|
|
 |
|
|
Cray Wanderers & New Bromleians Football Club |
In 2006 and to recognise the close connection between the Club and Cray Wanderers FC, New Bromleians changed their name to Cray W&NB FC (Cray Wanderers and New Bromleians FC).
This coincided with the Club moving the First Team ground to Oxford Road, where they groundshare with Cray Wanderers Reserves.
Additionally in 2006, the Club also introduced a Youth Section which contains an Under 10 team who participate within the Under 10 A Division of the Tandridge League.
|
|
New Bromleians Football Club |
New Bromleians was formed in 1999 when a group of friends decided to leave Old Bromleians FC because they were unable to all play together.
Original members included Luca Viggiani, Lorenzo Floravanti, Jason Haddon, and Rob Greenoak.
Under the direction of Ian Scott the team was formed and was entered into the Bromley and District league and was given the name of New Bromleians FC.
The first season was a struggle with a shortage of players, disappointing results along with the rigours of carrying the goals out to the almost unplayable surface at the first pitch in Chislehurst.
Fortunately, during the season new players arrived and whilst the team were relegated, the season did end on a high, by winning the Tom Cooper Trophy. It was during this time that the current First Team manager joined the club (Simon Jones).
Under the new guidance of Simon management and Ian's adminstrative ability saw the club tranformed and over the next three years we saw the Club claim Divisional Titles in the Second, First and then the Premier Divisions of the Bromley and District League.
This final success allowed the club to enter the prestigious Kent County Football League, where the first team remains to this day.
During this period the club grew and in 2004 the Reserve team was formed and was initially managed by Ian Scott, and then by Sean Powell, and is now currently under Chris Ojo's direction.
This team is still finding its feet and has gradually improved, and to date they play within the First Division of the Bromley and District League.
|
|
Cray Wanderers Football Club |
Cray Wanderers FC were founded in 1860 and hold the distinction of being the second-oldest football club in the world. Sheffield FC, founded in 1857, are the oldest. Notts County, founded in 1862, are the oldest Football League club.
The first origins of Cray Wanderers are linked to the construction of the London, Chatham and Dover railway line during 1858 to 1860. During their leisure time, workers kicked a ball around, and that is how the club originated in the St Mary Cray village. The pitch at Star Lane is now a cemetery, and is located close to the nine-arch railway viaduct that spans the Cray Valley.
Cray Wanderers were a strong force in senior county football at the turn of the 19th into the 20th century. After being Kent Junior Cup semi-finalists and finalists in 1890/91 and 1891/92, they entered the first ever FA Amateur Cup competition in 1893/94. They had a spell as a professional club between 1895 and 1907. They were a nursery club for Woolwich Arsenal during part of this period. They were one of the founder members of the Kent league in 1894/95, and they won the championship in 1901/02. Other honours includeed the Southern Suburban League champions in 1898/99, West Kent League champions in 1903/04 and Kent Senior Cup runners up in 1899/1900. Also worth a mention is Cray reaching the final of the Sevenoaks Charity Cup in 1895/96. The match was played at the famous Crystal Palace ground, which was the Victorian equivalent of playing at Wembley! Cray lost 0-1 to Sheppey in the final.
After World War One, Cray switched to the London League where they remained until 1934. In 1930/31 they won the Kent Amateur Cup, having been losing finalists in 1927/28 and 1928/29. They were again losing finalists in 1931/32. Cray rejoined the Kent League in 1934/35, but their four year stay came to grief when 1937 saw the loss of the Fordcroft ground in Cray Avenue, their home since 1898. Cray were forced to drop into a lower level of football, as they drifted from one temporary pitch to another and the club committee dwindled to a perilously small number. The team played in the Kent Amateur League and the South London Alliance, with very little success.
1951/52 heralded a new era, and an upturn in the club’s fortunes, when local businessman Mick Slater took over the helm. The club was elected to the London League and regained its senior status. Cray moved to a new ground at Grassmeade in 1954. Their stay was a very successful period in the club’s history. After winning the London League Cup in 1954/55, Cray won the London League championship in 1956/57 and 1957/58. In 1959 they were founder members of the Aetolian League. They won the championship in 1962/63, and the League Cup the year after. The Aetolian League amalgamated with the London League to form the Greater London League in 1964/65 and Cray won the League Cup that year. The following year Cray won the championship, along with the League Cup again. They won the Kent Amateur Cup for three years running 1962/63 to 1964/65 and in 1967/68 they had their best ever run in the FA Amateur Cup, reaching the third round (last 16).
By now, managed by Norman Golding the ex-QPR winger, Cray had joined the Metropolitan League where they played for five seasons commencing in 1966/67. Playing against the ‘A’ teams of Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham, they encountered budding young stars such as Charlie George, Clyde best and Trevor Brooking. Cray won the Metropolitan League Cup in 1970/71. In 1971/72 the Metropolitan London League was created by a merger of the Metropolitan League and the Greater London League. You’ll notice that Cray made several switches from one league to another during the period from 1959 to 1972. This was because it was a time when amateur football generally in the Home Counties underwent non-stop structural change. Mick Slater wanted to see the Wands gain election to the prestigious Athenian League, but despite Cray’s numerous successes during the 1960s it never happened. The loss of Grassmeade in 1973 put a temporary end to Mick’s ambitions and forced the club to stay rooted at Metropolitan London League level.
Cray moved to Oxford Road, on the borders of Foots Cray and Sidcup, in 1973/74. Setbacks quickly followed when Mick Slater died in 1974 and the dressing rooms were burned down a year later. But success on the field was quite constant in the 1970s under managers John Biddle and Jimmy Wakeling. In 1974/75 Cray won the Metropolitan London League and the League Cup, scoring 170 goals in all matches that season. In 1976/77 and 1977/78 Cray won the London Spartan League championship. This was yet another new league that had been created, this time involving a merger between the Metropolitan London and the Spartan. Cray enjoyed a memorable FA Cup run in 1976/77, beating Erith & Belvedere and then Maidstone United (then of the Southern League Premier Division) before losing to Bromley in a dramatic 3rd qualifying round tie that brought a large crowd to Oxford Road. This was Cray’s equal best-ever FA Cup run - they also reached the 3rd qualifying round in 1967/68 when they lost to Dagenham.
Cray decided to return to the Kent League in 1978/79. They remained in that league until 2004. Success came quickly because Cray won the championship in 1980/81, having been runners up the year before. The 1979/80 season will be better remembered for Cray’s feats in the FA Vase. Harry Richardson assembled one of the best Wanderers sides in living memory - perhaps only the 1967/68 side can be held in the same esteem - and they reached the FA Vase quarter final before their dreams were dashed in extra time by eventual winners Stamford. Cray reached the FA Vase last 16 in 1980/81, but after that the 1980s decade brought only one more piece of silverware, the Kent League Cup in 1983/84. For the 125th anniversary celebration in 1985/86, the Wands staged three prestigious friendly matches that drew an aggregate attendance of more than 1,000 spectators to Oxford Road. The opposing sides were Arsenal, Charlton Athletic and Wimbledon. The ex-England skipper Gerry Francis played in the Wimbledon team.
After finishing Kent League runners up in 1990/91, Cray had a lean period during most of the 1990s, with the exception of 1992/93 when they won the Kent Senior Trophy. On the day that Cray took the field at Gillingham in the final, they were bottom of the table in the Kent League, but they beat Whitstable Town 1-0 and they subsequently improved their league placing. Oxford Road remained a fairly basic ground, although a few improvements were made in 1992/93, and again in 1993/94 when the reborn Dartford FC had a one-year groundshare with the Wands. A new club chairman, Gary Hillman, arrived in 1994/95 to provide enthusiastic new leadership and sponsorship from the family business. The Wands faced another crisis in 1998/99 when the Kent League brought in their new rule that all Premier Division member clubs must have floodlights at their home grounds. Like many of their neighbouring clubs in the built-up metropolis of North Kent, the Wands couldn’t comply. Fortunately, a groundshare with Bromley FC at Hayes Lane was arranged, and so began another new era for a club whose name of ‘Wanderers’ seems to be very appropriate! The club duly played its first team matches at Hayes Lane but maintained its headquarters at Oxford Road for reserve and youth teams fixtures. Ian Jenkins was appointed player-manager of the first team and his 2001/02 side was hailed as one of the most impressive teams seen in the amber and black for several years. In expectation that the team might finish first or second in the Kent League that season, plans were formulated to apply for promotion to the Dr Martens Souther League. In the end, a late-season slump saw the Wands fall down the table. More disappointing still, the Wands reached their first cup final for nine years, but in the final of the Kent Senior Trophy they were beaten at Fisher Athletic by Thamesmead Town.
The 2002/03 season became the most successful ever in Cray Wanderers’ history thus far. It was the season of the “double double”. Cray’s first team won the Kent League championship and the Kent League Cup. The reserve team repeated this feat, winning the Division One (North) championship and the Division One League Cup. But better was to come in the 2003/04 season, when the Wands retained the Kent League Championship and also won the Kent Senior Trophy, having been losing finalists in the two previous seasons. They also reached the quarter finals of the FA Vase once more, before being knocked out by eventual finalists AFC Sudbury in extra time. This disappointment was subsequently sweetened by the fact that Cray went on to secure promotion to the Ryman (Isthmian) League Division One for 2004/05. The reserves, meanwhile, finished mid-table but secured the Reserves' League Cup and the Kent Intermediate Cup to round off another superb season for the club.
The 2004/05 inaugural season in the Ryman (Isthmian) League proved to be better than most supporters had ever hoped for. Despite drawing a high percentage of their games, the Wands managed to finish a creditable 6th, and qualified for the promotion play-offs to the Premier Division in their first season. In the play-off semi-final Cray were drawn away to Horsham, who had finished third and just missed out on an automatic promotion place. Although the Wanderers started the game well, they finally succumbed in extra time, thus placing any further advancement up the non-league pyramid on 'hold' for the time being. Despite the disappointment of missing out on a second successive promotion, the season as a whole can be viewed as being very successful.
|
|
|
|
|
