The rise of Bromley FC
A local football club redefined by one manager and resilient aspiration
Bromley FC are a football club that has been knocking on the door of something more for a long time.
Since being promoted to the National League - Britain's highest tier of non-professional football - at the end of the 2014/15 season, Bromley have pushed the limits of expectation.
Bromley's updated exterior sign and modest car park at Hayes Lane. The neighbouring horse paddock is occasionally used on match days as overflow car parking. Image credit: Mitchell Hall
Bromley's updated exterior sign and modest car park at Hayes Lane. The neighbouring horse paddock is occasionally used on match days as overflow car parking. Image credit: Mitchell Hall
A club of modest size, tucked away in a stadium hidden between suburban housing and a horse paddock on Hayes Lane, Bromley FC could have been content with their new National League standing. But their level kept rising.
In the 2017-18 campaign, manager Neil Smith secured the club their first appearance in an FA Trophy final. The trophy is the pinnacle of semi-professional football in the UK, with the final being held at the iconic Wembley Stadium. It was a stark change in venue from the regional league that the club had been competing in just three years earlier. Bromley led the contest for 77 minutes, but were denied the silverware after a 95th minute equaliser for Brackley Town, who would later win it all on penalties.
The Ravens plays on their home pitch on Hayes Lane, a pitch only upgraded from artificial plastic turf in the summer of 2024. Image credit: Mitchell Hall
The Ravens plays on their home pitch on Hayes Lane, a pitch only upgraded from artificial plastic turf in the summer of 2024. Image credit: Mitchell Hall
A goal that late would be a gut punch for any side that had held the lead for so long, but it would prove to be a small speed bump on Bromley's journey up the football pyramid. The holy grail was always promotion to the English Football League.
Andy Woodman
A new face at the helm in south London
In March of the 2020-21 season, Bromley hit a rough patch of form which left them at risk of falling out of the National League Playoff spots. After five years of mid-table finishes, this was the club's first chance to push themselves into the promotion picture. A thumping 3-1 defeat at the hands of Sutton was enough to push Bromley to make their move, sacking their manager of five years, Neil Smith, and soon announcing his replacement, Arsenal's then-head of goalkeeping, Andy Woodman.
Bromley players sign autographs and take pictures with fans after the final game of the 2024/25 season. Image credit: Mitchell Hall
Bromley players sign autographs and take pictures with fans after the final game of the 2024/25 season. Image credit: Mitchell Hall
Playoffs prove too much for Bromley again
Woodman's debut game got off to a rough start, finding his side 2-0 down inside the opening 20 minutes against Wealdstone. But, in a result that foreshadowed the spirit that fans say Woodman has instilled in the team, they would come back from behind to secure a point. Bromley went on to make the playoffs in seventh place, one single point ahead of eighth place Wrexham. They failed to make it further than the opening round of the playoffs, falling to a narrow defeat at the hands of Hartlepool, but Bromley were building momentum with their season-on-season improvements.
Bromley's Broomfield's bar opened in 2022, attached to the Glyn Beverly stand which had only been redeveloped three years earlier. Image credit: Mitchell Hall
Bromley's Broomfield's bar opened in 2022, attached to the Glyn Beverly stand which had only been redeveloped three years earlier. Image credit: Mitchell Hall
Silverware
Optimistic fans were vindicated next season, but not in the way they might have expected. Bromley fell to a 10th place finish, comfortably outside the playoff places, but a strong FA Trophy run led all the way to the finals, and gave fans another trip to Wembley, this time facing Welsh club Wrexham. Fresh off the back of their Hollywood takeover, Wrexham were an outfit with far more financial firepower than the clubs around them, making Bromley's eventual 1-0 victory all the more surprising. Bromley's victory would gain them infamy as a villain of the first season of Wrexham's docuseries 'Welcome to Wrexham.' Silverware had come to South London.
Graph by Mitchell Hall via Flourish
Back in the playoffs
Bromley's absence from the playoffs only lasted one year, with the 2022-23 season seeing the Ravens secure another seventh place finish and another shot at promotion. They did better than their previous attempt as they swept Woking aside in the quarter finals, but eventual playoff winners Chesterfield proved too much for them in the semis. It was another setback for the club at the final hurdle, with a pattern emerging of Bromley being unable to carry their league form into the high pressure environment of a deep playoff run.
Promotion to the EFL
Third time is the charm
Bromley featured consecutively in the National League playoff picture after they battled their way to a third place finish in the league in the 2023-24 season, booking their spot in the playoffs before brushing Altrincham aside to face Solihull Moors in the final. A close-run 2-2 draw gave way to penalties, with club captain Byron Webster called upon to take the game-winning kick. The ex-Millwall man could be seen grinning before firing it home to send his side into professional football for the first time in its history.
Defying expectations
Bromley's promotion to the EFL for the first time made them a small fish in a big pond, and left them among the favourites to suffer immediate relegation back to non-league football. Bromley's odds of relegation sat at 3/1 going into the season, with only Morecambe being deemed more likely to go down at 5/2.* Their lack of resources forced them to rely on loan deals and short-term contracts to strengthen their squad, including the loan signing of Crystal Palace youngster Danny Imray and the surprise acquisition of ex-Arsenal and West Ham full-back Carl Jenkinson. The success of this approach was evident in the league table, as after the opening two matches of the season, Bromley stunned the bookmakers to sit top of the table with two consecutive 2-0 wins.
*Odds correct as of 11am Friday August 2nd 2024. Odds via https://www.freebets.com/news/league-two-season-preview-latest-odds-predictions-202425/
Oliver Carter is a boyhood Bromley fan who also volunteers on the club's official match-day commentary team. He spoke about the facets of an Andy Woodman team that made their rise up the football ranks possible. He said:
"I really enjoy watching Bromley play. When I go to Bromley and I commentate, I enjoy watching the games. The style that Woodman has in place is brilliant. Bromley can play passing football, but they can also go direct. Michael Cheek is so good in the air, Danny Imray can get in behind, he has used the players that he has had in a very impressive way.
"With a team that is run by Woodman, you always know that they are going to put in 100 percent no matter what the game is, whether it is a pre-season friendly, a dead rubber or a cup final.
"It was not an easy job for him to come into either. Everyone at the club absolutely adored Neil Smith, he was a great manager for Bromley and I do not think Bromley fans are used to changing managers."
Bromley's stadium, featuring a temporary section of seating on the right side of the far stand, and ongoing construction on the new East Stand running the length of the pitch. Image credit: Mitchell Hall
Bromley's stadium, featuring a temporary section of seating on the right side of the far stand, and ongoing construction on the new East Stand running the length of the pitch. Image credit: Mitchell Hall
While this initial success would fade from its peak, Bromley settled around the upper mid-table places of League Two, looking assured in their place as they took points off of some of the strongest teams in the division, including doing the double over eventual champions Doncaster Rovers. A final day drubbing of Cheltenham Town ultimately left the club just four points adrift of the League Two playoff places, a strong return for their maiden EFL campaign considering their long odds at the start of the season.
Bromley's reputation in British football is changing as a result of the success. Archie Corbett grew up locally, but only began following the club at the beginning of this season as Bromley correspondent for stats organisation 'Opta'. He said:
“I didn't really follow non-league football a whole lot, and I was pretty surprised when I saw that Bromley were on the brink of going up to League Two. I knew they were in and around the National League, but if you put me on the spot last season I probably would have said the National League South, [two tiers below League Two] which just shows how meteoric their rise has been.
"This season has flipped my perception of Bromley on its head. Teams that come up traditionally do pretty well, so you fancy them to stay up, but it is the manner in which they have stayed up that has really impressed me, and the fact that they were pushing for playoffs at one point in the season.
“This season has shown me that this isn't just empty potential, this is a club that can really do something with the facilities and the recruitment that it has got. I think what they are building there is fantastic, and I think non-fans are realising that as well.”
Andy Woodman addresses the fans after a 3-0 victory over Cheltenham Town on the final day of the 2024-25 season. Video credit: Mitchell Hall
Andy Woodman addresses the fans after a 3-0 victory over Cheltenham Town on the final day of the 2024-25 season. Video credit: Mitchell Hall
But despite having what neutral parties such as Corbett see as a hugely successful season, Woodman was less than satisfied with his club's debut campaign in professional football. He said:
"I think on the outside everyone will rate it as a successful season, because I think we were the favourites to go down. If you want my honest truth, I am a bit disappointed. I am a bit disappointed we are not higher, up in the playoffs, because that is what I set out to do.
"I have said to the lads, we have got to go again now, and when you are watching everyone else jostling for places in the playoffs, that is where we want to be."
Woodman pulled no punches in setting out his team's hopes in the wake of their 11th-place finish, but to really understand the lofty ambitions of the club, you have to look at the changes going on behind the scenes and off the pitch.
Infographic by Mitchell Hall via Canva
Infographic by Mitchell Hall via Canva
"My job won't be done here until I get this club into League One."
Andy Woodman
A New Bromley FC
In December, Bromley became the latest in a string of League Two and EFL clubs to receive American investment, with businessman Anthony Serafino acquiring a minority stake in the club. Such investment is becoming a trend across British football, driven in part thanks to the aforementioned Hollywood takeover of Wrexham, who have enjoyed three successive promotions since a group including film and TV stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenny first took over in 2020.
The effects of Serafino's investment were plain to see, with the club announcing that his initial investment would go towards funding the development of the new East Stand, set to house more than 2,000 fans, and matching the recently constructed Glyn Beverly Stand.
Construction began on the project in early 2025, with games continuing to be played as usual with the site taking up one full length of the pitch. The physical changes of the stadium loomed over the team's late-season run of form, embodying the changing status of the club as they climbed the table and threatened to break into the playoff spots.
Boyhood Bromley fan Oliver Carter noted the changing environment at the club, he said:
"It's definitely exciting. When I was younger Bromley's ground was nothing like it is today. I probably started going to Bromley when I was five or six, so you are looking at 15 years of development, but we have got the Glyn Beverly Stand, we have got Broomfields, which is a pretty good standard of bar for League Two, and we had it in the National League.
"In terms of developing the stadium, I think it is brilliant, because a lot of games this season we have been getting sellouts, so I think it is really just taking the necessary steps, and it does provide excitement for everyone at the club.
"I think this season has made people sit up and take notice a little bit."
Bromley manager Andy Woodman speaks on the effects of the off-pitch developments on the club's mentality. Filmed by Theo Tarling
Bromley manager Andy Woodman speaks on the effects of the off-pitch developments on the club's mentality. Filmed by Theo Tarling
Symbolic of the changes occurring around the football club would be a new name to accompany the new look of Bromley's home. At the end of April 2025, the club brokered a sponsorship deal to rename Hayes Lane to the 'Copperjax Community Stadium.' The club will enter the 2025/26 season with a stadium that will barely be recognisable next to the one that Woodman arrived at four years ago.
Bromley FC 's Hayes Lane entrance sports the logo of their freshly renamed stadium. Image credit: Mitchell Hall
Bromley FC 's Hayes Lane entrance sports the logo of their freshly renamed stadium. Image credit: Mitchell Hall
These off-pitch decisions are the markers of a club who are doing everything they can to make sure they are ready for bigger things to come, with the imminent concern being whether the facility improvements can keep up with the relentless rise of the team.
Looking to the future amid the sweeping changes at the club, Archie Corbett said:
“The sky is the limit. I see the ambition that they have got, the new financial backing they have got, the constant ambition on and off the pitch to try and improve every aspect of the club.
"With the new stand coming in, the academy growing, the back-room staff growing, the training facilities improving, there is so much to be excited about with this Bromley team."
Time will tell if Bromley will continue on their upwards trajectory, or find their new place in League Two, but they are a changed club regardless. They are a team whose results have demonstrated that they belong on the professional stage since Woodman's arrival four years ago, with their status changing in the local area and in the eyes of the national footballing community thanks to ambition, investment and success on the pitch.
Background image credits: Mitchell Hall
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