Cray Valley Paper Mills Football Club is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club currently based in

Eltham Eltham ( ) is a district of South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three ...

, in the

Royal Borough of Greenwich The Royal Borough of Greenwich (, , or ) is a London borough in southeast Greater London, England. The London Borough of Greenwich was formed in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. The new borough covered the former area of the Metropolita ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. They are currently members of the and play at the Badgers Sports Ground.

History

The club was established in 1919 and joined Division Two of the new Sidcup & Kent League.Cray Valley (PM) FC - Our history 1919-2015
Cray Valley Paper Mills F.C. Playing in green and white, the colours of the mill's vehicles, their first match was played on 20 September 1919, a 1–0 win against Hamilton House. The club won the division at the first attempt, earning promotion to Division One of the Bromley & District League. In their second season they won the Kent Junior Cup. They later joined the Kent County Amateur League, winning Division Three of the western section in 1932–33 and finishing as runners-up in the division in 1936–37. The club left the league at the end of the 1954–55 season. Cray Valley joined the South London Alliance in 1975. They were Division One champions in 1979–80 and won the Premier Division two seasons later. The club won Division One again in 1983–84, and finished as runners-up in the Premier Division in 1988–89. In 1991 they joined Division One of the

Spartan League The Spartan League was a football league in England covering London and adjacent counties. Established in 1907, it merged with the South Midlands League in 1997 to form the Spartan South Midlands League. History The Spartan League was establi ...

. When it merged with the South Midlands League to form the Spartan South Midlands League in 1997, the club were placed in Division One South. Despite finishing as runners-up in the league's first season, they left to become founder members of the London Intermediate League. However, in 2001 they left to rejoin the Kent County League, becoming members of Division One West. In 2002–03 Cray Valley won Division One West, earning promotion to the Premier Division. Two seasons later they won the Premier Division. After finishing third in 2010–11, they moved up to the Kent League, which was renamed the Southern Counties East League in 2013. When the league gained a second division in 2016, the club became members of the Premier Division. In 2016–17 they won the

London Senior Cup The London Senior Cup is the County Senior Cup of the London FA. The London Senior Cup was first won by Upton Park in 1882. Although the leading professional sides in London no longer compete, the Cup has been won in the past by the likes of ...

, beating Metropolitan Police 2–1 in the final, becoming the lowest-ranked team to ever win the trophy. They were also runners-up in the Kent Reliance Senior Trophy in the same season. However they were disqualified from the first round of the

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, also known as the Isuzu FA Vase for sponsorship reasons, is an annual football competition run by and named after The Football Association (The FA), for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English Nation ...

for fielding an ineligible player, former Crystal Palace defender Matthew Parsons. The club reached the London Senior Cup final again the following season, but lost 4–1 to

Balham Balham () is an List of areas of London, area in south-west London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, with small parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Lambeth. It has been settled since Saxon times and appears in t ...

. The 2018–19 season saw Cray Valley reach the

final for the first time, in which they lost 3–1 after extra time to Chertsey Town at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

.FA Trophy Final
BBC Sport, 19 May 2019 They were also Southern Counties East League Premier Division champions, earning promotion to the South East Division of the

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional Association football, football league covering Greater London, East of England, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, th ...

. In 2020–21 the club reached the first round of the FA Cup for the first time, losing 1–0 at Havant & Waterlooville. They reached the first round again in 2023–24, when they were drawn away to local League One side

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

. After a 1–1 draw at the Valley, they lost the replay 6–1. The season also saw the club win the South East Division title, earning promotion to the Premier Division. In 2024–25 Cray Valley finished fourth in the Premier Division, qualifying for the promotion play-offs, in which they lost 4–3 to

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames Estuary, is Thurrock in ...

in the semi-finals.

Ground

The club originally played at the sports ground of the paper mills in

St Paul's Cray St Paul's Cray is an area of South East Greater London, London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley in Greater London. Prior to 1965 it was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent. It is located south of Sidcu ...

. However, the mills closed in 1981 and the club then played at numerous grounds until moving permanently to the Badgers Sports Ground in Eltham in 1998. The ground includes a 100-seat stand on one side of the pitch and a small covered area on the other. In 2016 Greenwich Borough agreed a 30-year lease to share the ground. However, at the end of the 2018–19 season Greenwich Borough were evicted for failing to pay rent, and subsequently moved to the Phoenix Sports Ground in

Barnehurst Barnehurst is a town and Wards of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in Greater London within the London Borough of Bexley. It lies north east of Bexleyheath, and 13.0 miles (20 km) east south-east of Charing Cross. It is separated from Nor ...

.Greenwich Borough confirm groundshare deal at Phoenix Sports and appoint Ben Kotey as their new manager
Kentish Football, 20 May 2019

Honours

*Isthmian League **South East Division champions 2023–24 *Southern Counties East League **Premier Division champions 2018–19 *Kent County League **Premier Division champions 2004–05 **Division One West champions 2002–03 **Division Three (Western Section) champions 1932–33 *South London Alliance **Premier Division winners 1980–81 **Division One champions 1979–80, 1983–84 *Sidcup & Kent League **Division Two champions 1919–20 *London Senior Cup **Winners 2016–17 * London Intermediate Cup **Winners 2002–03, 2003–04, 2009–10, 2010–11Honours
Cray Valley Paper Mills F.C. *Kent Intermediate Shield **Winners 2004–05 *Kent Junior Cup **Winners 1921–22, 1977–78, 1980–81 *West Kent Challenge Shield **Winners 2001–02

Records

*Best

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

performance: First round, 2020–21, 2023–24 *Best

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...

performance: Second round, 2023–24 *Best

performance: Runners-up, 2018–19 *Record attendance: 1,550 vs

, FA Cup first round replay, 15 November 2023

References

External links

Official website
{{coord, 51, 27, 2, N, 0, 2, 5, E, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Football clubs in England Football clubs in London Association football clubs established in 1919 1919 establishments in England Kent County League South London Football Alliance Spartan League Spartan South Midlands Football League Southern Counties East Football League Isthmian League clubs Sport in the Royal Borough of Greenwich Eltham Works association football teams in England