BROMLEY BREEZE TO PROMOTION IN DEBUT WFA LEAGUE SEASON
The 1993-94 Division One South season was dominated by Bromley Borough, newcomers to the WFA National League but already a force to be reckoned with, after blitzing their way to successive South East Counties League promotions following their 1991 formation.The team had been put together by two former Millwall Lionesses players – captain Sue Law and future England Head Coach Hope Powell – together with coach Alan May, who when Powell formulated her England set-up would fulfil a senior coaching role.
The Millwall squad had fragmented after their surprise 1991 FA Cup win, beating hot favourites Doncaster Belles in the final, and though the Lionesses then became founder members of the National League the breakaway trio of Law, Powell and May opted to go their separate ways.
And the only way was up for Bromley, who when they reached the Southern Division took it by storm. Though they went into their debut season without England international Law, who due to injury had retired at the end of the 1992-93 season, they had built a squad that proved more than strong enough to lead the race for promotion from the early stages of the campaign.
After winning their first six matches, with a combined goal aggregate of 28-6, they were given a taste of what would await them in the top flight as they suffered a 10-1 FA Cup defeat by Doncaster and a fortnight later lost 5-1 to Knowsley United (later Liverpool) in the League Cup.
Beaten but unbowed, however, Powell and Co bounced back to record a total of 14 victories and just one defeat in an 18-match campaign that saw them finish 10 points ahead of runners-up Town & County and set themselves up for much bigger achievements in the seasons ahead.
Looking back at her team’s hugely successful National League start, Powell says: “We had some very good footballers, international players, and it was just a matter of going out to win the Southern Division to progress ourselves as a team.
“I don’t think there was any doubt that we would win it. Some of the scorelines were quite high and showed that it wasn’t overly taxing for us - we won it quite convincingly.”
During the 1994 close season Bromley were merged into Croydon FC, whose men’s semi-professional side played at the time in the Isthmian League. In the six seasons that followed the merger, the newly named Croydon women were to become one of England’s very top teams.
As the Bromley players were looking forward to life in the top flight in the summer of 1994 it was a starkly different outlook for their counterparts at Hassocks, the Sussex club having ended the season rock bottom of the division with only a single point to their name.
It was a sad demise of a team that, as 1991 founder members of the WFA League, had finished third in Division One South’s opening season and runners-up in the second campaign. Sadly it was third time unlucky – they were not only relegated in 1994 but would never regain their place in the League.
FINAL TABLE
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bromley Borough | 18 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 68 | 16 | 45 | +52 |
| 2 | Town & County | 18 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 51 | 29 | 35 | +22 |
| 3 | Bristol | 18 | 11 | 1 | 6 | 50 | 34 | 34 | +16 |
| 4 | Epsom & Ewell | 18 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 37 | 26 | 32 | +11 |
| 5 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 18 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 36 | 23 | 31 | +13 |
| 6 | Maidstone Tigresses | 18 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 37 | 28 | 29 | +9 |
| 7 | Hemel Hempstead | 18 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 33 | 44 | 18 | -11 |
| 8 | Horsham | 18 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 24 | 33 | 16 | -9 |
| 9 | Oxford United | 18 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 17 | 37 | 13 | -20 |
| 10 | Hassocks | 18 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 7 | 90 | 1 | -83 |
WFA NATIONAL LEAGUE SOUTHERN DIVISION RESULTS 1993-94
12/9/1993
Bromley Borough 4-0 Hassocks
Hemel Hempstead 0-5 Bristol
Horsham 0-0 Town & County
Maidstone Tigresses 3-1 Epsom & Ewell
Oxford United 1-4 Brighton & Hove Albion
Town & County 4-3 Maidstone Tigresses
19/9/1993
Hemel Hempstead 2-2 Horsham
Epsom & Ewell 0-5 Bromley Borough
Town & County 4-3 Maidstone Tigresses
Maidstone Tigresses 1-0 Brighton & Hove Albion
Hassocks 1-1 Hemel Hempstead
Epsom & Ewell 0-0 Horsham
26/9/1993
Bromley Borough 3-0 Town & County
Epsom & Ewell 5-0 Hassocks
Hemel Hempstead 4-1 Oxford United
Maidstone Tigresses 0-4 Bristol
3/10/1993
Brighton & Hove Albion 1-1 Maidstone Tigresses
Bristol 3-4 Bromley Borough
Oxford United 1-2 Horsham
Town & County 1-2 Epsom & Ewell
10/10/1993
Horsham 1-1 Hemel Hempstead
Town & County 8-0 Hassocks
Maidstone Tigresses 1-1 Oxford United
24/10/1993
Brighton & Hove Albion 0-2 Epsom & Ewell
Bristol 2-5 Town & County
Hassocks 0-2 Horsham
Oxford United 0-5 Bromley Borough
7/11/1993
Bromley Borough 7-0 Hemel Hempstead
Epsom & Ewell 3-0 Oxford United
Maidstone Tigresses 2-1 Horsham
21/11/1993
Brighton & Hove Albion 3-0 Bristol
Horsham 1-3 Epsom & Ewell
28/11/93
Epsom & Ewell 2-2 Bristol
Hassocks 0-1 Oxford United
12/12/1993
Epsom & Ewell 4-1 Hemel Hempstead
Horsham 0-0 Town & County
23/1/1994
Horsham 2-3 Brighton & Hove Albion
30/1/1994
Brighton & Hove Albion 1-1 Hemel Hempstead
Horsham 2-4 Bristol
Maidstone Tigresses 5-0 Hassocks
Oxford United 0-3 Town & County
6/2/1994
Epsom & Ewell 1-0 Town & County
Hemel Hempstead 10-0 Hassocks
Horsham 2-1 Oxford United
13/2/1994
Bristol 3-0 Hemel Hempstead
Horsham 2-6 Bromley Borough
Oxford United 0-0 Maidstone Tigresses
20/2/1994
Bromley Borough 5-3 Oxford United
Epsom & Ewell 1-5 Brighton & Hove Albion
Maidstone Tigresses 3-3 Hemel Hempstead
Town & County 3-2 Horsham
27/2/1994
Brighton & Hove Albion 1-3 Town & County
Horsham 1-4 Maidstone Tigresses
Oxford United 0-1 Epsom & Ewell
6/3/1994
Bristol 1-2 Brighton & Hove Albion
Bromley Borough 2-0 Horsham
Epsom & Ewell 4-1 Hemel Hempstead
Hassocks 0-2 Maidstone Tigresses
Town & County 1-1 Oxford United
13/3/1994
Brighton & Hove Albion 1-1 Bromley Borough
Epsom & Ewell 0-0 Horsham
Hemel Hempstead 2-0 Town & County
Oxford 1-2 Bristol
20/3/1994
Bristol 3-2 Epsom & Ewell
Hassocks 1-1 Hemel Hempstead
Town & County 5-1 Brighton & Hove Albion
27/3/1994
Brighton & Hove Albion 1-0 Horsham
Bromley Borough 2-1 Epsom & Ewell
Hemel Hempstead 2-5 Maidstone Tigresses
Oxford United 2-0 Hassocks
Town & County 5-1 Bristol
31/3/1994
Horsham 4-0 Hassocks
3/4/1994
Hassocks 1-10 Bromley Borough
Maidstone Tigresses 1-2 Town & County
7/4/1994
Bromley Borough 3-1 Maidstone Tigresses
10/4/1994
Hassocks 3-6 Bristol
Town & County 5-1 Hemel Hempstead
17/4/1994
Hemel Hempstead 1-2 Brighton & Hove Albion
18/4/1994
Oxford United 1-1 Hemel Hempstead
24/4/1994
Brighton & Hove Albion 0-2 Oxford United
Bristol 1-4 Maidstone Tigresses
Hassocks 1-5 Town & County
Hemel Hempstead 3-0 Epsom & Ewell
1/5/1994
Bristol 3-1 Oxford United
Maidstone Tigresses 1-0 Brighton & Hove Albion
Town & County 1-7 Bromley Borough
5/5/1994
Maidstone Tigresses 1-1 Bromley Borough
8/5/1994
Bromley Borough 1-1 Brighton & Hove Albion
Epsom & Ewell 3-0 Maidstone Tigresses
15/5/1994
Hassocks 0-6 Brighton & Hove Albion
Hemel Hempstead 0-2 Bromley Borough
5/6/1994
Hassocks 0-6 Epsom & Ewell
Date not known
Bristol w/o Horsham (points awarded to Bristol)
Bromley Borough 0-1 Bristol
Date nor result known
Brighton & Hove Albion ?-? Hassocks
