Cray Valley Paper Mills Football Club is a football club currently based in Eltham, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, England. They are currently members of the Isthmian League Premier Division and play at the Badgers Sports Ground.
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| Full name | Cray Valley Paper Mills Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Millers | ||
| Founded | 1919 | ||
| Ground | Badgers Sports Ground, Eltham | ||
| Capacity | 1,550[1] | ||
| Chairman | Frank May | ||
| Manager | Steve McKimm | ||
| League | Isthmian League Premier Division | ||
| 2023–24 | Isthmian League South East Division, 1st of 20 (promoted) | ||
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History
editThe club was established in 1919 and joined Division Two of the new Sidcup & Kent League.[2] Playing in green and white, the colours of the mill's vehicles, their first match was played on 20 September 1919, a 1–0 win against Hamilton House.[2] The club won the division at the first attempt, earning promotion to Division One of the Bromley & District League.[2] In their second season they won the Kent Junior Cup.[2] They later joined the Kent County Amateur League, winning Division Three of the western section in 1932–33 and finishing as runners-up in the division in 1936–37.[2] The club left the league at the end of the 1954–55 season.[3]
Cray Valley joined the South London Alliance in 1975.[2] They were Division One champions in 1979–80 and won the Premier Division two seasons later.[4] The club won Division One again in 1983–84, and finished as runners-up in the Premier Division in 1988–89.[4] In 1991 they joined Division One of the Spartan League.[5] When it merged with the South Midlands League to form the Spartan South Midlands League in 1997, the club were placed in Division One South. Despite finishing as runners-up in the league's first season, they left to become founder members of the London Intermediate League.[5] However, in 2001 they left to rejoin the Kent County League, becoming members of Division One West.[5][6]
In 2002–03 Cray Valley won Division One West, earning promotion to the Premier Division.[5] Two seasons later they won the Premier Division.[5] After finishing third in 2010–11, they moved up to the Kent League, which was renamed the Southern Counties East League in 2013.[5] When the league gained a second division in 2016, the club became members of the Premier Division.[5] In 2016–17 they won the London Senior Cup, beating Metropolitan Police 2–1 in the final, becoming the lowest-ranked team to ever win the trophy.[7] They were also runners-up in the Kent Reliance Senior Trophy in the same season.[8] However they were disqualified from the first round of the FA Vase for fielding an ineligible player, former Crystal Palace defender Matthew Parsons.[9] The club reached the London Senior Cup final again the following season, but lost 4–1 to Balham.[10]
The 2018–19 season saw Cray reach the FA Vase final for the first time,[11] in which they lost 3–1 after extra time to Chertsey Town at Wembley Stadium.[12] They were also Southern Counties East League Premier Division champions, earning promotion to the South East Division of the Isthmian League.[12] In 2020–21 the club reached the first round of the FA Cup for the first time, losing 1–0 at Havant & Waterlooville.[13] They reached the first round again in 2023–24, when they were drawn away to local League One side Charlton Athletic.[14] After a 1–1 draw at the Valley,[15] they lost the replay 6–1.[16] The season also saw the club win the South East Division title, earning promotion to the Premier Division.[17]
Ground
editThe club originally played at the sports ground of the paper mills in St Paul's Cray.[2] However, the mills closed in 1981 and the club then played at numerous grounds until moving permanently to the Badgers Sports Ground in Eltham in 1998.[2] The ground includes a 100-seat stand on one side of the pitch and a small covered area on the other.[18][2] In 2016 Greenwich Borough agreed a 30-year lease to share the ground.[19][20] However, at the end of the 2018–19 season Greenwich Borough were evicted for failing to pay rent, and subsequently moved to the Phoenix Sports Ground in Barnehurst.[21]
Honours
edit- Isthmian League
- South East Division champions 2023–24
- Southern Counties East League
- Premier Division champions 2018–19
- Kent County League
- Premier Division champions 2004–05
- Division One West champions 2002–03
- Division Three (Western Section) champions 1932–33
- South London Alliance
- Premier Division winners 1980–81
- Division One champions 1979–80, 1983–84
- Sidcup & Kent League
- Division Two champions 1919–20
- London Senior Cup
- Winners 2016–17
- London Intermediate Cup
- Winners 2002–03, 2003–04, 2009–10, 2010–11[4]
- Kent Intermediate Shield
- Winners 2004–05[4]
- Kent Junior Cup
- Winners 1921–22, 1977–78, 1980–81[2]
- West Kent Challenge Shield
- Winners 2001–02[4]
Records
editSee also
editReferences
edit- ^ "'Like Willy Wonka's golden ticket': Only 1,550 will get into Cray Valley's FA Cup replay with Charlton". The Greenwich Wire. 10 November 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cray Valley (PM) FC - Our history 1919-2015 Cray Valley Paper Mills F.C.
- ^ Kent County Amateur League 1951–1960 Non-League Matters
- ^ a b c d e Honours Cray Valley Paper Mills F.C.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cray Valley PM at the Football Club History Database
- ^ Kent County League 1998-2004 Non-League Matters
- ^ Results London Football Association
- ^ Ashford lift Kent Reliance Senior Trophy Kent Sports News, 9 April 2017
- ^ Matthew Parsons: Cray Valley wishes to apologise for allowing this situation to occur Kentish Football, 6 November 2017
- ^ Balham 4-1 Cray Valley (Paper Mills) - I just think there were too many below par performances, admits Cray Valley boss Kevin Watson Kentish Football, 9 May 2018
- ^ Cray Valley PM reach FA Vase final at Wembley after two-legged win over Canterbury City South London Press, 23 March 2019
- ^ a b FA Trophy Final BBC Sport, 19 May 2019
- ^ Havant & Waterlooville 1–0 Cray Valley Paper Mills BBC Sport, 8 November 2020
- ^ Chamberlain, Darryl (15 October 2023). "Eltham's Cray Valley PM to face Charlton in FA Cup's first Greenwich borough derby". The Greenwich Wire. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
- ^ "Minnows Cray Valley Paper Mills earn FA Cup replay with draw at Charlton". Sporting Life. 5 November 2023. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
- ^ "Cray Valley Paper Mills 1–6 Charlton Athletic". BBC Sport. 15 November 2023.
- ^ "Magnificent Millers take the title". isthmian League. 28 April 2024. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
- ^ A Guide for First Time Visitors to Cray Valley (PM) Football Club Archived 27 December 2016 at the Wayback Machine Cray Valley Paper Mills F.C.
- ^ Greenwich Borough sign 30-year lease to play at Cray Valley's Badgers Sports Ground Kentish Football, 1 January 2016
- ^ Return to the Royal Borough has meant a busy summer for Greenwich Borough The Non-League Football Paper, 5 August 2016
- ^ Greenwich Borough confirm groundshare deal at Phoenix Sports and appoint Ben Kotey as their new manager Kentish Football, 20 May 2019