Cray Wanderers are not only the oldest football club in London but (possibly) the second oldest in the world. They current share/lodge at the home of Bromley and because of the ground share they had to play on a Sunday, so I thought I would take the trek over the Thames to visit this famous old club.
On reading into the history of Cray, it seemed they had played at a number of grounds and even though they now play at a great ground at Bromley, it is not their own. So they are currently planning to open a new ground at Flamingo Park.
So on the way to Bromley I popped into their old ground in Sidcup at Oxford Road - home to the Sidcup Conservative Club. By a stroke of luck a youth game was about to kick off so i was able to walk round the whole ground, and it was a ground full of character. No lights, a small entry road and a small slope - you can see why it was no longer used by Cray, in fact another club has also since played at Sidcup and left. Sidcup and Seven Acre, who I saw recently at their new home they share with Thamesmead.
Oxford Road
Back to Bromley, and it is a fantastic ground which has plenty of potential and one of the bewst places in South London to watch a game - Cray or Bromley. the game? Cray are top of the table and ran out easy winners but Redbridge never gave up and have some good players of their own. The crowd was an impressive 240, much greater than a Saturday fixture would get.
