Bromley make their terrestrial TV debut on Saturday evening when they take on League One Blackpool in the FA Cup First Round with the game being shown live on BBC2.
The Ravens go into the game on a great run of form having only lost once in sixteen matches, their latest win in the National League was a 1-0 victory at Woking last Saturday thanks to a headed goal from Deji Elerewe in the second half.
The win kept Andy Woodman’s side in third place with 35 points from 18 games and on Tuesday night a strong Bromley XI defeated Redbridge 4-2 in the London Senior Cup first round at home, with goals from Noah Joyce, James Vennings and two from Bim Pepple.
The Ravens will be without loanee Lewis Leigh (Preston) for the FA Cup tie as his parent club will not allow him to be cup tied, Millwall loanee Chin Okoli and Deji Elerewe (Charlton) may also be in the same position, which may open up the opportunity for Alex Kirk and Callum Reynolds to return to the starting line up in the back three. Adam Marriott & Mitchel Bergkamp remain injured, but Woodman still has a strong squad to choose from.
Blackpool travel down from the Lancashire coast sitting in eighth place in League One with 24 points from 16 games. On Wednesday nightNeil Critchley’s side travelled to local rivals Fleetwood Town and drew 3-3 in a dramatic game that saw The Tangarines go 2-0 down before leading 3-2 and then concede an equaliser in the last minute. Sonny Carey scoring twice and Shayne Lavery also on target. Scotland international Jordan Rhodes is the club’s top scorer this season with nine goals so far.
The Tangerines have a rich FA Cup history, having won the trophy in 1953 and they were playing in the Premier League only twelve years ago, before slipping down to League Two and then working their way back up to the Championship before relegation last season. Despite the late kick off and the TV coverage Blackpool have sold almost all of their ticket allocation for the away section at Hayes Lane.
The last time Bromley made it through to the second round of the FA Cup was in 1945 and they have never beaten a Football League side in the competition, but having won the FA Trophy in 2022 and taken the club to the National league play offs twice in his tenure as manager, Andy Woodman will now be hoping his team can create more history on Saturday evening against a strong League One side on live TV.
The game is all ticket, which are priced at £20 for adults, £15 for concessions, £7 for under 16s and £5 for Under 11s, and are selling fast on the Bromley FC official website.
Kick off is at 5:45pm