The Fourth Qualifying Round: A misty-eyed reflection on the magic of the cup.

My first memory of Bromley reaching this round of the FA Cup was back in 1985. Dave Cooke’s team were drawn at home to Maidstone United, who were riding high in the Alliance Premier League (now the National League). Bromley, on the other hand, were playing their football in the Isthmian Premier Division. The crowd was huge for the time, and I’d even convinced several school friends to come to the prestigious cup tie. Sadly, it wasn’t to be. The Stones ran out comfortable 2-0 winners and most of my mates didn’t come back for another Bromley game.

Four years later, in 1989, a struggling Bromley side managed by Dave Swindlehurst reached the fourth qualifying round again by beating Ruislip Manor, Royston, Kingsbury Town, and Hampton to secure a trip to local rivals Welling United. Bromley were bottom of the Isthmian League Premier Division and the Wings were in the Conference. The odds were stacked against us. Amazingly, Bromley took the lead and later equalised to make it 2-2, but Welling ran out 5-2 winners in the end. It was still an awesome day and the fans had a lot of fun!

It would be more than half a decade before we appeared at this stage again, but our game in 1996 proved to be one of the sweetest days as a Bromley fan. Arch-rivals Sutton United came to Hayes Lane and it was a huge occasion. The two teams were stuck in stalemate until, fifteen minutes from time, Keith Sharman pounced on a parried shot from Mark Loveday to put the Ravens 1-0 up. To say the fans behind the goal went mad would be an understatement. Bromley held their nerve. When the final whistle blew, it sparked a full-on pitch invasion as the fans rushed to celebrate with George Wakeling’s team.