Bromley moved to the current location of the ground in 1938
having played at various places around the town prior to that, including Queensmead,
Plaistow Lane, White Hart Field, Glebe Road and on a pitch close to the main
road almost directly opposite Ravensbourne School. The club made the wise move
of buying the ground and the area around it, which includes a covenant that
states it can only be used for sport, without doubt this has helped them stay
there for so long. There was a period in the mid 90s when the club lost
ownership, but this was resolved not long after former player Jerry Dolke took
over ownership of Bromley FC in the early 2000s. Under Jerry, new bar
facilities were built at the back of the stand and practice pitches were
installed. Later a full size 3G pitch and two 6 a side pitches were put in
behind the ground. Initially the ground capacity was 15,000, the closest that
came to being tested was in 1950 when Bromley played Nigeria in front of just
2,000 short of that number and there was also a bumper crowd for the opening of
the floodlights against Japan in 1960. These days the official capacity is a
more modest 4,999, but regulars can confirm that anything over 3,500 and it
feels very snug on the old terracing!
My Mum took me to the majority of the Saturday matches I
watched as a very young kid until at around 10 or 11 when I started to go on my
own. By this time I discovered that Bromley also had a Reserve team that played
in the Suburban League at Hayes Lane when the first team were away so I started
to watch them also. The reserve team at that time were exceptional, winning the
league and county cups on many occasions, at one stage the team included three
players who went on to play in the Football League in Steve Galloway (Palace),
Carlton Fairweather (Wimbledon) and Emeka Nwarjobi (Luton). The reserve team
was eventually dissolved in 1998 when Cray Wands moved in, they were resurrected
a few times playing at Oxford Road and then in the midweek Capital League, but
never for very long.
By 1985 the allure of away games became too much to resist
though and I went to the majority of Bromley first team games home and away, a
pattern that continued right up until 2010. On top of that from 1998 I fitted
in as many Cray Wanderers games at Hayes Lane as well, either midweek or on
Sundays. After my son was born I was lucky enough to have Wednesdays off to
look after him and that opened up another chance to watch football there. With
the Academy team playing there in the afternoon I’d take him down there, he
would have the run of the place and get a feel for the place and I also got to
watch a game and catch up with some good people.
Whenever I walk into the ground on a non match day I always
have a quick look at the pitch and pause to think about the good things I have
seen there. Four promotions and two county cup wins for Bromley, three league
titles for Cray Wands and one play off final victory, plus countless fantastic
goals and victories. Last minute winners, escapes from relegation, games played
in front of a handful of fans and game splayed in front of nearly 4,000.
Today I am privileged to be able to go to see with Bromley
home matches with my son and Cray Wands games with three generations of the
family as we sit with my Dad in the main stand. Away from football it’s hosted many birthday parties,
fund raising gigs, quiz nights and wedding receptions, including my own, and
I’ve made so many good friends there. The ground has a special place in our
family’s hearts and I hope that continues to host football for years to come…
Col.
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