Bromley FC - The Lowdown
Our resident non-league expert, Scott Robson, gives us an in-depth assessment of our Cup opponents. Spoiler - it won't be pretty!
Newcastle in the FA Cup against a team from South London who are immaculate from dead balls sends a shudder down the spine for fans of a certain age. The Crazy Gang of Wimbledon not only made me cry in the fifth round in 1988, but they went on to win the thing in one of the greatest FA Cup final shocks against Liverpool.
I'm not quite saying Bromley are going to beat us and go on to win it, but the Ravens will be channeling the spirit of the Dons when they venture up for one of the biggest days in their history this weekend.
Make no mistake, this won't be easy.
Bromley are appearing in the Football League for the first time this season and it caps a magnificent change of fortunes for the club. Fans must be rubbing their eyes at the prospect of a sell out away end at St James’ Park and going there with a chance. Twenty years is a long time in football but for Bromley this has been a meteoric rise.
In 2004 Bromley were in the second tier of the Isthmian League, won by a reformed Wimbledon (Them again) and playing at the same level as Dunston and Heaton Stannington currently are, in the Northern equivalent. Although hopes are high with Stan at the minute, it's going to take some romance to see the Football League at Grounsell Park in twenty years. Where would everyone park for one?
It's hard to say that Bromley’s rise has been due to the usual story of spending above their means. Promotion to the top tier of non-league football came in 2014, and in every one of the years they were in the National League, they seemed to have another stand in situ when the goal highlights were on BT. Stealthily, they were building something, and after a shock win at Wembley, they won the FA Trophy against Wrexham in 2023.
Take that Reynolds. Ryan, not George.
Three times they reached the playoffs before finally getting promoted last year with a penalty shoot out win at Wembley against Solihull (who were also beaten by Gateshead in the Trophy final days before)
It was a personal career high for one Andy Woodman, now Bromley manager. Woodman provides one of the few links between the sides.
Woodman will certainly be remembered if you were smack bang in the middle of the Ashley vortex at the time. Brought in by Alan Pardew as goalkeeping coach he was at regular pains to point out that Ashley was “a great guy” and that “Mike Ashley is a good person, I don't care what the fans think”. Woodman and John Carver were forced to apologise in the aftermath of a crazy altercation with fans BEFORE we played at Southampton. He then put something very ill-advised on Twitter the next day considering fans had travelled ten hours to see us lose 4-0. It was very quickly deleted.
They both apologised in the days ahead, both thinly veiled statements that had Ashley all over them. Woodman has since admitted on various podcasts that he was offered his bizarre eight-year contract over shots at half past midnight in ‘As you like it’ in Jesmond. The day before a game.
Peak Ashley. Loyalty does pay.
Unfortunately for Woodman, he gets put on the list. He was in illustrious company in the bad books. Club legends Beardsley, Moncur, and (cough) Ameobi on the naughty step next to him. Or were we the bad guys for still going to watch? I can't remember.
Woodman left when Steve McLaren took over halfway through that eight-year deal “feeling uncomfortable” with the new regime. Me and him had something in common at last. Andy's son Freddy also played for us four times over six years, despite us being told he was world class.
He obviously loved his time at Newcastle and who wouldn't take that sort of offer, but after a spell at Arsenal he took the plunge himself with his first managerial job in Easter 2021 with the Ravens. The world held its breath.
As you can see above, it's gone ok. He's transformed the club and he's still doing it. Bromley play a brand of football that's highly effective and one which will give bloody noses whether you are Newcastle or the Met Police (regular opponents over the last twenty years)
They press hard.Very hard. And dead balls? 31 goals scored and most of them from corners and a lot from free kicks also.
Playing the percentages doesn't come close to describing it. Against Newport recently they won 5-2. Four came from corners. Cameron Congreve, Ben Thompson, Jude Arthurs and Lewis Leigh take a bow. Those are the corner takers and they've certainly been doing their job.
They are obviously sprinkled with a lot of former non-league players. Ones who are hungry to prove themselves at this level. Michael Cheek has been with them since 2019 and has scored 97 goals since, including a Wembley winner. He's really enjoyed the rise to the league. and he's scored a goal every other game this season. He's also won 97 percent of aerial duels this year. Meanwhile Omar Sowunmi has played as low as the Eastern League before, and he has had a real breakout season this year in defence or attack.
Bromley started off well with a couple of wins, but then went on a run of 13 games without a win which pointed to going back quickly where they'd come from. They tried to change too much and Woodman took them back to basics. This has resulted in a huge upturn, and it's not out of the question that they could push for the playoffs again.
People don't like playing them at all. They went on an unbeaten 13 game run which included a Christmas derby hammering of Gillingham, but lost 4-1 to Crewe last time out. One eye on St James’ maybe.
Just after the draw was made, they got another huge boost when American businessman Anthony Serafino, a vegetable magnate and only 32, acquired a minority stake, buying from the long-term chairman and his vice-chairman. Cue some headlines if they win. Howe as a turnip?
Fans are excited, but wary of it breaking the obvious community spirit they have down there. He has already said he will build them another new stand for me to notice on goal highlights.
Since the draw was made Newcastle have really stepped it up. We should win comfortably, but this is Newcastle we are talking about and here we have a side who are capable of causing us bother if we aren't on it. You have been warned.
Scott Robson
Image - Martin Addison / Hayes Lane Stadium / CC BY-SA 2.0
I really enjoy reading Scott’s stuff and I enjoy it even more when he mentions the Stan! League 2, here we come (in 2044)!