Grounds[edit] Cray Wanderers currently play their home games at Hayes Lane, Bromley.
Cray started playing football at Star Lane, now a cemetery. After playing at numerous other grounds, Cray played at Grassmeade from 1954 to 1973, after which they moved to Oxford Road. Unfortunately for the club, in 1998 the Kent League ruled that clubs must have floodlighting. As Cray were unable to have lights installed, they were forced to move out and share the Hayes Lane ground of Bromley, although their reserve and youth teams continued to play at the former ground until 2011, when it was taken over by Seven Acre Sports & Sidcup.[9]
In the summer of 2008, Cray announced plans to move to a new stadium near Orpington by 2014.[10][11] Official plans published on the club's official website on 18 February 2009 confirmed that the new ground at Sandy Lane would be open by 2014, for the 2014–15 season, subject to planning consent.[12] The stadium, which is proposed to be part of a new "Sports Village-like complex" is set to be eco-friendly and be built to an initial Conference standard.
The bid was rejected unanimously, by all councillors on Bromley Council's Development Control Committee on Thursday 20 September 2012. This was for a number of reasons, but mainly because the Club was hoping to build a Football League sized stadium, using the profits from building nearly 200 houses and a large hotel on Green Belt land.
In the debate on the application, which was opposed by the Police and the GLA as well as other bodies, it was clear that Councillors were supportative of a proposal to relocate Cray Wanderers to a new home in St. Pauls Cray, but not to the building of houses, a hotel and another swimming pool, given that LA Leisure already have a swimming pool opposite the site, in order to fund it.[citation needed] On 3 October 2014, Cray Wanderers signed a conditional contract to purchase Flamingo Park Sports Centre in St Paul’s Cray on the A20 Sidcup bypass. The club had an 18-month period to obtain planning consent from Bromley Council for a new sporting community hub, featuring a new multi-sport stadium with a spectator capacity of 1,300. This was achieved in April 2016, when the Council approved the proposal.[13] There was disappointment when the application was later refused by the Mayor of London and a revised set of plans were being prepared in 2017.[14] These were finally approved in November 2018, with hopes that the club will be able to move in for the start of the 2021–22 season [15]