The train was due to leave Retford at 9.20 so we met up in Kirstys Baps cafe next to the station to enjoy breakfast and for some of us to recover from the previous night's hangovers (As was also the case for girl behind the counter it would seem). I was fine but one of us isn't quite as young as he used to be shall we say.
So after a large sandwich (or two) and a cracking mug of tea we collected a wide range of reading material which included everything from the Daily Star to the Independent, which was my choice, and made our way to the platform.
The train journey down was quite enjoyable as train journeys go. We attempted the football crosswords and quizzes in the papers with various levels of success. A cup of tea or two would have gone down a treat however the chap whose turn it has been to purchase the teas for the last month or so for our football journeys (Felice) was unsurprisingly not very thirsty.
Kings Cross station was as chaotic as ever as we stepped outside to let our two smokey Joes have a quick puff. As they did an attractive lady approached them offering them a way of curing their craving for nicotine by letting them have a go on a new product some kind of electrical device that gives you the same buzz of smoking but without the effects.
It was now time to tackle the Underground, take in a couple of sights, a pint or two then head out to Bromley. Baz has been a bit concerned (well, bricking it to be precise) about travelling on the underground for sometime. Granted it hasn't helped that we have been giving him stick about this for sometime now but that's what mates are for isn't it? And it was quite a baptism of fire as the tube from Kings Cross down to Victoria was heaving. I normally visit the fair capital of ours a couple of time a year hand this is the worst i have ever seen the tube. Baz took it all in his stride however and did very well and remained calm throughout. Well done that man. With time to kill and it being a glorious day we had enjoyed a quick stroll for the station through the West end, past Westminster Abbey and Big Ben and up to 10 Downing Street.
As it was such a nice day it seemed rude not to partake in a pint so we headed into the excellent Red Lion pub which is very close to downing street. You can take your drinks outside and it was great to watch all the tourists go by and sup a nice pint of real ale (or coke if you were still a tad rough from the previous night and the oldest member of the group)
We jumped on the tube at Westminster to Victoria then changed to the over ground network for a steady 15 minutes journey out to Bromley. Baz had told us that he had been looking at google maps and he said there were no pubs or places to eat anything anywhere near the station or on the way to the ground. So with this in mind it was to our great surprise that upon alighting at the station the first thing we saw was indeed a pub then a minute or two later a Mexican bar/restaurant which left Mr Oxby's face almost as red as it was when we were rammed like sardines on Kings Cross underground platform.
The ground is about a 15 minutes walk from the station. Bromley seems to be quite a leafy suburb, the kind of place you would expect footballers to live as oppose to play. Cray have been groundsharing at Bromley FC since 1998. We arrived at the ground at about 1.30ish. We paid our £10 and entered the ground. There are two bars at the stadium but Bromley only open one up when Cray are at home. The club house is very smart and has a good collection of football memorabilia on the walls. The West Ham v Manchester Utd match was on the big screens and most of the Hendon squad were slobbed out in their match day tracksuits watching it. We were welcomed by a couple of friendly officials from Cray and chatted about all things football.
Myself and Lee then took a stroll out to collect the programmes. They were priced at £2 and were an outstanding effort with plenty to read in them. The two things that struck me the most were Brian Buck's ground hopping column (this is a guy who is trying to watch 10,000 games at 3,000 grounds before he becomes 60. As of the the 23rd of March he was on game 9,999; his 249th match of the season) and the other thing was the amount of Youth teams Cray have and how well some of them are doing. The under 15's for example have won matches this season by scores of 23-0, 16-0, 11-0 and 8-0! Having seen a few Ryman league programmes this season they do seem to put alot more effort into them than the Evo Stick league counterparts do here in the north.
As always I like to get a badge from every ground I visit so we took a stroll over to the clubshop in the glorious sunshine. The shop was stuffed with old programmes and so with Lee being a keen collector of programmes he was like a kid in a sweetshop. The programmes were for sale at a great price and he got a good collection of them. A smoking pod was next to the shop so again Felice was a happy bunny. The girl at the stations words about the effects of smoking clearly went in one ear and out the other. The staff in the shop were great and we chatted for a while about our local non league clubs here in North Notts and about Crays season. They had a great start to the season but have struggled a bit in the past couple of weeks.
Cray are celebrating their 150th season this year and were launching a history book today and we were invited into the boardroom at halftime to see its launch and have a peek at their plans for a new stadium and other club memorabilia. Everybody at the club was very welcoming and you can feel their passion for the club and its future.
So to the stadium; on the same side of the ground as the turnstiles, club bars, shop, and offices, is is a nice all seating stand.
To the left of the main stand is a covered terrace with some old fashioned crash barriers.
To the right of the main stand is a stand smaller in size to the one at the other end, but has good old fashioned wooden benches in it and it was from where we watched the first half from.
Opposite the main stand is a large open terrace which is a bit like a smaller version of the old West Bank terrace at Sincil Bank. The rake is quite steep but it gives you a great view of the action. Infact there doesn't seem to be a bad view in the house. So after a quick stop at the burger bar (7/10 rating) We sat behind the far goal to watch the first half.
After everybody had been so welcoming towards us we really wanted Cray to put on a good show and get a decent win and they started like a house on fire. Hendon's back four looked as if they had just been introduced to each other 10 minutes before kick off. Cray played good football on the deck and had already wasted a couple of half chances before they took the lead on 7 minutes when a defensive balls up allowed Leigh Brammer to head home. The same player was involved in the second when his knock down was picked up by Laurent Hanici who struck home in the 26th minute to give the Wands a 2-0 lead. It could have been more as Cray continued to create and waste good chances. Hendon did steady the ship a little and had an effort of their own cleared off the line from what aspired to be their best chance of the game.
HT 2-0
We spent the half time break in the boardroom and the hospitality was fantastic. The walls are covered with pictures of Cray's gretest moments from ther long history and plans for the new stadium look very impressive. We were introduced to the Chairman and he seemed only to happy to chat about stuff. We were treated to a fantastic cup of tea then it was out for the second half. Before we left the officials posed for a picture with the Cray Wanderers history book. It looks a fantastic read and very well written and researched.
Hendon must have had a rocket up their backside at half time as they came out pretty fired up. They were back in the game on 57 minutes with a well worked and well taken goal from Kevin Maclaren. After this the game became quite scrappy with the ball spending more time in the air than on the ground and neither side seemed able to string more than 3 passes together. Cray made the points safe in the 86th minute when Laurent Hamici was tripped in the box and the ref pointed to the spot. He got up to take the kick himself with very little run up and made it 3-1 to Cray and game over.
After the match we said our goodbyes to the officials and made our way back to central London. As always we had to have a kebab to round of the day and found a nice shop just opposite Kings Cross station. I went for the mixed donner and it went down a treat. What made the shop stand out was the fact that they served a cool yoghurt drink that I havent seen for sale anywhere other than in Germany. For most of us the kebab was very filling. One of our number however was still hungry and felt the need to purchase an over priced cheese and ham baguette from Kings Cross station as a second course if you will. It too was eaten in double quick time.
Despite another defeat for Lincoln, today was a fantastic day out and summed up everything that is great about non league football. I would like to thank Jerry Dowlen and all the staff and officials at Cray for making us feel so welcome. We very much look foward to returning to Cray when they move into their new stadium.
Many thanks to Jerry Dowlen for the above picture
Below are just a few shots form the day.
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