Four Games in Five Days: The Story of Bromley’s 85/86 Season

In his review of Bromley’s recent game at Wealdstone, Machel highlighted the conundrum posed by the Stones’ end-of-season fixture pile-up. 

In the article, he wrote:

‘I’m certain that some readers will be able to tell me stories of seasons that were far worse and still finished on time.’

This inspired Col to open his history book and bring a vintage Bromley season back to life. It’s the stuff legends are made of. 

Four Games in Five Days: The Story of Bromley’s 85/86 Season 

Following the nearly season of 84/85, Bromley went into the new campaign determined to achieve promotion back to the Isthmian League Premier Division. 

Manager Dave Cooke had assembled a team that looked well-prepared for the task. Elegant defender Paul Edwards was the captain of a young and energetic squad complemented by older heads in key positions, like veteran striker Brian Gregory and former Charlton midfielder Dick Tydeman.

The side got off to a great start with a 2-1 win away at Basildon and a 2-1 win at home to Harlow. A first defeat at Uxbridge merely spurred them on to win five consecutive games, with Lewes, Aveley, Leatherhead, Wembley, and Walton & Hersham dispatched in quick succession. 

But the winter months brought a dip in form and a shock departure.

Dave Cooke was forced to resign as manager due to work commitments. His assistant, Trevor Ford, took over and installed experienced ex-pro Colin Powell as his No.2. It was a tough start for the new duo. Bromley’s only league win in November came courtesy of an own goal in a 1-0 win over Hornchurch on the last day of the month. Likewise, December only saw one win, a 1-0 triumph over Hampton with a goal from Gregory. 

Hopes of a little Christmas joy were quashed when the festive fixtures fell foul of poor weather. This foreshadowed problems later in the campaign. Another bad omen arrived in the shape of a 3-2 loss at Leatherhead on New Year’s Day.

Bromley’s league form only told part of the story. The Ravens beat Camberley (4-0 in a replay), Thanet United (2-1 in a replay), and Ruislip Manor (3-2 at home) to set up an FA Cup fourth qualifying round game at Hayes Lane against Conference side Maidstone Utd. 1,500 fans watched Bromley lose 2-0 to a very good side. 

The Ravens were knocked out of the FA Trophy after a 1-0 loss at Slough Town. Slough also knocked Bromley out of the League Cup with a 3-2 victory. Haringey Borough dumped the Ravens out of the London Senior Cup with a 3-2 win at Coles Park, and Gravesend & Northfleet did the same with a 2-0 win at their place in the Kent Senior Cup.

It wasn’t going to be a cup season.

In the league, a brief ray of light arrived in the shape of a 3-0 win over Leytonstone & Ilford, with goals from Gregory, Fuller, and Flemington. It was a false dawn. Their only other win in January came three weeks later with an Alan Scotting goal clinching the points at home to Uxbridge.

Bromley’s first XI weren’t the only team using the Hayes Lane turf that season. Charlton Athletic Reserves and Bromley’s youth and reserve sides were leaving their stud marks in it, too. This left the pitch very worn and prone to waterlogging.      

A run of bad weather made the poor Hayes Lane pitch unplayable, so Bromley went weeks without kicking a ball in February. Perversely, given everything the weather had thrown at them, Bromley did play a very memorable game in the snow that February. 

With the lines swept and orange balls purchased from a local sports shop, the referee gave the go-ahead for the home game with Chesham United. A sublime Scotting goal sealed the 1-0 win that day. He cut in from the left and curled the ball into the far corner from 25 yards, leaving the keeper stranded. 

That snowy match was one of only two games the club were able to play that month. The other game was a 3-0 win at Aveley that was remarkable for Alan Scotting taking over in goal after Nicky Sullivan was badly hurt (requiring ten stitches in a head wound). 

Further postponements in the fixtures that followed put the writing on the wall. Bromley would face back-to-back games at the end of the season. The only question was how many.

When the poor weather eased, Bromley lost 2-1 away at league leaders St Albans, but then went on a run that took them into the final month of the season with an outside chance of promotion. 

Wins away at Chesham, Harlow, Maidenhead, and Grays, along with home victories over Staines and Wembley lit the fire of optimism. But that fire was extinguished by a 3-2 home defeat to Finchley and a frustrating 0-0 draw with Grays at Hayes Lane. 

Promotion was still mathematically possible, but Bromley’s leading goal scorer, seasoned striker Brian Gregory, was ruled out of the remaining fixtures with a knee injury that would ultimately end his career.        

Going into the last week of the season, Bromley faced the task of playing four games in five days. They needed to win all of them if they were going to clinch promotion. 

This was a task that local newspaper The Bromley Advertiser dubbed Mission Impossible. 

On Tuesday night, the Ravens travelled up to relegation-threatened Hornchurch, where they recorded a 3-1 win with two goals from Gary Flemington and one from Paul Edwards. On Wednesday, they battled fatigue to earn a 1-0 home win over league leaders St Albans, with Bobby Armitt getting the goal. On Thursday night, their heavy legs pounded out a 1-0 win over Tilbury, with Bobby Armitt once again netting the winner.

Now, they were one win away.

The final game of the season was a home match against Leyton-Wingate. If Bromley secured all three points, they would clinch second place and earn automatic promotion.

Second place was occupied by Wembley, who had finished their season on 78 points. They would have started that week quietly confident that Bromley would falter, but had to watch on in horror as Trevor Ford’s team gained nine points on them in a matter of days. 

Going into Bromley’s final game of the season, Wembley could only hope that the Ravens’ legs failed them at the final hurdle.

After a nervy start to the game, Bromley took the lead through a Bobby Armitt penalty in front of the wooden benches of the old South Stand. Bobby missed a second penalty at the start of the second half, leaving the game on a knife edge. Minutes later, Leyton-Wingate equalised through Elijah Bee. The dream was fading fast. 

A frustrating second half left Bromley fans fearing the worst. They had come so close to completing Mission Impossible, but the exhausted Ravens looked like they were about to fluff it at the last.

Then, in the 86th minute of an arduous game, Bromley were awarded a free kick just outside the box. Dick Tydeman tapped the ball to left-back John Roles. Time stood still as Roles thumped a sweet effort towards goal. The keeper grasped at thin air and the ball hit the net. Cue utter pandemonium behind the goal. Bromley were minutes from promotion. 

Bromley spent the rest of the game defending for their lives on the threadbare pitch that had caused them so much grief. The clock ticked slowly. 

Eventually it came; the final whistle. 

When delirious fans ran onto the pitch to celebrate this footballing miracle, many of the players were too exhausted to join in and merely collapsed to the floor with their arms raised in triumph. 

Twelve points in the final week of the season had seen Bromley achieve the impossible. Against the odds, they had achieved the promotion they so narrowly missed out on the previous season. 

Mission Accomplished was the headline in the following week’s paper. 

This was how the Isthmian League Division One table looked at the end of the 85/86 season. In those days, there were only two automatic promotion places, no play-offs, and four relegation spots.  

Bromley fans who lived through that week will never forget what that remarkable bunch of players achieved under the leadership of Trevor Ford.

Thirty-eight years on, Bromley, Boreham Wood, Oxford City, and Maidenhead United are playing in the National League. Leytonstone & Ilford were consumed by Dagenham & Redbridge, so they’re kind of in the National League. Meanwhile, St Albans, Hampton, and Aveley are in the National League South. 

The rest of the teams have had their highs and lows but now operate in the leagues below the National League. Some of them, like Leytonstone & Ilford, no longer exist in their mid-80s guise. Leyton morphed into Walthamstow FC after Wingate walked out on them and got remarried to Finchley. And both Harlow and Hornchurch had to start again after going bust.

Where will the teams of the 23/24 National League season be in another thirty-eight years? Where will Bromley be? Only time will tell.

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