A Season to Remember

The 2013/14 season will go down as one to remember for Bromley fans and although it ended up being a tale of what might have been there was so much to enjoy on the way.

Mark Goldberg rang the changes to the squad during the close season bringing a number of new faces and almost completely rebuilding the team. The side took on a more rugged look with Rob Swaine & Jay May joining from Billericay, Joe Anderson and Dean Poolley at full backs and Ashley Nicholls from Dorchester in midfield. Plus some exciting young talent joined in winger Brandan Kiernan, Irish U19 International midfielder Steve Smith and striker Samir Mullings from Southend. By the end of an interesting pre-season managers son Bradley Goldberg re-joined to partner Jay May up front.

The league season kicked off with three impressive wins 2-0 at Hayes & Yeading, plus 4-0 & 5-1 victories over Whitehawk at Tonbridge at home. On the August Bank Holiday we lost our first game 1-0 at Rob Stringer’s solid Bishop Stortford. A win at home to Gosport kept us up in contention on the last day of the month. 

With Joe Welch injured all pre-season Lewis Carey came in as Keeper from Bournemouth and deputised brilliantly up until September when Joe got the nod to start and Lewis departed for Tonbridge Angels. Popular midfielder Mike Jones also went on his way to Canvey Island as the squad was trimmed down to meet the budget restrictions.      

With the club celebrating 75years at Hayes Lane in September the club launched a special home shirt which was widely appreciated by the fans although it didn’t do players carrying a few extra pounds any favours! After a narrow 2-1 defeat at Eastleigh we bounced back with four consecutive wins which kept us top of the table, but October would prove to be a much tougher month. Taylor Parmenter came in to provide cover in defence after being released by QPR and winger Ben Swallow also joined.

A last minute set piece saw us drop two points at Boreham Wood before we ducked out of the FA Cup and then lost 1-0 at Sutton amid rumours of budget cuts and with half a dozen players out injured. Fortunately a Jay May goal saw us pick up a win at Maidenhead on the last Saturday of the month. After Keith Bird & Mickey Paye left their roles as Reserve managers to take over at Cray Wanderers Steve Smith, Warren McBean & Shamir Mullings departed on dual registration The Wands in October along with most of the reserve squad, none of them were to come back. 

The run into Christmas was broken up by blank Saturdays with other teams still involved in either the Trophy or FA Cup, but when Bromley did get to play the results continued to be positive going the whole of December unbeaten including wins at Dover, Basingstoke and Weston Super Mare. A bumper crowd of 1,344 at Hayes Lane saw us draw 0-0 with Ebbsfleet on Boxing Day before two more away wins followed 2-1 at Whitehawk and 3-1 at The Fleet on New Years Day.

Albert Jarrett finally returned from a serious knee injury. Briefly in December Ryan Hall also came back to Bromley following his release by Leeds before heading off to MK Dons in January, while Swallow departed for Dartford.   

The New Year began with heavy rainfall all over the south and key games were lost to the weather which would later take their toll. After 14days off a lethargic performance at home to Concord Rangers saw us lose for the first time at HL 2-1 and after not playing for another fortnight we travelled down to relegation threatened Dorchester and lost 3-2 on a very heavy pitch with one or two  players looking well off the pace.           

The cups took a back seat in the campaign with an early exit from both FA competitions not helping the budget but helping the schedule, we withdrew from the London Senior Cup at the Quarter Final stage after being drawn away at AFC Wimbledon, who had delayed their previous game with Cray by three months before demanding this tie be played in a week, and then Mark fielded a reserve team at Dover in the Semi Final of the Kent missing out on a final at Gillingham to end the season on Mayday.     

With only two games possible in February, the fixtures began to stack up for March and April and just as the busy spell began the injuries hit the squad. After very few problems all season three of the back four and all of the available centre backs at the club were ruled out due to injury and suspension. With Rob Swaine suspended & injured, Jack Holland crocked on England C duty and Taylor Parmenter with cracked ribs, Devante McKain from Gillingham and Max Fitzgerald from Walton Casuals were brought in on dual registration to cover. Sadly they were ‘thrown to the lions’ on debuts against Sutton & Dover at home and we were crushed on both occasions. Centre back Adam Bailey-Dennis came in from Bury Town and winger Louis Dennis came in from Dagenham, but by the time they had been brought in the positive momentum had gone and the lead had disappeared with Eastleigh top.         

By the time they were all back fit the eleven point lead had disappeared in a terrible run of form and despite running Eastleigh close at home for the whole game the 2-1 defeat in front of over 1,000 on a Tuesday night pretty much sealed our fate. Although there were flashes of the previous good form late in the season with wins over Weston, Bishops Stortford at Gosport the team had never regained it’s momentum on belief ahead of the play offs.

Finishing third we travelled to fourth placed Ebbsfleet for the first leg of the play off semi final, but within eight minutes of the kick off the tie was over as we trailed 2-0 and were down to ten men. Eventually despite the players best efforts to recover from the terrible start we got caught pushing forward rather than consolidation and lost 4-0. The second leg although a mere formality at least allowed all involved with Bromley to restore some pride with a Danny Waldren goal giving us a 1-0 win and ending a memorable campaign with a home victory and our first clean sheet since 1 January.             

In the end a number of factors conspired to derail the title bid; the weather causing several postponement when the team was playing well, injuries to key defenders, budget constraints and other better funded sides hitting form at the right time saw us slip from first to third in a few weeks. When other sides who already had their grounds up to Conference Premier standard were adding players to their squads we were spending thousands on installing seating to meet the criteria. Only time will tell if this is a missed opportunity or the start of an era where we compete at the top end of the table, but it’s certainly better than facing the drop as we did in the previous two campaigns. 

Col.

Ready for the PO's

With one game left to play in the league season it now looks certain that Bromley will face Ebbsfleet United over two legs in the Conference South promotion play off semi final with Sutton Utd playing Havant or Dover in the other. A play off semi final would be a great prospect whatever, but this one has the added spice of being between local rivals who have shared the spoils over three game so far this season. The Fleet won the FA Trophy tie at Stonebridge Road 4-1 in November, then the sides battled out a 0-0 on Boxing Day at Hayes Lane, before Bromley came out on top back at Ebbsfleet on New years Day 3-1, playing some of the best football they had all season.

The sides looked to be evenly matched going into these games with The Fleet in slightly better form, but having played more games recently. It’s all to play for with a place in the final and possible Conference Premier football at the end of it.

Bromley have never played in the Conference Premier and aside from the FA Amateur Cup Final win at Wembley in 1949 it’s probably fair to say this is the biggest set of games in their history. Ebbsfleet have Conference pedigree having been there as recently as 2012/13. With a full time playing staff and bigger squad Steve Browne’s side may go in as  favourites, but Mark Goldberg’s side have been upsetting the odds all season.   

Keep on Rocking.

After two impressive home wins in a row and slip up from Eastleigh, The Ravens find themselves top of the table again ahead of the next round of games on Tuesday night. The side showed real battling qualities against Eastbourne Borough to hold on to a 2-1 win last midweek and then showed real killer instinct in front of goal to defeat Maidenhead Utd 6-1 without ever really playing that well on Saturday! 

The main concern ahead of the game at Staines are injuries to three of our back four. Staines held Eastleigh to 0-0 on Saturday and former Bromley striker Louis Theophanous also missed penalty in the game, which could have dented The Spitfires even more. The news appears to be that Rob Swaine should be fit along with Jack Holland who returns from illness, while Devate McKain is an able deputy for Dean Poolley at full back if he doesn’t shake off his knock, sadly it looks like new signing from Bury Town Alan Bailey-Dennis will be out for a while after limping off on debut with his knee already heavily strapped.             

Tuesday is the first of four tough away games, three in the league at Staines, Eastbourne and Havant with a certain Kent Senior Cup Semi Final at Dover sandwiched in between on 1^st April.

If when we return to Hayes Lane on 8^th April to face Eastleigh we are still in the hunt then we will have done incredibly well.

There is a real buzz around Bromley FC at the moment, the quiz night to raise money for the installation of the new seats behind the goal was a great success in Friday night, The Ladies Team are also top of the league and in a cup final, the under age sides are doing well and crowds although still way short of what the team deserve are steadily up on last season.

Whatever happens to the first team from here it’s been a great season and good time to be a Bromley fan.    

The only down side was dropping out of the London Senior Cup, but given the grief involved playing AFC Wimbledon it's probably something we could do without right now.

Taking Stock

It’s fair to say that March 2014 so far has been a month to forget for Bromley FC, we came in to it 11points clear and on a good run of form and now half way through it we are no longer top and only have a point to show from our five games played.

We have operated with a small squad and tight budget all season which now it has come to the crunch has proved to be our downfall. A number of injuries to key players, especially at the back, and the inevitable fatigue of players who have played virtually every game has all taken it’s toll. Confidence has been shaken and one or two players seem to have had their heads turned by being top and lost focus on what got them there.

The task facing  Mark Goldberg and his management team is to somehow turn the run around and pick up some positive results in order to make sure we are not eaten up by the following pack and miss out on the play offs. We clearly need another striker to take the burden off Bradley Goldberg who had been excellent all season, but in recent times has cut an isolated figure on his own up front. Only Brad and the injured PJD have got into double figures goalwise this season and that is not the stats for a Championship bid. When we were previously promoted in 2007 we had three strikers who scored over 25goals! Either Jake Reid or Louis Dennis need to the chance to prove themselves at the club and add some extra spark in the forward line.  

There are still ten league games left and at least two county cup ties, starting with Eastbourne Borough at home on Tuesday night, let’s hope we can pick some form up as soon as possible and give ourselves another shot at success at the end of the season. Everyone involved at BFC deserves something for all their incredible hard work getting us here, ten years ago we were in Ryman League Division One South missing the cut for the new Premier Division.          

Tough at the Top

As we come into March Bromley are still top of the league which is quite some feat considering the size of our squad a relatively low budget compared to some teams in this league. Eastleigh are hot on our heals though six points behind with two games in hand they have a bigger squad, seemingly infinite budget and the bonus of being full time, meaning two or three fixtures a week is less of a problem to them.

Mark Goldberg’s sides have always suffered a dip in form once the pitches have got heavier and after the monsoon style winter we’ve had it’s no wonder results have taken a bit of a dip now we are playing again. It’s hard to move the ball round the way we like to when the mud is over your ankles! We probably don’t have the players to adapt to a different style of play and that’s if MG would even consider doing so.         

Play off chasing bitter rivals Sutton Utd come to Hayes Lane on Tuesday and we look set to face them with only one recognised centre back with Jack Holland on England C duty and Rob Swaine injured. We then head up Essex to face a resurgent Chelmsford City on Saturday a notoriously unhappy hunting ground for us without Swaine who will be suspended after his red card against Boreham Wood. If we can come away from these two tough fixtures with four points then we’ll have done very well, with two games a week for the rest of the month they’ll be no let up in the hard work ahead to achieve the highest league finish possible.     

As far as the race for the title goes this could be a make or break week, but whatever the outcome it’s important for Bromley fans to remember just how well we have done to be here in the first place.          

Happy New Year!

As the New Year begins we still find ourselves top of the table with an impressive 53points from 22games. Eastleigh lurk behind though with three games in hand at the time of writing, if they win all of them that would bring then within two points of us setting up the game nicely between the two of us at Hayes Lane on 28 January.

The 3-1 win at Ebbsfleet Utd on New Years Day was probably the best of the season so far, away from home in dreadful conditions we recorded our first win over top five opposition playing some great football. It was great to see Jake Reid notch his first goal for Bromley and immediately look far more confident and in his element. With Albert Jarrett also making a return after 15months out injured as a late sub it was a very positive start to 2014 for us.

Rumours are that we have signed young striker Alfie May from Chatham Town, it remains to be seen if the ‘one in one out’ policy the club has implemented so far this season will apply to this recent acquisition. Bradley Goldberg has been linked with a return to Dagenham & Redbridge his parent club after scoring 17 goals so far for The Ravens this season, but they have said they would like to fulfil their promise of loaning him to us for the season, so we will have to keep our fingers crossed.

With other clubs also chasing promotion bringing in quality players to boost their squads, the second half of the season will be a stern test for out small squad and budget. Remaining injury and suspension free will be the key to whether we can build on the remarkable first half of 2013/14.

Saturday sees us host Eastbourne Borough followed by the re-scheduled game with Concord Rangers on Tuesday night, if we maintain the unbeaten home form so far in the league this season then we’ll be set up nicely for a busy second half of the month.                       

Ravens Flying

As the busy Christmas period approaches Bromley are flying, four points clear at the top of the table having recorded their ninth home league win in a row on Saturday beating Farnborough 3-0. To further add to the buzz around The Lane, Ryan Hall has returned for a month after being released by Leeds Utd at the end of November. Hall with play for nothing until he can sign for another Football League club in January as a thank you for the faith the club showed in him when picking him up after his release from Crystal Palace as a youngster. Ryan played for just under half an hour on Saturday showing some nice touches and adding to the celebratory atmosphere around the place.

With fifteen points up for grabs before the New Year the next fortnight could shape our season.

The tightness of the budget constraints were shown by the loaning of Shamir Mullings to Thamesmead Town for the rest of the season effectively ending his time at Bromley. After a good pre-season Shamir was unlucky to not get a starting place in the side, but he then had an unsuccessful loan spell at Cray Wands before returning for one sub appearance prior to his current departure to Bayliss Avenue.               

With the London and Kent senior Cups still to play for and the league up for grabs it's gonna be an interesting start to 2014 at Hayes Lane.