Cray Valley Paper Mills F.C.

History

The club was established in 1919 and joined Division Two of the Sidcup & Kent League. 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 he first attempt, earning promotion to Division One. They later joined the Kent County Amateur League, winning Division Three of the western section in 1936–37. The club left the league at the end of the 1954–55 season.

The club subsequently joined the South London Alliance. 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. When it merged with the 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 the club 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.

Ground

The club originally played at the sports ground of the paper mills in St Paul's Cray. 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 2016 Greenwich Borough agreed a 30-year lease to share the ground. The ground includes a 100-seat stand one one side of the pitch and a small covered area on the other.

Honours

Records