Bromley face uncertain future as chairman puts club up for sale

Jerry Dolke has announced that he has put Bromley Football Club up for sale and will be stepping down from his role as chairman with immediate effect.

“The club has now reached a crossroads and in order for it to move on to the next level significant investment is needed,” Dolke said in his statement, issued on www.bromleyfc.net.

"I don’t have the financial resources or the energy needed and therefore I have made the decision to put the club up for sale.

“I am now looking forward to spending some quality time with my family who have given me so much support my time as chairman.”

A former Bromley player, Dolke became the majority shareholder of the Hayes Lane club in 2001, not long after they exited the FA Cup at the hands of Sussex County League side Hassocks, having finished fifth from bottom in Ryman Division One the previous season.

Since then, incredible progress has been made both on and off the field of play.

The 2004-05 season began with the switching on of the new floodlights and ended with promotion to the Ryman Premier League. This achievement was echoed two years later in one of the most successful seasons the club had enjoyed for many years.

July 2006 saw the visit of Reading to mark the completion of the work to build new facilities into the main stand. When Gillingham were the next side to grace the turf at Hayes Lane few imagined that Bromley would be playing them again just four months later in the First Round of The FA Cup.

The new state of the art rubber crumb Astroturf pitches were opened, before May saw Bromley win promotion to Blue Square South via the play offs, having finished second in the Ryman Premier Division.

However, perhaps the most important development of all came at the end of November 2006 when Dolke purchased the freehold for Hayes Lane from the Cannons Group.

Bromley are currently in eleventh in the Blue Square South table - the highest level of football that the club has played at - with 61 points from 40 games and are four points adrift of their fifth placed local rivals Fisher Athletic, who are also up for sale.

Article courtesy of www.bromleyfc.net