The Retro File: Bromley FC 09/10 - Talented Underachievers

As the sun rose on a new campaign, Mark Goldberg limped into the Bromley dugout sporting a surgical-strength knee brace. The gaffer had suffered serious ligament damage in a Bromley Vets game earlier that year and was on the long road to recovery. Mark’s managerial career was in recovery mode, too. 

Having led Bromley into the Conference South in 06/07, his stock at Hayes Lane was high. But a mid-table finish in 08/09 had been a big wet blanket. A new season offered a fresh start, and Goldberg was bullish in his optimism. And judging by the club’s promising pre-season campaign, there was every reason to believe the hype. 

But a bad omen swiftly arrived. 

Just days before the Conference South season kicked off, one of Bromley’s key summer signings, the physically gifted striker Jacob Erskine, was poached by Gillingham having impressed their management team in a pre-season friendly at Hayes Lane. Scrambling to fill the void, Bromley fielded young defender Aaron Dalhouse as an emergency forward in their opening game; a 2-1 away win at Worcester City thanks to a late Warren McBean strike.

The Ravens’ first home game arrived a few days later with a Tuesday night fixture against Havant & Waterlooville. A 0-0 stalemate seemed to be on the cards, but two late goals from the visitors left the 500 or so Ravens fans feeling deflated. 

The team sheet that day featured a lot of talented players. Williams, Fray (O’Sullivan 82), Dunk, Corneille (Ibrahima 3), Henriques, Gillman, Carew, I’Anson, McBean, Hall, Dalhouse (Cassius 60). Subs not used: Dolby, Norval. 

This promising line-up may have started the season, but there would be a lot of comings and goings in the months ahead. In fact, by the time the final ball was kicked in 09/10, a total of forty-five players had pulled on a Bromley shirt. The lack of consistency didn’t help the club’s cause.

Two more losses followed, including a 6-1 drubbing at Eastleigh that acted as a wake-up call. In the aftermath of that humiliation, the Ravens notched an impressive run of wins that claimed the scalps of Dorchester, Chelmsford, and Lewes, and culminated in a superb 5-1 win at Weymouth. Three draws followed. The Ravens’ results were impossible to call!

This season might be best remembered for Bromley’s efforts in the FA Cup. A first-round tie against Gillingham in 2006 had whetted fans’ appetite for another big day out (or in) and Mark Goldberg’s side duly delivered. 

The run began in late September with a competent 2-0 victory over Hellenic League side Flackwell Heath (although the Ravens suffered a terrible 4-0 thumping at Maidenhead in the league a few days later). A trip to Tonbridge Angels followed, where a spectacular volley from Ryan Hall and a far-post header from Donal O’Sullivan secured a 2-0 win in front of Bromley’s healthy travelling support (an impressive 3-1 win over Woking in the league followed). 

The Ravens were one game away from securing an FA Cup first round tie, but they first had to overcome Conference Premier strugglers Ebbsfleet United at Hayes Lane. Ebbsfleet arrived with no wins in ten games, and it had been over eight hours since their last away goal, so a game against lower-league opposition offered them hope of ending their dismal run. Alas, it wasn’t to be. 

Jacob Erskine had returned to Bromley on loan from Gillingham a few days earlier and promptly bagged the opening goal in the sixth minute. Warren McBean notched two more on either side of half-time to seal an impressive 3-0 win in front of a buoyant crowd of over 1,000 fans.

When the balls were drawn for the first round proper, Bromley were handed a home tie against League One side Colchester United. It wasn’t a big day out, but it was a big day nonetheless.

In the league, a 2-0 home win over Basingstoke was followed by a tentative 0-0 draw at Bath, with both teams having one eye on their respective FA Cup fixtures the following week. 

But once again, the omens for Bromley weren’t good.

In the run-up to the FA Cup tie, star striker Warren McBean picked up a hamstring injury. There was uncertainty over whether he would feature, but when 4,242 boisterous fans packed into Hayes Lane for the visit of Colchester, they found Warren’s name in the starting line-up. Perhaps it shouldn't have been.

Despite the party atmosphere, the Bromley players were far from inspired. They froze in front of the ITV cameras and endured a 4-0 loss to a very well-organised side managed by Aidy Boothroyd. Warren McBean limped around the pitch to no avail. 

This defeat clearly affected the players’ confidence as they slipped to two defeats in quick succession; first away at Newport in the league, then at home to Maidstone in the FA Trophy.

Around this time, cult hero striker (and occasional centre-back) Donal O’Sullivan walked away from the game for personal reasons and never returned. Former Palace starlet Aaron Dalhouse also departed, and both Luke I’Anson and Mark Corneille had spells away from the club after falling out with the management team. Mark Goldberg’s coaching staff had a reshuffle, too, with Hayden Bird arriving and Barry Moore departing for a scouting role.

As autumn gave way to winter, Bromley’s form picked up. The Ravens recorded three wins and a draw in December, including a Boxing Day win at Welling, and a 3-0 success over Eastleigh that saw their summer signing, pocket-dynamo attacker Marcus Cassius, finally notch his first goal for the club. 

During this period, a host of new players arrived, including Steve Ferguson, Richard Butler, Wes Daly, and Phil Ruggles. While the squad probably needed fresh blood, the upheaval did nothing for the club’s form. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, in January, Bromley began their traditional post-Christmas slump. 

Home defeats to Welling and Maidenhead were reversed with wins at Basingstoke and Hampton, but just as fans’ hope began to return, the Ravens lost 2-1 at Havant & Waterlooville on a freezing Monday night. Bitterly cold. Bitterly disappointing.

Bromley failed to record another win until the end of February when they beat basement boys Weymouth 4-0. 

Performances during this period were disjointed to say the least, and fans began to vent their frustrations in the stands and on the internet forum. With a horde of new arrivals and little to play for, the club felt like it was in pre-season mode all over again. 

Bromley also endured their seemingly annual county cup humiliations, with Met Police dumping them out of the London Senior Cup on penalties, and Sittingbourne thrashing them 4-1 at home in the Kentish version. Both Met Police and Sittingbourne were Ryman League Division One South sides at the time.

The one bright spark in the second half of the season was the form of winger Ashley Carew, who silenced the boo-boys and internet warriors with some fantastic performances and quality penalty-taking. 

Despite their erratic form, the Ravens weren’t entirely out of the play-off conversation. A come-from-behind 3-3 draw at West Super Mare was followed by a 2-0 win over Worcester City that gave fans a glimmer of hope. This couldn’t be another of Bromley’s great revivals, could it?

No. 

A 94th-minute heartbreaker at Dover handed Bromley a 1-0 loss that killed their play-off hopes in an instant. The 09/10 season was officially a dud.

Two months of underwhelming displays followed, with the Ravens losing five more times and drawing twice. With nothing to play for, Warren McBean, the club’s top scorer for the second season in a row, was loaned out to promotion-chasing Chelmsford to reduce the wage bill. Warren marked his debut for the Clarets with a goal against Bromley in a thrilling 3-3 draw. That game was also notable for rangy defender Jerome Sobers scoring his first goal for Bromley in injury time.

Bromley slumped to 13th in the league and crowds voted with their feet, turning the stands of Hayes Lane into a ghost town. It was a sour end to a season that had promised so much. 

Then, out of the blue, the Ravens finished the campaign with a resounding 6-3 win at Thurrock, playing with an attacking freedom and confidence that had been missing since the Ebbsfleet game in October. Where had this team been hiding?

That win secured a 12th-place finish; the Ravens’ second mid-table finish in a row under Mark Goldberg. To his credit, Mark apologised to the fans for the disappointing finish to the season and admitted that perhaps he had raised expectations too high.

In reality, there was no reason for him not to aim high. Newport County aside, the standard of teams in Bromley’s league was poor that year. Given the quality of players at Mark’s disposal, it felt like a golden opportunity wasted.

On the bright side, Bromley could gear up for their fourth consecutive season in the Conference South, the highest level of football in the club’s history at that point in time. 

Young left-back Harrison Dunk won the supporters’ Player of the Season in 09/10. A season later, he became yet another Bromley player who successfully stepped up into the Football League. Following his impressive spell at Hayes Lane, Harrison spent well over a decade with Cambridge United, racking up nearly 400 appearances. He became a free agent this summer for the first time since 2011.

Ryan Hall also had an interesting journey in the aftermath of this season. A summer move to League Two Southend United acted as a springboard for the talented midfielder, and his impressive performances later persuaded Championship club Leeds United to take a punt on him. 

That move didn’t work out, but Ryan bounced around in the Football League for five years, making stops at Sheffield United, MK Dons, Rotherham, Notts County, and Luton, with a couple of short spells at Bromley thrown in for good measure.

In February 2024, Ryan scored what may be the world’s fastest-ever goal for AFC Croydon Athletic, netting in just 2.31 seconds straight from the kick-off. As Bromley fans will tell you, Ryan has previous for scoring from the halfway line.

Another positive spin was that Bromley’s academy sides fared well in 09/10, with the Blues reaching the national final and the under-18s doing well in the FA Youth Cup. The reserves also reached a cup final and won their league in their debut season, so it wasn’t all bad.     

Fifteen years later, many of the teams in the 09/10 Conference South remain at that level or one rung below. 

Newport County and Bromley have risen highest and will face off in League Two in 24/25. Braintree Town, Maidenhead Utd, Woking, and Eastleigh are all in the National League. Worcester City, who lost their St George’s Lane ground in 2013 and had to drop down into County League Football, are now slowly clawing their way back up the pyramid. 

However, both Thurrock and Staines Town have gone out of business completely, which is a very sorry state of affairs. Our club came perilously close to the same fate in 14/15, which I covered in a previous Retro File article. Give it a read if you haven’t already. 

Perhaps we don’t realise how lucky we are. 

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