'Woody told us all week we would get Newcastle away!'

After more than a century in the lower tiers, League Two side Bromley FC are finally in the spotlight with their FA Cup tie

- LAWRENCE OSTLERE

On 2 December, sitting nervously in Bromley’s boardroom, assistant manager Alan Dunne and CEO Jeff Hutton watched the FA Cup third-round draw unfold on a TV screen. Bromley FC were established 133 years ago and for the first time in that long history, their club were involved in one of football’s great rituals.

“We all wanted a massive draw but I thought all the big games had gone,” says Dunne, recalling the agonising tension as the draw dragged on. But one Premier League giant was still out there. Their ears pricked as “Newcastle United” were announced, and when “No 6” followed, they lost their minds, screaming, hugging, beating the table.

“Get Woody on the phone!” shouted Dunne, grabbing his mobile. Andy Woodman is the manager who led Bromley into the Football League last summer, another historic first after more than a century toiling in non-league. Before Bromley, Woodman – an imposing figure and an even bigger character – was a renowned goalkeeping coach at Arsenal, West Ham and Newcastle, where his son Freddie was on the books for eight years, and he had spent the days preceding the draw telling anyone who’d listen they were destined for St James’ Park.

“He said it all week,” says Dunne. “He said, ‘We’ll get Newcastle away, I promise you’.”

"It is no Wrexham story with a Hollywood transformation, however. Improvement has been gradual through investment in facilities and the ground at Hayes Lane"