Sunday sees what can probably be described as Bromley’s most important game in their 132 year history, when they take on Solihull Moors in the National League Play Off Final at Wembley Stadium.
A win for The Ravens will see them promoted to the Football League for the first time, becoming part of the 92 and all that comes with it.
In twenty years the Hayes Lane club have risen from Isthmian League Division One South to the brink of the Football League, two promotions via play offs and one league title, some of us who have been on board for the whole ride have to pinch ourselves to make sure this is really happening.
When I first walked through the turnstiles in 1977 as a six year old, the club were playing in Isthmian League Division One and regularly moved up and down between Division One and the Premier Division right up until 2007 when we were promoted to the National League South.
Two sides of Hayes Lane pretty much remain the same as they were 47 years ago, with the other two unrecognisable and there will no doubt be a lot more change should Andy Woodman’s side get the win on Sunday.
The most urgent being the need to replace the 3G pitch with a grass one and have it ready for action in August!
The game itself is impossible to call, in three meetings across the season each team has won once and the other was a 1-1 draw at Solihull in September.
The FA Trophy semi final on 6th April saw The Moors win 2-1 at Hayes Lane, but when they met again a week later in the league, Bromley won 3-0.
The Ravens have striker Michael Cheek who has scored 21 this campaign and notched over 20 goals a season ever since signing for the club in 2019, but goals have beed distributed around the team recently.
Andy Whing’s side finished fifth with 76 points and have beaten Halifax Town 4-2 at home and Barnet 4-0 away to book their place in the play off final and two visits to Wembley in a week with the FA Trophy final on 11th May.
The Moors have also never played in the Football League, although they did reach the play off final back in 2022, losing to Grimsby Town at The London Stadium.
By finishing third, Bromley jumped straight to the semi final and came from behind to beat Altrincham 3-1 on Sunday at a sold out Hayes Lane with a double from Myles Weston and the other from Academy product Jude Arthurs to earn their place in the final.
Since taking over as manager in March 2021, Andy Woodman’s side have rarely disappointed on the big occasions and the progress has been notable.
Play offs in 2021, FA Trophy winners in 2022, Play Off semi finalists in 2023 and now play off finalists this year, finishing third and registering a record points tally of 81 from 46 games, only conceding 49 goals in the league.
A feat made more remarkable by the fact The Ravens didn’t pick up a league win in their first five matches of the season.
For The Ravens there are injury doubts over Brentford bound Ben Krauhaus who had to go off against Altrincham and also Josh Passley who didn’t feature in the match. Bes Topalloj and Deje Elerewe have also been out of action over the last few weeks, but Myles Weston and Idris Odutayo have proved themslevs in the wing back positions.
Tickets have sold well so far, Bromley selling close to 15,000, including 6,000 in the first few hours of the sale on Monday, which are available direct from the Wembley Stadium website. Although they certainly don’t come cheap at £38 or £40 for adults and £18 concessions tickets only available in certain areas of the stadium.
The appetitie of the Bromley public to watch The Ravens has increased dramtically in recent times, with last week’s play off semi final selling out along with the FA Cup game against Blackpool in November.
Solihull’s sales have been slower, but their fans have to weigh up the cost of two trips to Wembley in six days! It is also being shown live on TNT Sports, kick off at 3pm.
This game is almost impossible to call as they two teams are so evenly matched and have had impressive campiagns to this point. A momentous day awaits, there will be a lot of nerves no doubt and one team will be making history, taking their first steps into the Football League.
Picture supplied by Ed Boyden.