How did Bromley get promoted to League One under Andy Woodman?

By refusing to be happy with 11th. Woodman made it clear from the start that Bromley hadn't come into the EFL to hang on by their fingernails. They wanted to go up. They wanted League One at the first chance. They finished four points short of the play-offs and then went one better.

The 2025-26 season was a procession. Bromley sat top of the table from 29 December. By mid-April they had led for 110 days, 24 more than any other club. The title was sealed with a 3-1 win over Walsall.

Money didn't do it. Sky Sports said this was not a club that has had money pumped into it. A pundit in the same piece described a side that looks like a long-ball team to first-time viewers, but is really a long-passing one.

Horwedel boiled it down to a sum. Two promotions in three seasons, from the National League to League One. He also noted that a club that waited 132 years for EFL football reached the third tier two seasons later.

Why did Andy Woodman leave Bromley?

Because League One started badly and kept going that way. The club announced on 22 October that Woodman had left after a "mutual termination" of his contract.

The numbers were ugly. Bromley were 23rd with eight points, one above bottom side Wigan Athletic, and had conceded an EFL-high 25 goals. They lost 7-2 at Hillsborough and 5-0 at home to Leyton Orient. A 4-0 defeat by Leicester City was their fifth loss in a row in all competitions.

Horwedel did not pretend otherwise. "They clearly have" struggled, he said. But he argued that the context mattered: a long injury list, big squad turnover and a budget built for a lower division. Reports at the time cited the same injuries and summer changes.

His bigger point was about expectations. A club arrives in a division early, starts losing, and the man who got them there is blamed for not making it look easy. He called that "the strange cruelty of promotion." He also pointed to Phil Parkinson at Wrexham and said the man deserves a statue. He admitted Parkinson's Championship record is thin.

Is it fair? Partly. Nobody should call this a plain sacking, because both sides accepted a change was needed, even with two years left on Woodman's deal. That cuts against the romantic version in which a loyal club turns on its hero. It also cuts against the cold version, since 10 games is a small sample.

Why does Woodman's 5 years and 7 months at Bromley matter?

Because almost nobody lasts that long. It was the third-longest tenure across the Premier League and EFL, behind Mikel Arteta at Arsenal and Nigel Clough at Mansfield Town. He leaves having won 123 of 289 matches, a win rate of 42.6 per cent.

The club has its own view. It thanked him for three trophies and its "deepest gratitude." Chairman Robin Stanton-Gleaves said Woodman had been "fundamental" in taking the club to new heights. There was also the best FA Cup run in club history, reaching the third round against Newcastle United.

Horwedel said Woodman may have been safest when Bromley were trying to escape non-league. It is a clever line. It is also probably right. Nobody asked a National League club to defend a 25-goal deficit.

The next chapter started with a familiar face. Byron Webster, who retired as a player at the end of last season, took interim charge. That is the same Webster who took the last penalty at Wembley.

His first match was at home to Peterborough. Horwedel said Cheek scored after 10 minutes, which is a very Bromley thing to do. Then Fernand Massara equalised in stoppage time. One point. The old Wembley names were still on the team sheet, and the result still slipped away at the death.