Bromley 3-0 Cheltenham Town

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

May 05, 2025

And so, another one comes to an end.

For the first time in Andy Woodman’s tenure, Bromley will not play in the post-season, but you would be hard-pressed to find a Bromley fan who would complain about that.

Following their 3-0 win over Cheltenham Town on the final day, the Ravens ended their inaugural season in the EFL with a creditable 11th-place finish, just four points off the play-offs. But when you add the club’s first-ever FA Cup 3rd round appearance, at Newcastle United no less, you realise what a groundbreaking campaign this was.

For one last time in the 24/25 season, join me as I reflect on The Good, The Bad and The Ugly from Bromley’s 3-0 home win over Cheltenham Town.

Have a read and let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

The team vs Cheltenham Town

The Good

I told Cheeky after the game that I’d run out of things to say about him, but I lied. The one thing I have never said is that his golden season couldn’t have happened to a nicer pro.

Anyone who has played with Michael Cheek only has positive things to say about him, and despite his goal-laden spell at Bromley Football Club, not once has he put himself on a pedestal or made himself inaccessible to the fanbase.

He added another two goals on the final day of the season to take his league total to 25, a figure that won him the League Two Player of the Season award as well as the League Two Golden Boot. You can add the Manager’s and Players’ Player of the Season awards to his haul, too.

Age is but a number, and I would assume Bromley will be rewarding Cheek with the best contract of his career as he goes into 2025/26 looking to somehow emulate the best season of his life.

We saw in this game, just as we did at Swindon Town and the second half at Barrow, that maybe, just maybe, Andy may be looking to unleash Cheek and Kabamba as a dual strike force next season.

The two of them were too much for Cheltenham on the day, offering a big presence in both boxes at set pieces and winning first engagements in normal play. The Cheltenham back five had a tough day at the office.

Mike Flynn remarked at full time that he thought it was a set piece game and that was the main difference between the two sides, but I found that a weird comment seeing as dominating set pieces is part and parcel of the game. If Cheltenham couldn’t cope with that it means they got bullied.

On 60 minutes, Andy substituted both of his loanee wingers and they were rightly greeted with a hearty round of cheers and applause for their services over the season.

Both Cameron Congreve and Danny Imray go back to their respective clubs with the hard-grafting Bromley DNA instilled in them, and both should go on to have successful careers.

Cameron collected 13 goal contributions across all competitions, and while Danny didn’t have as many (9 in all competitions), there is no doubt that he played an absolutely critical role as one of Bromley’s main attacking outlets across the season.

Corey Whitely started the match and put in the usual lively Corey Whitely performance in the hole. Permanently busy and leading the press, you forget how important Corey is to the team off the ball when he is playing at the top end of the pitch.

Other than Grant Smith and Michael Cheek, Corey had the most League Two appearances. And as critical to the Bromley spine as he ever was, he had 11 goal contributions in all competitions.

We talk a lot about how Bromley will eventually replace Michael Cheek and Byron Webster, but Corey Whitely is part of that same conversation. He turns 34 in July, but I expect him to still be first-choice in the new season.

While he maintains his level of physicality and fitness, Andy will trust him in the big games. Andy loves senior pros who can guide his younger heads, and Corey remains the go-to pro in the #10 role.

Buy me a coffee

Cheltenham didn’t offer much at all, which Mike Flynn put down to having to put out a patched-up side. Other than the expected Ethon Archer moment of class, when he smashed his curling effort against the post, they never looked like scoring.

It was interesting to hear Flynn talk about Cheltenham having to bat above their station and not having the resources of the bigger club. Bromley are in the same boat yet they managed to finish in 11th place.

I would be intrigued to know if Bromley had the best pound-for-pound finish in the Football League this season relative to budget. Who would beat them to that title?

The Bad

So we are definitely saying goodbye to Olufela Olomola and Louis Dennis from this season’s squad.

With their game-time dwindling, neither departure comes as a surprise, and football is always gonna be football. It’s a ruthless industry where you can be hot one day and frozen out the next.

Both players go with my very best wishes.

There is a significant proportion of our fanbase who weren’t around when Bromley played at Wembley in the FA Trophy final in 2018. For those who weren’t around, Louis Dennis played a major part in getting us there. That 2017/18 season, he scored over 20 goals and sealed a move to then League One Portsmouth after absolutely ripping up the National League.

But Louis’ story at Bromley started in 2014 when Mark Goldberg bought him in on the back of seeing him play with his son, Bradley, at Dagenham & Redbridge.

Old-school fans will tell you that from day one, Louis showed an unbelievable level of technical skill, the likes of which we hadn’t seen at Hayes Lane before. Promotion followed in 2014/15, leading to our first season in the National League, where RUN DMC (Dennis, Moses, and Cook) put down weekly Flair Gang performances that made a mockery of the National League in the first two months of the season.

Louis’ goal against Barrow on Non-League Day in 2015 would have won Goal of the Season had it been scored at the top level of the football pyramid.

Since his return to Bromley in 2021, Louis, by his own admission, has failed to regularly hit the heights of his first spell. But even with injuries frequently interrupting his flow, he still had his moments.

The thing with someone like Louis is it isn’t as simple as looking at the goals column. Smart movement and small touches of creativity and class can seamlessly open up a game, but in the chaos of a football match, these slights of hand are the type of thing often appreciated by football players and managers more than fans.

Ultimately, with Louis gone, it kind of feels like we’ve lost the last link to the before times at Bromley.

What are your favourite Louis Dennis memories?

Olufela Olomola leaves having seemingly been frozen out after his last appearance at Crewe at the turn of the year.

While we haven't seen Fela in the second half of the season, we cannot discount the critical role he played in Bromley’s promotion from the National League.

Joining from Wealdstone in October 2023, Fela went on a crazy run where he scored 9 goals in 13 appearances, and this is before you add his assists. He eventually ended with 11 in 32 and scored one of the penalties in the play-off final shoot-out.

There was always a sense this season that Andy didn’t see Fela as anything more than a squad player and it took until the 1st of October for him to get a game in the league.

There were rumours about Fela being offered out on loan in the January window, but he stayed put and now his contract has expired.

You could never fault his dedication and work rate, so we say thank you for the service and good luck. Whatever happens, Olufela Olomola will always be remembered fondly as part of the promotion class of 2023/24.

The Ugly

As all the players walked around the pitch thanking the fans for the season, I was alerted by another fan that Harry McKirdy was conspicuous by his absence.

What I proceed to say I say with no evidence whatsoever.

When Harry signed, it was announced that he had joined Bromley on a permanent deal, but we weren’t told the length of that deal.

I always assumed Harry wanted to return south of the border to remind the EFL of his quality, and Bromley wanted an X-factor player, so it was a deal that suited both parties.

But was it one of those permanent deals where there is an option at the end of the season for both parties to take stock? Bromley would have offered Harry an extension, but Harry might have wanted the chance to play the market in the summer before committing.

Based on his Instagram post this morning it more seems like the latter as it gives the impression he is not renewing (at least for now).

harrymckirdy

A post shared by @harrymckirdy

I’d like to believe the only reason we didn’t see him on Saturday is because he had a pre-booked holiday prior to signing for Bromley that the club has honoured. But again the post implies he or the club has actually severed the permanent contract early.

That said, where do you stand on the situation? Let’s assume for a second that Harry is shopping around in the summer, would you go all out to make him a deal extension that he can't refuse?

Thank you for reading The Good, The Bad and The Ugly this season.

If you’ve subscribed this season or been with me from the jump. I hope its been worth it. I have some bigger things to come next season.

What was your take on the game and the campaign at large?

Get in touch via the comments section below.

Match ratings

Grant Smith (9)

Danny Imray (7)

Deji Elerewe (8)

Omar Sowunmi (8)

Idris Odutayo (8)

Cameron Congreve (7)

Ashley Charles (7)

Ben Thompson (7)

Corey Whitely (8)

Michael Cheek (9)

Nicke Kabamba (9)

Subs:

Jude Arthurs for Ben Thompson 71’ (7)

Brooklyn Ilunga for Cameron Congreve 61’ (6)

Marcus Ifill for Corey Whitely 72’ (6)

Nathan Paul-Lavaly for Danny Imray 61’ (7)

Soul Kader for Michael Cheek 83’ (n/a)

Adam Mayor for Idris Odutayo 82’ (n/a)

From Bromley with love

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