Christmas Crossroads
What awaits Bromley in 2023?
As we head into the Christmas period, Bromley’s season is at a crossroads. Our FA Trophy defence begins at Bath City on the 17th of December, and four days later we travel to Wrexham for a National League game that could put a playoff spot within reach. This, of course, is a best case scenario.
When Bromley FC released their incredibly generous £97 season ticket offer in May, I gave up my press pass and bought tickets for myself and my son.
I wanted to back the club’s initiative, but I also wanted to know that I was definitely ‘in’ for every home league game, rather than waiting to hear on Thursday or Friday if I was getting a pass for Saturday.
On reflection, this was an error of judgement as the prices will inevitably go back to a normal level next season. If that’s the case, like many people experiencing the crunch of the cost of living crisis, it’s very likely I won’t be able to afford to renew my season tickets.
But this isn’t about whether I can go to games next season, it’s about what the take-up will be across the fanbase as a whole. Given the strain on everyone’s income, will fans old and new be enticed back at full price?
What would it take to persuade them? Defending the FA Trophy and enjoying another great day out at Wembley? Making the playoffs and earning an outside shot at promotion? Or is it promotion or bust for the Bromley faithful these days?
We played with the brakes on against Hereford in the FA Cup and deservedly lost, missing out on a bumper home game with Portsmouth in the process. But this season’s mantra is: concentrate on the league. Will it all be worth it, though, if we get stuffed by an ex-league club in the first round of the playoffs?
This is a conundrum that every club with playoff ambitions faces. After all, with a few FA Cup wins under your belt, you could be facing a Premier League giant on live TV. The money made in such a tie can change a club forever. For example, it’s quite likely that Sutton United’s ties against Leeds and Arsenal in 2017 set in motion their eventual rise to League Two.
That said, Bromley’s fall from grace in the FA Cup this season would surely be a distant memory if they end up challenging for a place in League Two come May.
One potential barrier to this is the lack of squad depth. To make matters worse, Chris Bush is rumoured to be unavailable for selection, unfancied striker David Smith has been loaned to Margate for the season, and most of our promising Under-23 players are out on loan (although we have now recalled Ben Krauhaus and Kellen Fisher from excellent spells at Cray Wanderers). That said as it stands, even the briefest injury crisis could rock the Ravens.
Where team selection and club priorities are concerned, Andy Woodman has some tough decisions to make. Inevitably, decisions on priorities will be led by the man in charge of the purse strings. If club owner Robin Stanton-Gleaves says the playoffs are a must, Andy will have to focus his efforts accordingly.
But they should both take a moment to consider what it will take to get two-thousand season ticket holders to renew at full price in July. In my opinion, getting a certain star striker to renew his contract would go a long way.
I’m still irked at the club for prioritizing a behind-closed-doors friendly over the Kent Senior Cup last month. Bromley’s young team were narrowly beaten in the cup by Cray Valley Paper Mills of the Isthmian South East Division. Personally, I would’ve been happy to see Bromley win the Kent Senior Cup and end the National League season in mid-table. But I know that makes me an out-of-touch dinosaur given the club’s modern ambitions.
Behind the scenes, the club are doing their best to make Hayes Lane a good place to watch football. Fans get a good view wherever they sit or stand, and they have access to a range of bar facilities and food outlets. But it’s not perfect. Queues are a real issue on match days and seem to be driving away a lot of potential customers. Of course, if you have a spare fiver in your pocket, you can gain entry to the ‘exclusive’ Raven’s Bar, where a quieter bar experience awaits.
I still can’t get my head around having to take a ticket to get a cup of coffee and a Kit Kat in Broomfields, but I suspect it’s not my custom the club are courting these days. Wealthier families from more affluent parts of the borough are the new target audience and they need to be kept engaged.
The business plan doesn’t just count on lads camping out in the bars for the day. It counts on family groups buying food, a programme, and merchandise from the club shop without blinking at spending £100 or more on a ‘match day experience’. These are the people that Bromley will need to entice back to Hayes Lane in 2023/24.
If Andy Woodman gets it right, Bromley could be heading into 2023 well set for the top seven and alive and kicking in the FA Trophy. In this scenario, fans old and new could quite rightly be excited about the journey ahead. On the other hand, a few wrong moves could render Bromley’s season effectively over, leaving us to wallow in mid-table mediocrity at best.
I wouldn’t have minded a Kent Senior Cup final to look forward to.
Thanks for taking the time to read the article - you can expect more like this as well as videos, audio posts, interviews etc etc
All articles are edited by Peter Etherington you can link to him here
If you havent as yet make sure you read the other articles in the archive.
If you’d like to show an appreciation for the work that goes into this newsletter you can buy the team a coffee through the link below.
You can also find Colin Head on Twitter - here
Most importantly of all subscribe to the newsletter to ensure you get these updates direct to your inbox.
 | A guest post by
|
Nice article Col, picked out a number of current issues that the club will need to address.
The Chris Bush situation is not good. Whatever happened, surely a (say) 4 week suspension would be sufficient punishment. He can then be brought back into the side.
I'm a bit ambivalent about Cheek. On past form a new contract is a no-brainer but on this season's form it would seem an expensive decision based upon sentiment rather than reality.
I thought it was telling to see the bench for the Wealdstone game. All have great potential but not sure that any of them could do the job for the club week in and week out.
I am a bit fearful that Alexander, Krauhaus, Sablier and Kellen are being pencilled in for a start against Bath, which in my bookk would be a big mistake.
Anyway, I shall be back on the terraces for the next games full of optimism at the start of each match.
Thanks for latest post Frankly I believe we need to renew Cheek,s contract and get a creative midfielder to ensure we play football that will attract people back to Hayes Lane Also if Bush is no longer available he must be replaced now.Always pleased to read your thoughts.Have a great Christmas