The quest for the Holy Grail
Tales of woe from the FA Cup 1st Round
With the 2022/23 FA Cup starting for thousands of non-league clubs this Saturday, it seemed like a good time to look back at Bromley’s brushes with FA Cup fame: a holy grail that has always eluded them.
My first experience of Bromley playing in the FA Cup first round proper came when I was six years old, way back in 1977. I watched Grandstand intently, wondering how my local team, who I had only recently discovered, would do away at Swindon Town. When the result came through on the Vidiprinter it wasn’t good news. Swindon Town 7 (seven) Bromley 0.
It had been 0-0 until the last twenty minutes, but then the gap in fitness opened up and the Division Three side dismantled the boys from the Isthmian League Division One. Little did I know, it would be another nineteen years before Bromley reached that stage of the competition again.
There were a couple of near misses. The Ravens felt the sting of fourth qualifying round defeats against Conference opposition (at home to Maidstone Utd 2-0 in 1984 and away at Welling Utd 5-2 in 1989), but that was as good as it got until 1996. That season, George Wakeling's side defeated Viking Sports, Crawley Town, St Leonards (after a replay) and then, sweetest of all, Sutton Utd 1-0 in the fourth qualifying round. After nineteen years, Bromley were back in the first round proper.
The draw came straight after a game at Hayes Lane and the bar was packed. We hoped to witness Bromley being drawn at home to one of the big boys. And we were drawn at home. But a huge groan of disappointment erupted as we got paired with Enfield.
Enfield were top of our league, the Isthmian Premier Division, and we had always struggled to beat them. In my time watching Bromley, I could only recall two heroic 1-0 away wins and a lot of defeats.
On a chaotic Saturday afternoon in November 1996, Hayes Lane was packed to the rafters. Rumour has it that 3,500 flooded through the turnstiles that day. Bromley raced to a 1-0 lead through veteran striker Conrad Kane, but that was as good as it got. The game ended 3-1 to Enfield, who cruised to victory thanks to a Steve West hat-trick.
It would be another ten years before Bromley would grace the first round proper. We were knocked out at the first qualifying stage by Staines Town in 1997 and again by Hassocks in 2001. A near miss in the fourth qualifying round of 2005 saw us lose 1-0 at home to Conference side Aldershot Town, who were two divisions above us. Then, twelve months later, with Mark Goldberg at the helm in his debut season, we finally got there.
Wins over AFC Totton, Lowestoft Town, Hayes, and Grays Athletic saw us book a place in the televised draw. This time we would play away at Kent’s only Football League club, Gillingham. With Gillingham just a twenty-minute train ride from Bromley South, we took over 1,500 fans to Priestfield and had the open away end rocking.
Despite being four levels below The Gills of League One, we only trailed 2-1 with a couple of minutes to go. But two late goals meant the tie ended 4-1. The memory of Nic McDonnell’s goal in front of the travelling fans will live long in the hearts of those lucky enough to witness it. We all went home thinking that the final score was harsh on the plucky Ravens.
Three years later, in 2009, we were at it again. Bromley, now in the Conference South, were drawn at home to League One Colchester Utd. The game was moved to a 1 pm kick-off and the ITV cameras were there to record the highlights.
Sadly, there weren’t any. Mark Goldberg’s side lost 4-0 to Aidy Boothroyd’s team of giants, who looked like they would score from every corner. We barely laid a glove on them. The performance wasn’t helped by an injury to top scorer Warren McBean who struggled to get through the match.
Our Conference South league status meant we were starting in the second qualifying round, so the odds of an FA Cup run and a draw against a Football League side increased. But, whenever we got there, the results and performances were disappointing.
2012 saw a 3-0 defeat at Leyton Orient. That game featured a red card for Aaron Rhule after a clash with George Porter and a number of missed chances in the first half, all of which left Ravens fans wondering what might have been.
2013 added to our misery with another 3-0 loss to a League One opposition, this time away at Fleetwood Town. With Moses Swaibu suspended after a red card in the previous round, a makeshift back four were bullied by big John Parkin and the Ravens failed to muster a worthwhile challenge.
2014 gifted us a home draw with Dartford. The Darts were in the National League and Bromley were top of the division below. Hayes Lane was close to capacity that day, and those who packed the terraces witnessed one of the most pulsating and enthralling cup ties you could ever wish to see. But, again, it would end in defeat. Bromley conceded four goals from corners and lost 4-3 to their local rivals. That was a tough one to take.
Our promotion to the National League in 2015 means that, to this day, we only have one qualifying round to contend with. But, whenever we reach the first round, the results are invariably rubbish.
A 4-0 humbling away at Rochdale in 2017 was probably the worst performance of the lot. The Dale raced into an early lead, picking us off with balls over the top to their pacey forwards, and we never got going.
Then came a home game with Steve Evans’ Peterborough Utd in 2018. A capacity Hayes Lane crowd witnessed a really promising start, with Bromley taking the lead through experienced centre-half Roger Johnson. But then, just before half-time, Frankie Raymond was sent off for a clumsy foul and Peterborough equalised from the resulting free kick. Two second-half goals from the visitors saw us lose 3-1. Yet again, we were left wondering what might have been.
Only in 2019 did Bromley put on a show we could be proud of. Away at Bristol Rovers, despite a dogged performance, Neil Smith’s team were losing 1-0 as the game ticked into the final minutes. We were down to ten men, too, due to an injury. Step forward Chris Bush. He hooked home an equaliser from a hard-earned corner, sparking some of the wildest celebrations I’ve ever seen from Bromley’s travelling support.
Around 4,000 fans were packed into Hayes Lane for the replay, which was played out in front of the BT Sport cameras. We put in a great performance but lost 1-0 to the League One team, with a Michael Cheek goal incorrectly disallowed for offside. This is the proudest I’ve ever felt about a Bromley FA Cup exit.
Yeovil Town proved to be a bogey side yet again in 2020. In a game played behind closed doors at Hayes Lane due to Covid, Yeovil nabbed a sickening last-minute winner from a free kick.
This brings us to 2021. In his first full season in charge, Andy Woodman took his side to League One title challengers Rotherham Utd. It would be an all too familiar story. The Ravens were 2-0 down by half-time, and ill-fated loanee Haji Mnoga’s red card only added to the misery in the second half. In the end, we lost 3-0 to a Millers side who barely had to raise a sweat.
Flipping through the pages of Muriel Searle’s incredible Bromley FC centenary history book, it seems we’ve never beaten Football League opposition in the FA Cup. And the only time we progressed to the second round in 1945, we lost over two legs to Watford, losing 3-1 at Hayes Lane and then drawing 1-1 at Vicarage Road.
There have been plenty of hard luck stories and near misses over the years, but Bromley always seem to freeze on big FA Cup occasions and fluff their lines in front of packed houses.
As we head into 2022/23, we can only hope this is the campaign that finally sees history made. Imagine: Bromley progressing beyond round one of the FA Cup. Maybe we’ll even secure a win over a Football League club to do it.
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Succinctly written. Col is clearly a fellow dreamer.