These are the matches that make island football special. Two regional teams from the fifth-highest league, a semi-professional competition, met in the final play-off for promotion to the fourth-highest football competition at the legendary 90,000-capacity Wembley Stadium.
The sum of the capacities of the Bromley FC and Solihull Moors stadiums is less than 11,000 seats, and it should be noted that neither club has full stands. Despite this, 23,374 visitors visited the London Tabernacle on Sunday afternoon. What with the fact that it was barely a quarter full – it was the game of a career for many players.
The Bromley team finished third in this year’s National League, while Solihull Moors finished fifth. The Bromley players thus entered the play-off final as minor favourites. All this, however, with the postscript that they have never managed to advance to the fourth highest league in history. And a balanced match after 120 minutes came down to penalty kicks.
Captain the epitome of calm
Solihull’s men failed in the first two attempts, with Bromley keeper Grant Smith picking up the ball on both occasions. Bromley only failed in the case of the second penalty, when Ashley Charles did not convert.
Penalty kicks after more successful attempts came until the fifth round, when the weight of the moment fell on 37-year-old Bromley skipper Byron Webster. If he didn’t convert, the penalty draw would continue. A potential goal made history. And Webster made his mark on it.
A camera close-up turned an unknown player into a celebrity on the islands. A raised eyebrow towards the keeper, a smirk with a small smile and the armband of the EFL captain, not the competition Bromley played in, but the league they wanted to be promoted to. After the referee’s whistle, Webster didn’t hesitate, sent the Solihull Moors goalkeeper away and just stretched out triumphantly towards his delighted team-mates.
Everything has an explanation
“The goalie told me, ‘I know where you’re going to send it.’ And I just thought, ‘You don’t know that, because I don’t know where to kick it either yet.’ That’s why I smirked so much. During the penalty shootout, I wanted to kick to my left. But when they converted that last penalty and I knew I had to convert, I thought he jumped to the left most often. So I thought I’d try to tighten it up a bit to the right where he wouldn’t have a chance,” Webster told BBC Sport after the heart-attack finish. And so he did.
And what about the captain’s armband of a higher competition? It was said that it was no provocation for the final deciding penalty. Webster had it on his hand not only for the entire game, but throughout the season.
“We had a guy who looked after our shirts and he brought the tape over from Charlton, where he used to work. I’m quite superstitious. We took that armband as a sign that we wanted to go up to the EFL, so I wore it all year,” Webster added.
Further fate uncertain
The 37-year-old footballer has a lot of experience with this type of heated moments. In 2013, he won the League One play-off final (the third highest league) with the Yeovil Town team and repeated the promotion to the Championship four years later with Millwall. What jersey he will wear next season, however, is still in the stars.
The centre-back was signed by Bromley in 2020 and has since made 152 appearances for the club. However, his contract ends after this season. According to him, he would like to continue playing for the club, but no negotiations have taken place yet.
