Cray Wanderers London's oldest football club celebrated a landmark moment on Friday night in South East London when the floodlights were switched on for the first time at their new ground at Flamingo Park.
Cray Wanderers FC was formed in 1860 when migrant workers, building the Cray Valley railway viaduct, teamed up with villagers from St. Mary Cray for a “lunchtime kick about”. Little did these early footballing pioneers realise that what started out as a bit of fun would still be going strong over 163 years later.
The Wands have never owned their own stadium and have been groundsharing Bromley’s Hayes Lane ground since 1999 after their former base at Oxford Road, Sidcup failed ground grading criteria as it didn’t have planning permission to install floodlighting – a situation that is still present to this day.
The club who play in the Isthmian League Premier Division (level 7) have played outside the Crays area for just over 50 years and work began on building their new stadium on the A20 Sidcup bypass back in August this year after planning permission was granted for a 1,300-capacity stadium.
The facility will have two new community 3G sports pitches, the reinstatement and relocation of three existing grass football pitches, as well as a bar, changing rooms, classrooms, a gym and a museum at the Flamingo Park site.
To help fund this scheme, two four-storey blocks with 28 two-bedroom flats were also proposed as enabling development.
The club hope to be playing at their new stadium at Flamingo Park at the start of the 2024-25 season.
Welcome home Cray!