7:50pm Monday 25th May 2009
By Jerry Dowlen
Cray Wanderers painted the town amber and black on Saturday when their open top bus parade brought out the local crowds to celebrate three successful landmarks in the club's history.
The Wands have won promotion to the Ryman Premier League, they are 150 years old in 2010, and they have announced a plan to build a brand new football stadium in the heart of the Crays.
Starting their bus parade in Sidcup at 11am, the Wands' continued their journey through the Crays, Orpington, Chislehurst and on finally to Bexley.
As explained by club chairman Gary Hillman, on the eve of the 150th anniversary of the club in 2010, the committee and players wanted to reconnect the club with its original roots in the Crays and the adjoining districts.
Cray Wanderers - the second oldest football club in the world - was founded in 1860 in St Mary Cray, and they will start their 150th season playing in the Ryman Premier Division, the highest ever level of football that the club has played at.
Ryman Premier football was earned on 2nd May when Cray beat Metropolitan Police 1-0 in the Division One South promotion play-off final before 639 spectators at Hayes Lane, home of Bromley FC where the Wands have played as ground sharers since 1997.
The target date is 2014 for the Wands completing the move to their proposed new ground at Sandy Lane in St Paul's Cray.
Hillman said: "As the senior football club in the area covering Bexley, the Crays, Orpington and Sidcup there is great potential for Cray Wanderers to draw support from a wide local community. The bus parade was not just to celebrate all the recent success on the field that has brought promotion into the Ryman Premier. We wanted to make Cray Wanderers FC visible to the local public and to make a strong statement about the club's exciting future."
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