Ahead of the Spireites’ return to the Football League and League Two, we are taking a look at all 23 other teams that make up the division.
We are continuing with Bromley:
FACT FILE
Team Name: Bromley Football Club
Nickname: The Ravens
Year Founded: 1892
Stadium: Hayes Lane
Capacity: 5,150
2023/24 SEASON
A difficult first month saw Bromley only came away with one win from their first six games. Andy Woodman soon got his side in the groove as the Ravens began to move up the table. Alongside Barnet, they became the main title rivals for Chesterfield, who had started to build a massive lead. Bromley also embarked on an FA Trophy run that led them to the semi-finals – Solihull Moors won the game 2-1 at Hayes Lane. The Lilywhites qualified for the play-offs, securing a home semi-final. They beat Altrincham 3-1, setting up a final at Wembley against Solihull Moors. After failing to be separated after 120 minutes, Woodman’s team won 4-2 in the shoot-out to make history and win promotion to League Two.
MANAGER
Following a career as a goalkeeper that lasted for around 500 games, Andy Woodman transitioned into coaching. He had stints at West Ham United, Charlton Athletic, Newcastle United, Crystal Palace and Arsenal as a goalkeeping coach. The former shot-stopper became manager of Whitehawk in February 2017; the spell was only a short one as Woodman left his role at the end of the season after securing National League South safety. He joined Bromley in 2021 following Neil Smith’s departure. The 52-year-old started to build a strong base with the Ravens as they became promotion candidates. They lost to Chesterfield in the play-off semi-finals in 2023 before Woodman guided the club to promotion in the 2023/24 season.
Andy Woodman – photo courtesy of Martin Greig (Insta: @martin_greig, X: @MartinGreig2)
STAR PLAYER (INC LAST SEASON’S STATS)
Over the last decade, Michael Cheek has shown why he is one of, if not, the very best striker in National League history. Now he has a chance to show League Two his ability.
Last season in numbers:
Appearances – 50
Goals – 26
Assists – 2
Yellow Cards – 4
Red Cards – 0
Minutes Played – 4,710
Michael Cheek – photo courtesy of Martin Greig (Insta: @martin_greig, X: @MartinGreig2)
PLAYED FOR BOTH
After leaving Wealdstone three months prior, Grant Smith joined Chesterfield as they looked to achieve promotion to the Football League via the play-offs. He quickly established himself in the starting line-up and played 18 times before the end of the season. The goalkeeper left the club by mutual consent at the end of the campaign.
Smith moved to Bromley after spending two years at Yeovil Town. The shot-stopper had a fantastic season with the Ravens, making 44 appearances and keeping 13 clean sheets. He helped the club achieve their first ever promotion to the EFL as he saved two penalties in their shoot-out win over Solihull Moors.
HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD
P 13 W 4 D 3 L 6
Chesterfield and Bromley have always been involved in highly competitive games when coming head-to-head with each other. The Spireites struggled in the early years in the National League against their Greater London counterparts. However, they have racked up a few wins in the last couple of years.
PREVIOUS GAME
The two sides met at Hayes Lane back in February as the Spireites looked to move closer to the National League title. Will Grigg put Chesterfield one-nil up at the break with a penalty. However, Bromley would respond to go 2-1 up just after the hour-mark with Michael Cheek scoring both goals. Ollie Banks levelled things up with Chesterfield’s Goal of the Season before Tom Naylor headed Paul Cook’s side back in front. Cheek completed his hat-trick with four minutes to go to set up a grandstand finish. Sam Woods’ 94th minute header won the game for Bromley and brought an end to the seven-goal thriller.
*Stadium photo courtesy of Ben Eltham
