From Tottenham to Bristol: My FA Cup Journey

Why the magic of the cup still matters

As a Tottenham fan growing up in the late 90's, when the FA Cup third round fixtures were announced, I had to listen to my dad reminiscing about the times he watched Tottenham win the FA Cup at Wembley. Paul Gascoigne’s free kick in the semi-final against Arsenal in 1991 always got a special mention, too. I lived in hope that I’d get to enjoy this kind of experience. 

Strangely, my first memories of the FA Cup don’t involve Tottenham at all. Instead, my mind goes back to the 1997 final, where Chelsea beat Middlesbrough 2-0 under the old Wembley arches. I couldn’t watch it live, so I recorded it on a VHS tape and tried to avoid seeing the score. My plan was going well until I walked into the living room at the exact moment the sports bulletin started.

I watched quite a few FA Cup ties at White Hart Lane in my younger years. While I was aware there were stages before the third round, I used to think they were a bit pointless. As far as I was concerned, the "magic of the cup" didn't exist until Tottenham entered. After all, when drawn against lower-league opposition, Spurs almost always showed their class and won comfortably. The exception being the time we were almost knocked out by Wycombe Wanderers of League One in 2017.

However, in the late 2010s, I found myself falling out of love with football. I was going to Tottenham games expecting a win and coming away disappointed time and time again.

In my time as a fan, Tottenham had morphed from being serious underdogs to serious contenders, and at times a laughing stock. Their ability to throw leads away was becoming legendary. There’s a famous anecdote about Sir Alex Ferguson walking into the dressing room with his United team trailing 3-0 at half time and saying nothing more than: “Lads, it’s Spurs.” United ran out 5-3 winners that day.

Annoyingly, Tottenham assembled a strong squad under Mauricio Pochettino and were regularly finishing in the top four. They were even title rivals for Leicester and Chelsea in consecutive seasons. But they just couldn’t shake their ‘Spursy’ image. 

So how did my frustrating journey with Tottenham lead me to Bromley?

I was a casual fan for many years, mostly turning up for Bromley’s big FA Cup first round ties. In fact, my first visit to Hayes Lane was the 4-0 loss to Colchester in 2009, and I was there for the losses to Dartford and Peterborough, too. 

My casual status ended when I decided to get a season ticket for the 2019/20 season. I saw a post on Instagram advertising them for £200, which I thought was good value for money. The other consideration was that I live near Hayes Lane, so I wouldn't have to give up a whole day to go to matches like I did with Tottenham.

My intention was to go to Hayes Lane every other week, clap the goals and enjoy the game, but not get affected by the results. In other words, I didn’t want to become emotionally attached.

That season, our league form was pretty good, but the highlight was being drawn away in the FA Cup first round against Bristol Rovers of League One.

Even though it meant travelling across the country, my dad and I decided to book tickets on one of the club coaches. I’d seen Spurs play away at Selhurst Park before, but I’d never travelled outside of London for a match, so this was my first proper away day. In many ways, it was an experience that changed my outlook on football. 

On the coach to Bristol, I could feel something was different. I said to my dad: "I think I'm beginning to love this club. It's getting to a point where if Bromley drew Spurs in the FA Cup, I'd have to sit in the Bromley end." 

It also felt strange going into a game thinking that I could still come away happy if Bromley lost by the odd goal. I was used to seeing Spurs beat teams with ease until the fifth round, so this outlook was quite alien to me. The fans on our coach were excited but realistic. Hearing that Bromley hadn’t got past the first round in any of their lifetimes really struck me. I was starting to realise what an important match this could be.

Bromley more than held their own against opposition who were two leagues higher, but when Bristol Rovers made it 1-0 with just over 10 minutes to go, I thought: "Well, we've done our best and at least we’ve not been embarrassed."

Then, in the 83rd minute, down to ten men through injury, Bromley won a corner in front of the away end. The atmosphere was electric, but you could hear a pin drop as Frankie Raymond’s cross hung in the air. The keeper flapped and the ball fell to Chris Bush, who hooked it back across goal. Time slowed as the ball looped over the keeper and defenders, dropping down over the line where Michael Cheek smashed it home to make sure. 

In the absolute scenes that followed, ‘limbs’ I think we call it now, I nearly burst into tears as I hugged my dad, jumping up and down like a 10-year-old opening presents on Christmas Day. 1-1 against a League One team! Just writing that gives me chills down the back of my neck.

On the coach home, my dad said to me: "Andrew, what’s going on? I haven't seen you celebrate a goal like that in years!" To which I replied: "Bromley are my team now! That goal and the performance sealed it for me!" 

At the same time, I was messaging friends to say how happy I was, how much I loved football, and that I now understood the magic of the FA Cup. When I got home, I put this post on my Instagram:

Every season now, I look forward to our FA Cup ties and pray that this is the year we finally get past the first round. I know how much it would mean to me and the rest of the Bromley fanbase. 

Get past Wealdstone on Saturday, hope for a kind draw, and maybe, just maybe, this could be our year.

Do you have a poignant memory from Bromley's FA Cup adventures? Feel free to share it in the comments section below.

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