I knew this was where I belonged in front of me were two large terraces, a huge wooden stand and the unique benches end. I bought a programme and my Dad got jackpot tickets, probably sold to him by Roy Oliver. We sat in the main stand, which was filled with the aroma of tobacco, old wood, deep heat and well brewed tea from the room at the end. This was to be my home from home.