Friday Freebie: The Old Club Has A New Home

No more wandering for the Wanderers

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Today’s piece features something old, something new, nothing borrowed and nothing blue. Tuesday evening this week was a historic night for the oldest club in London in a brand new stadium.

Now, we’re not talking Premier League clubs here either, Cray Wanderers FC are the oldest running club in the capital city. They reside in the Isthmian League Premier Division and hailing from Kent I’ve known plenty about them, or at least you think you do.

They’ve been more in my focus since the friend of mine Neil ‘Smudger’ Smith took over as manager in March 2022. Actually, we’d been to see them play at Hayes Lane a few months earlier, the first time Smudge had been back to Bromley FC since his sacking, the first step on the road back to the dug-out.

That venue was ‘home’ to the Wands for a staggering 26 years, which is believed to be the longest ever ground share. How they stayed afloat on crowds of between 150-300 over that time is testament to those on the board.

They’ve been searching a long while for a venue, the plans for Flamingo Park one of the lures for Smith to get back into the game, he had a project on the pitch alongside a project off the pitch.

There was a vision for Gary Hillman, the chairman, and Sam Wright, CEO, and the other directors to deliver a venue able to support a first team, a women’s team, an academy and a vibrant youth set up back closer to their home network.

Throughout last season that vision became a reality when the women’s team played the first game on the pitch during that time. Before the season was finished it was announced the Wands were wandering no more and 2024/25 would kick off at Flamingo Park.

A series of blockbuster pre-season friendlies at home against Millwall, Crystal Palace and Tottenham Hotspur preceded the main event, a first league game in a venue owned by the club themselves.

The opening home game, a Tuesday night fixture against local rivals Cray Valley PM, the first ever Cray derby. The Millers have risen up through the leagues more recently over the last 20 years or so and are just a few miles down the road.

I arranged to meet Smudger well before kick off to get a proper tour round the inside, the outside I could do myself. A nice big car park with separate areas for club officials and the players, a separate players entrance which isn’t quite up and running yet.

A club shop, a mobile bar, a food and drink outlet with a vast array of both non and alcoholic drinks. In front of the clubhouse and behind the goal a huge area with tables to sit down and eat or drink.

To the inside, changing rooms and physio room to the right, an office to the left for Smudge and his team. To put it in context, when I first met Neil at Bromley in 2020 he had no office there, the bar was where he had to conduct his business!

Upstairs we went to a good size function area with a bar, two views to take in. There are plans to renovate a terrace view just outside the function room which will be a superb vantage point.

Over the other side of the room and outside again, pitches out the back of the facility to be put into excellent condition and used for the youth sides, a housing complex to be added beside the stadium, your own on tap fanbase to come.

The stadium itself, well much more to come here. There is a main stand, with a standing area at the back of it, more cover is planned to come on the dug-out side as a next phase, the housing to follow afterwards.

The words I don’t think do it justice but the pictures do, it’s a fantastic venue and testament to Gary, Sam and their fellow board members to deliver the first part of the project.

No doubt some of you will visit as away supporters  and see for yourself, if not why not pitch up and experience what has been created here.

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