Cray Wanderers vs Tottenham Hotspur U23s – Tuesday 6th August, 7.30 pm – Match Preview
Cray Wanderers bring the curtain down on what has seemed a very long pre-season on Tuesday 6th August with a prestige friendly with the visit of Tottenham Hotspur U21s/U23s to Flamingo Park. Please note the 7.30 pm ko.
Cray will be looking to finish pre-season on a high in the seventh home friendly game with the Isthmian Premier season starting on 10th August at Hashtag United.
The Wands had no game at the weekend with the last pre-season game on 30th July in a 3-2 defeat to Erith Town where David Smith scored twice. Neil Smith’s side will be looking to get off to a good start to the season and some experienced players have re-signed like Anthony Cook, Shaun Rowley, David Ijaha, Frankie Raymond, Archie Johnson, Tom Bonner and Nyren Clunis with Alfie Evans and George Brooke who both starred last season retained. David Smith, Charlie Edwards, Lateef Adaja, Quade Taylor, Mitch Chapman and Alex Teniola have signed for the Wands and also there have been some talented youngsters signed like Bradley Ryan, Darion Dowrich, Jack Leahy and Arezki Hamouchene and have impressed during pre-season.
Tottenham Hotspur will provide very strong opposition and Wayne Burnett’s side were Premier League 2 U21s Champions last season and there players could be in and around the first team and may feature in the EFL Cup this season.
Spurs as a club are going into the Premier League season with confidence after a 5th placed finish under Ange Postecoglu in his first season as manager and qualification for the Europa League. They will begin their League campaign at Leicester City on Monday 19th August with their first home game vs Everton on Saturday 24th August.
Tottenham Hotspur have a long and storied history having been formed in 1882 as the Hotspur Club changing their name two years later and played at Tottenham Marshes until moving to White Hart Lane (on the site of a public house) in 1899.
Tottenham became the only Southern League club to win the FA Cup in 1901 beating Sheffield United 3-1 after a replay at Bolton. They were elected to the Football League in 1908 gaining promotion to the 1st Division in their first season but were relegated in 1914-15 ahead of World War I. Upon the return of football in 1919-20 Spurs were 2nd Division Champions and won the FA Cup in 1921 beating Wolves 1-0 at Stamford Bridge. They were relegated in 1927-28.
After World War II the club regrouped and under Arthur Rowe’s management were 2nd Division Champions in 1949-50 and were League Champions for the first time in 1950-51. The legendary Bill Nicholson took over in 1958 and turned Tottenham into a force in English football and became the first side in the 20th Century to win the League and Cup Double in 1960-61 winning the title with some comfort and beat Leicester City 2-0 in the Cup Final at Wembley with goals from Bobby Smith and Terry Dyson. They reached the Semi-Finals of the European Cup in 1961-62 and retained the FA Cup beating Burnley 3-1 at Wembley with goals from Jimmy Greaves who would be Spurs all time record goalscorer until being beaten by Harry Kane in 2023, Smith and Danny Blanchflower.
In 1962-63 Tottenham became the first British side to win a European Trophy with a stylish performance to beat Atletico Madrid, 5-1 in Rotterdam whilst wearing an all white kit as per Atletico’s Madrid rivals Real with Greaves (2), Dyson (2) and Cliff White scoring. To finish the decade Tottenham won the FA Cup again in 1967 beating Chelsea 2-1 with goals from Jimmy Robertson and Frank Saul. Around this time, the Tottenham ‘A side met Cray Wanderers in the Metropolitan League and visited Grassmeade between 1966-69.
The 70’s began very brightly for Tottenham winning the League Cup for the first time beating 3rd Division Aston Villa 2-0 in 1971 with two Martin Chivers goals. Then the following year won the inaugural UEFA Cup in the first all English European Final beating Wolves 3-2 on aggregate with Chivers again scoring twice and an Alan Mullery goal. Spurs won the League Cup again in 1973 beating Norwich City 1-0 with a Ralph Coates goal and were UEFA Cup finalists in 1974 losing to Feyenoord in a final marred by crowd trouble in the second leg in Rotterdam.
After a couple of seasons of struggle Tottenham were relegated to Division 2 in 1976-77 under Keith Burkinshaw’s management but bounced back the following year gaining promotion with Bolton and Southampton. In 1978 Spurs announced their return to the top flight with two eye catching signings of Ossie Ardiles and Ricky Villa, both members of Argentina’s World Cup Winning side and began the trend of clubs signing experienced overseas players to the come to the very competitive English league and were hugely popular players.
In 1981, Spurs won the FA Cup for the 6th time beating Manchester City at Wembley in a replay with Villa scoring twice and a Garth Crooks strike after twice coming from behind in both games. The following season Spurs reached the Milk Cup Final losing to Liverpool but retained the FA Cup by beating QPR after a replay courtesy of a Glenn Hoddle penalty. In 1984, Tottenham won the UEFA Cup for the second time beating Anderlecht on penalties after a 2-2 draw over two legs with keeper Tony Parkes the hero saving the decisive penalty and marked the end of the Burkinshaw era.
In 1987 under David Pleat, Tottenham were beaten in the FA Cup Final for the first time, losing to Coventry City despite Clive Allen scoring 49 goals that season and finished 3rd in the 1st Division. Ex-player Terry Venables took over as manager in November 1987 and added players over the coming years like Paul Stewart, Paul Gascoigne, Gary Lineker and Gordon Durie and were FA Cup Winners in 1991 beating Nottingham Forest at Wembley for their 8th FA Cup victory.
Since then, Tottenham were FA Cup Semi-Finalists in 1993, 95, 99 and 2001 and were League Cup Winners in 1999 beating Leicester City 1-0 with ten men with Allan Nielsen’s last minute goal under the management of George Graham. They were League Cup finalists in 2002 losing to Blackburn Rovers in Cardiff and their last major silverware came in 2008 when Juande Ramos’s side beat Chelsea 2-1 at the new Wembley in the Carling Cup Final. Under Harry Redknapp they reached the final the following year losing to Manchester United and were FA Cup Semi-Finalists in 2010 but qualified for the Champions League for the first time, reaching the Quarter Finals in 2010-11. Tottenham were League Cup Finalists again in 2015 losing to Chelsea.
2016-17 saw their last season at White Hart Lane and Tottenham ended up finishing 2nd behind Leicester City in a bid to win a first Premier League and after a season and a chunk at Wembley Stadium Spurs moved to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on the site of the old ground in April 2019. That season also saw Tottenham reach the Champions League Final under Mauricio Pochettino beating Boroussia Dortmund, Manchester City and Ajax but were beaten by Liverpool in Madrid. In 2020-21 Tottenham under Jose Mourinho reached the Carabao Cup Final but was sacked a week before the final and were beaten by Manchester City at a quarter-full Wembley due to Covid restrictions. Now with Tottenham firmly and financially secure at their new ground the feeling has been the club has underachieved for too long and maybe their glory days as described above could soon return.
This should be a great game to watch and one that may not be repeated, so a terrific way to watch the Wands and some future stars at Flamingo Park.
Admission £10 adults, £5 concessions, £2 U18s or online at www.cray-wanderers.com/tickets/
DIRECTIONS TO FLAMINGO PARK
Cray Wanderers FC – Flamingo Park Sports & Leisure – Sidcup By-Pass, Chislehurst, Kent BR7 6HL
Flamingo Park lies on the A20 and is the new home of Cray Wanderers and used for the Men and Women’s First Team, U23s, Youth Team games, Academy side and the club house hosts live music and private events. For the 2024-25 season Bexley FC will also play their Kent County League Premier games at Flamingo Park.
By car
From Kent – Via M20 or A2
M20 – Follow the M20 for 16.8 miles then continue on to A20 for 3.6 miles then continue on to Sidcup By-Pass Road/A20 for 1.9 miles. Continue onto Sidcup By-Pass/A20 for 0.3 miles then take a left into the ground entrance and another left for the car park.
A2 – Get on the M2 from A229 for 5.1 miles. After merging onto the M2 after 5.5 miles continue onto Watling Street/A2 for 8.7 miles. Use the left lane to take the M25 (S) slip road to M23 for 0.7 miles. Merge onto the M25 for 2.4 miles then at junction 3, exit towards A20/London (SE)/Swanley for 0.3 miles. At the Swanley interchange, take the 5th exit onto the A20 slip road to London (SE)/Lewisham for 0.8 miles. Merge onto the A20 for 3.5 miles then continue onto Sidcup By-Pass Road/A20 for 1.9 miles. Continue onto Sidcup By-Pass/A20 for 0.3 miles then take a left into the ground entrance and another left for the car park.
From London, North & West
Via A20 – If traveling from London take A3212, A302 and Westminster Bridge Road and at the roundabout take the 3rd exit onto St. George’s Circus/A201 and after 0.3 miles turn left onto New Kent Road/A201 for 0.5 miles. Then keep right staying on New Kent Road/A201 for 0.4 miles and then onto Old Kent Road/A2 for 2.6 miles. Take a slight right onto Amersham Road/A2/A20 then a left onto Amersham Road/A20 for 0.2 miles. Take a slight right onto Lewisham Way/A20 for 1.1 miles and then use the left 3 lanes to turn left onto Rennell Street/A20 for 1.9 miles. Use the right 2 lanes to turn slightly onto Sidcup Road/A20 for 0.3 miles then at the roundabout take the 2nd exit and stay on Sidcup Road/A20 for 3.7 miles. Then take the A222 towards Bromley/Chislehurst/Sidcup for 0.2 miles then at Frognal Corner Roundabout take the 4th exit onto the A20 slip road to C. London/Lewisham for 0.3 miles. Then merge onto the Sidcup By-Pass Road/A20 for 0.6 miles and then onto the Sidcup By-Pass for 0.3 miles. Then take a left into the entrance to the ground and another left into the car park.
From Essex/East Anglia
Via A13 – If traveling from Essex/East Anglia get onto the A13 for 11.6 miles. Use the left lane to take the M25 (N)/M25 (S) slip road to M11/M1/Stansted Airport/Dartford Crossing/A282 for 0.2 miles. At Mardyke Junction take the 1st exit for 0.3 miles and then use the right lane to take the A282 slip road to M25 (S)/Dartford Crossing then keep right at the fork to continue towards A282 for 3.8 miles. Use the right 3 lanes to stay on A282 then follow signs for M20/M23/Gatwick Airport /M25/Channel Tunnel/Dover for 0.6 miles. Continue onto M25 (signs for Dover/M20/Channel Tunnel/M23 for 3.3 miles. At junction 3 exit towards A20/London (SE)/Swanley for 0.3 miles and at Swanley Interchange take the 5th exit onto the A20 slip road to London (SE)/Lewisham for 0.8 miles. Then merge onto the A20 for 3.5 miles, continue onto Sidcup By-Pass Rd/A20 for 1.9 miles and then continue onto the Sidcup By-Pass for 0.3 miles then turn left into the entrance to the ground and then a left into the car park.
From: Sussex/South
If traveling from Sussex/South best get on Hastings Road/Pembury By-Pass/A21 in Kent from A267 and after 9.4 miles continue straight onto Sevenoaks Bypass/A21 for 3.8 miles and then keep right to continue onto M25. After 7.9 miles at junction 3 use the left 2 lanes to take the A20 exit to London/Lewisham/Channel Tunnel/Maidstone/M20 for 0.3 miles. At Swanley Interchange take the 2nd exit onto the A20 slip road to London (SE)/Lewisham for 0.5 miles. Merge onto the A20 for 3.5 miles, continue onto Sidcup By-Pass Rd/A20 for 1.9 miles and then continue onto the Sidcup By-Pass for 0.3 miles then turn left into the entrance to the ground and then a left into the car park.
By Train – Nearest BR Station – New Eltham – 1 mile. Trains from London Charing Cross/London Cannon Street/London Bridge or from Dartford/Gravesend.
From the station walk south-east onto Foots Cray Road/A211 for 0.3 miles then turn right onto Thaxted Road for 0.2 miles. Then turn left towards Sidcup Road/A20 and cross over the pedestrian footbridge and take a sharp and then a slight right towards Sidcup Road/A20 for 0.4 miles and then turn right and then a left into the entrance to the ground.
By Bus – The best bet is to get the 233 from Swanley, Sidcup, Eltham or New Eltham which stops on Thaxted Road but is around 0.8 miles to the ground. The 160 from Carlton Road, Sidcup stops at Montbelle Road as does the 162 which also stops at New Eltham Station and the Fiveways roundabout and is around a 22 minutes walk to the ground.
Nearest Hotel: Premier Inn London Eltham
738 Sidcup Road, Eltham, London
SE9 3NS
Sat Nav Directions:SE9 3TJ
Directions:
From South Circular Road, take A20 Sidcup Bypass until you reach Fiveways, where Sidcup Road meets Green Lane Premier Inn Eltham is situated on the corner and the entrance to the car park is on Green Lane.
https://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/hotels/england/greater-london/london/london-eltham.html
