Cray Valley Paper Mills

Cray Valley Paper Mills FC is a non-league football which was formed in 1919 for the workers of the paper mills in and around Crayford in Kent. The club initially became members of Division Two of the Sidcup & District League upon formation.

Promotion to Division One of that league was achieved in their debut season. A few years later ‘The Millers’ joined the Kent County Amateur League; going on to lift the Division Three West title in 1936-37.

Cray Valley moved to join the South London Alliance from the 1954-55 season. The team were crowned as Division One champions in 1979-80 before lifting the Premier Division title in 1981-82.

The club had played up until that point at the Paper Mills Sports Ground in St Paul’s Cray. However, when the mill shut in 1981, the club were forced to use several different grounds.

Despite a subsequent demotion, Paper Mills won Division One once again in 1983-84 and finished runners-up of the Premier Division in 1988-89. In 1991 the club progressed to the Spartan League.

When the Spartan League merged with the South Midlands League in 1997, Cray Valley were placed in Division One South. The Millers finished runners-up in the inaugural season but decided to leave the competition and join the London Intermediate League.

Valley made another switch for the 2001-12 season as they were placed in Division One West of the Kent County League. The divisional title was won in 2002-03 as the club were promoted to the Premier Division.

A third-place finish in 2010-11 saw Paper Mills promoted to the Kent League. The Millers moved into The Badgers Sports Ground in Eltham, while the league was renamed the Southern Counties East League from the 2013-14 season with PM being led by manager Steve Chapman.

Greenwich Borough FC signed a thirty-year lease to share Badgers from the 2016-17 season, as numerous ground improvements were carried out at the venue. When an additional division was added in the summer of 2016, Cray Valley became members of the Premier Division under new manager James Collins.

He led the team to a fourth-place finish in 2016-17; the club's highest-ever league finish. The season also ended in further glory, as Cray Valley PM became the lowest-ever ranked side to lift the London Senior Cup when they defeated Metropolitan Police 2-1 at Champion Hill, Dulwich. 

Despite this Collins was dismissed in August 2017 owing to alleged boardroom interference as Kevin Watson replaced him. He took the side to the league title in 2018-19 as well as the final of the FA Vase where they went down 3-1 after extra time to Chertsey Town. Veteran forwards Kevin Lisbie and Gavin Tomlin played a huge part in the success story.

In the summer of 2019, Greenwich Borough were evicted over non-payment of rent leaving Valley as the sole occupier of Badgers. The club was forced to wait two years before they could complete a season as an Isthmian League club owing to the global pandemic. They reached the playoffs of the South East Division in 2021-22.

This ended in a semifinal defeat to Ashford United before coach Tommy Osborne replaced Watson in November 2022. Steve McKimm was appointed as manager at the start of the 2023-24 campaign which saw the Millers lift the league title to join the Premier Division.

Cray Valley Paper Mills FC will play in the Isthmian League Premier Division in the 2024-25 season.

My visits

Greenwich Borough 3 Corinthian-Casuals 4 (Tuesday 25th April 2017) Isthmian League Division One South Play-Off Semi-Final (att: 427)

Click here to read about my first visit Badgers for an exciting play-off semi-final.

Cray Valley Paper Mills 3 Dulwich Hamlet 2 (Thursday 20^th July 2017) Pre-Season Friendly (att: c60)

It was a pleasant but blustery evening as I set out after a brief siesta to take the edge off an interesting early shift at work. The tube to London Bridge was followed by a train down to Lee, from where I walked to the Badgers Sports Club.

I paid my £5 admission in advance to ensure I got a team sheet, which came with another page of club information before heading to the bar. My 300cl bottle of Magners was extravagantly priced, so I savoured every drop at a very steady pace before entering the ground.

The ground had been added to over the summer in the shape of a rather ugly scaffold cover behind the near goal. The pitch was very grassy and had signs of being well watered. This was a vast improvement to the surface of a couple of months previously.

The Greenwich Borough squad were been put through their paces on the practice pitch next door as the teams came out rather haphazardly and in a way to remember the good old days before the current PC formality.

Kick-off was slightly delayed as hoses had to be pushed back from the far touchline before the game got off to a pacy and even opening. There were plenty of nice touches and clever passing. This was promising to see as Hamlet’s lineup was very much second string.

The experienced Dulwich forward Gavin Tomlin opened the scoring when put through and slotting the ball through the legs of the advancing keeper after ten minutes. The visitors centre back Harly Wise controlled the back four, with the leggy Mohammed Mohammed playing well in midfield.

Paper Mills had a couple of decent half chances. Both Aaron Rhule and Zenze Gayle caused problems with their pace from out wide, but centre forward Scott Reilly was a little short on his finishing skills.

During the half while sitting in the stand, I overheard a couple of blokes chatting. One had been to the opening of Scarborough’s ground the previous Saturday and had not been totally impressed. I know I should have kept out of the way, but he was talking cobblers.

It turned out he was a Charlton Athletic fan who also visits Pickering and supports the Pikes. It’s amazing how local gossip about incorrect players' wages went the full length of the country. He also had difficulty grasping the difference between in-house catering to 100 and 1,000 fans.

At least his mate cleared up that it wasn’t the old Eltham Town ground where we were watching, so I hadn’t played there in the past. That particular venue was on Green Lane a good half mile away.

Grabbing a cup of tea for a quid at the break, I took up a position on the small covered terrace for the second period. A few substitutions had been made during the break, and the changes soon benefitted the home side.

Soon after the restart Gayle cut inside and fired past Hamlet keeper Ferdinand De Sena. The custodian had flapped at several crosses previously, and I would guess that he would have been upset that the shot got past him.

Valley’s central defender Joe Matthews came close with a header as De Sena once again misjudged a cross. The temperature was dropping by the minute as an almighty scramble in the Hamlet area somehow kept the ball out.

However, there was nothing anyone could do about a twenty-five-yard rocket from full-back Danny Smith, which flew into the top corner of the net to put the home side ahead. The home skipper Russell Bedford was having a fine game in midfield as his side took control.

Several more changes were made from both benches as players picked up invaluable match time. Kicking up the slope was helping Cray Valley as they continued to heap on the pressure.

They made it 3-1 with around twenty minutes remaining as Gayle fired in a low cross, which was met on the half volley by Jordan Sandiford who fired home. Then after a little lull, Hamlet began to fight back.

In their first attack in some time a Hamlet replacement was brought down in the box. Referee Alex Stacchini had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Caio Guimares made no mistake as he fired into the bottom corner.

Dulwich continued to have plenty of possession and were starting to put the Millers defence under a bit of pressure. However, with just a few minutes remaining I decided to bite the bullet and head off as I had an early start the next day.

The 321 to New Cross Gate, Overground to Canada Water and then the Jubilee line got me back to Kingsbury in just over an hour. I’d thoroughly enjoyed my evening out; despite being preached to about my own club!