Wanderers no more!

An hour before kick off, and Flamingo Park, the new home of Cray Wanderers, was beginning to fill up. It’s difficult, perhaps, to describe any modern football ground as attractive, but whilst the stadium is devoid of art-deco grandstands (e.g. Wingate & Finchley) or stunning natural backdrops (Lewes) there really was a beauty about the place nonetheless. A shiny new temple of football, for one of the oldest football clubs in the world. 

 After one hundred and sixty four years, Cray Wanderers finally had a home to call their very own- and they were about to give it a competitive baptism against their local rivals, Cray Valley PM. 

 Wanderers have spent the entirety of their existence wandering (perhaps they should have called themselves the Cray Immovables back in 1887, which is when the current moniker was adopted). They’ve now been Isthmians for twenty years, yet nobody who had watched them in our league had, until today, seen them play a home match anywhere other than Bromley’s Hayes Lane. 

 When you share the ground of another club, you are immediately held back financially. Yes, you have the gate money to rely on, but out of that you have to pay rent, wages, match fees and more. Money spent in the stadium by your supporters on food and beer goes to your landlords. You’ve no facilities to hire out, no wedding receptions to host, no pitch on which to train, and your prospects are entirely limited. Another of our clubs, Grays Athletic, nomads for years after previous owners sold their ground from under them, have been lucky enough to have a ground gifted to them recently- and goodness they deserve that luck, and it will take an immense amount of work to make it fit for purpose again- but that kind of things doesn’t tend to happen to homeless football clubs. It’s the exception, not the rule (and by the way, Athletic had to fight hard to be allowed to be lucky!). 

 Wands new home has been built upon a mountain of toil. Hopes raised, hopes dashed. Under the guidance of Chair Gary Hillman and CEO Sam Wright, and a band of willing volunteers, they’ve had to deal with obstacle after obstacle. Planning refusals even necessitated a march on City Hall at one point, with a mass of supporters and Gary wheeling a barrow full of letters of support. Planning permission for the new stadium was finally granted in November 2018- so the terraces we were standing on tonight had taken nearly six years to get from agreement to completion. Six years of almost invisible effort, design, fund raising, tendering, construction- all whilst keeping the first team and the youth setup going on limited funds. As they enter their sixth season in our top flight, it’s impossible not to be delighted that they’ve finally got that home of their own- a home for the first team, the womens team, and all of the youth teams in their Academy. 

 That delight shone around Flamingo Park, which was just as well as the forecast sunshine had departed. Home supporters were, understandably, beaming. Visiting fans anticipating not only the first ever competitive derby with their local rivals but only their second match in our top flight were filled with optimism, and pleased for their neighbours. The neutrals attracted by the occasion seemed really glad to be here. There was an atmosphere of bonhomie which gladdened the heart. 

 We all hoped that the football would do the same.

 Wands started the season with a fine victory at Hashtag United- although the outcome may have been different but for a penalty save from Shaun Rowley. The Millers fell narrowly to Dartford, but again, the outcome may have been different had they not played most of the second half with ten men. Forty five minutes before kick off the hosts, warming up, were being exhorted to remember that their visitors would be “fired up- but we need to show them just how hard Step Three is.” We suspect the visitors had already worked that out- and their boss, Steve McKimm certainly felt his triumphant squad from last season were ready for the challenge, as the majority of them were still here, and understandably so. 

 The players emerged to the strains of ‘The Wanderer’ by Dion and the Belmonts- kids, ask your (great) grandfather- and the visitors got us underway, the scene lit by floodlights as the sun set behind the artificial hill separating the ground from the golf club next door.  Wanderers were in their traditional amber and black, the visitors in sky blue and white stripes. The visitors immediately showed their attacking intent, and Hassan Ibrahiym volleyed wide from the edge of the box with only a minute on the clock.

 It took ten minutes for the next chance to arrive, and really that was a half chance at best, Frankie Raymond firing wide from distance for the hosts. It was something of an anomaly, as the visitors were shading the contest, Andre Coker particularly busy down the left, and they followed that first Wands effort with two corners, the second of which deserved a finish, but most assuredly didn’t get one. 

 At the other end, the best move of the match so far. A defence splitting pass from David Smith played through Kenny Coker, only for Max Ovenden to save with his legs. The ball was only partly cleared, sent into the box, and Nyren Clunis couldn’t get his header on target. The Millers responded, and Andre Coker did brilliantly to shake off his marker and lay a ball across to Denzel Gayle, whose piledriver was bravely deflected for a corner. 

 We reached the midway point of the first half with the visitors on top, and another corner, headed goalwards by Danny Waldren, had to be cleared off the line. An injury to Tom Bonner then brought a halt, and he had to be replaced, Archie Johnson emerging from the bench. 

 On thirty three minutes a Millers attack came close to finally breaking the deadlock, when good work from Gayle and Freddie Parker fashioned a shot from the former, the ball rebounding off the outside of the post. Next, Andre Coker did well to make space for a shot, but the shot wasn’t worthy of what went before it. 

 The display board had just indicated three added minutes when a mazy run by Lateef Adaja gave the home fans something to be excited about. He charged forward, cut inside, and…scuffed his shot wide. It perhaps summed up the hosts first half- Wanderers had played some decent football in patches, but it was the visitors who would be most disappointed that they hadn’t scored. 

 Half time: Cray Wanderers 0 Cray Valley PM 0

 Wanderers were first out for the second half, and stood, discussing their plan of action, whilst the visitors went through a warm up drill. And then we were off, and the visitors were on the attack, and it was very much as you were. The first team minutes saw the ball almost permanently in the hosts half, although a header from Waldren, easily held by Rowley, was as close as they came.

 Wands made two changes, and immediately fashioned a chance, Dowrich firing over. And then, goal!

 Denzel Gayle charged forward, outpaced his marker, cut inside, and finished well. The Millers deserved their advantage.

 Goal: Cray Wanderers 0 Cray Valley PM 1 Denzel Gayle 58 minutes

 We’d no sooner finished recording the first when the visitors had another. A swift attack, a neat finish, Freddie Parker, two-nil.

 Goal: Cray Wanderers 0 Cray Valley PM 2, Freddie Parker, 60 minutes.

“Two-nil, on your big day out,” sang the visiting fans, rather rubbing it in. Could Wands respond? The next chance went to the visitors, Parker firing wide, and the game fell rather flat. The crowd was announced as eight hundred and forty, and most of them seemed to have fallen asleep. 

 On sixty seven minutes the hosts woke them up, an attack causing consternation at the back for the Millers, but the shot, when it came, went wide- and snoozing resumed. 

 The visitors continued to look the most threatening. Michael Ademiluyi forced a save, Wanderers conceded a collection of free kicks which allowed the ball to end up in or around their box, and the match looked as good as over. Into the last ten minutes we went, a shot from Ademiluyi deflected for a corner, a succession of injuries keeping the physios busy, and the match crawled towards a conclusion. With three minutes left, a foul on Parker at the edge of the box gave the visitors another chance, but the free kick curled wide. 

The referee added eight minutes. “Come on boys, you can get two goals in eight minutes.” The supporter giving the encouragement didn’t seem to believe his own argument, and he was proved entirely right.

An injury for Gayle- arguably the best player on the field- worried the visiting fans towards the end, but all in all they were very satisfied, and rightly so. They’d dominated play for the majority of the match, and it seems that their first two matches have dispelled any thought that they may struggle at this level.

As for Wands, they will be disappointed tonight, but in reality the night wasn’t about the match for the hosts. The Wanderers are wanderers no more.