Brentwood Town v Cray Wanderers – Isthmian Premier – Saturday 3rd January, 2026, 3 pm
Pics: Steve Cullum
Cray Wanderers begin 2026 on Saturday 3rd January with one of the fixtures of the day in the Isthmian Premier as 2nd plays 5th as the Wands head to Brentwood Town and pits two sides in good form. Kick off at the Brentwood Arena, 3 pm.
Both teams come into the game in good form with Brentwood having just one defeat in eight and three straight wins while Cray have one lost one of the last seven league games and three wins in four and finished 2025 in style with a 5-0 win against Cray Valley (PM) to move into fifth place on 38 points after 24 games.
Tim O’Shea’s side produced an excellent performance against the Millers taking the lead through a high quality Alex Hernandez free kick in the 14th minute and extended the lead through Harry Waldock’s second goal of the season. The second half saw more of the same and Soul Kader netted his second goal in four starts since his loan return from Bromley and a Hernandez penalty made if ten goals for the season. The scoring was completed just after the hour with Jordy Mongoy on his home debut making it 5-0 and with a clean sheet made it a great way to end what was a fine year for Cray Wanderers. The match sees the first of back to back games against playoff contenders with Aveley to visit Flamingo Park on Friday 9th January.
Brentwood Town have been one of the teams of the season in the Isthmian Premier and are 2nd in the table on 49 points also after 24 games and finished off am excellent 2025 with a 4-1 win at Welling United last Saturday with goals from Kymani Thomas, Charlee Hughes (2) and Jesse Olukolu.
Last season’s Isthmian North Champions began the season is style winning eight of the first ten league games many of which came from losing positions including a 5-1 win at Flamingo Park on 30th August as Town led the league in the early weeks of the season. After Josh Williams gave Cray an early lead goals from Daniel Ogunleye, Romel Royal, Benas Vaivada, Charlie Edwards and Sam Park won the game for Brentwood. Despite a brief dip in form of three straight defeats in November Brentwood have bounced back well with the only defeat in the last eight coming against league leaders Folkestone Invicta.
Home form as you would expect is strong with wins against St Albans City (3-2), Burgess Hill Town (2-1), Carshalton Athletic (3-2), Canvey Island (1-0), Billericay Town (3-0), Ramsgate (2-1), Hashtag United (2-0) and Potters Bar Town (1-0). Brentwood drew with Dartford (1-1), Aveley (3-3) and Cheshunt (2-2) with the only defeat against Wingate & Finchley (0-5) on 1st November. Daniel Ogunleye is the leading scorer with 15 goals in league and cups.
The last league meeting between the sides at Brentwood was in the Isthmian North on 9th September 2014 and finished in a 3-3 draw with Shaun Welford, Gary Beckett and Nick Humphrey scoring for Cray and Sam Bantick, Alex Akrofi and Shad Ngandu scoring for Brentwood Town. The teams met in the 3rd Qualifying Round of the FA Trophy last season at the Brentwood Arena with the match finishing 1-1 after 90 minutes. Connor Witherspoon put Brentwood in front but Lateef Adaja levelled in the second half. Brentwood though won 4-3 on penalties.
With both teams coming into the game high in c1onfidence this should be a great game to begin 2026 at the top end of the table.
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DIRECTIONS TO BRENTWOOD TOWN FC
The Arena, The Brentwood Centre, Doddinghurst Road, Brentwood, Essex CM15 9NN
General Admission: £12 adults, £8 concessions, U18s – Free
Online tickets available: https://app.fanbaseclub.com/Fan/Tickets/SelectType?fixtureId=16670
Printed Match Programme: £3
By Car:
Brentwood lies in Central Essex and from Flamingo Park is 27.8 miles away and via the A20 and M25 can take 45 minutes in good traffic.
Get on to the M25 from Swanley and from the M25 after 3.25 miles continue onto
A282 and the Dartford Tunnel and after 2.7 miles continue on onto M25 (signs for
M11/M1/Stansted Airport) for 8.5 miles. At Junction 28 take the A12 exit to
Chelmsford/A1023/Brentwood for 0.1 mile. At the roundabout take the 4th exit onto Brook Street/A1023 for 1.9 miles. Then turn left onto Weald Road and at the roundabout take the 2nd exit onto Western Road and go through 2 roundabouts and at the second mini roundabout take the right hand fork into Doddinghurst Road. The Brentwood Centre is a further half a mile, on the right just after the A12 bridge. Once you enter the Centre the football ground entrance is in the far right hand corner of the car park. There are normally vast amounts of parking available, but beware when special events are taking place at the Brentwood Centre, as the car park can then become very congested.
By Train
PLEASE NOTE THERE ARE RAIL ENGINEERING WORKS TAKING PLACE AFFECTING SERVICES INTO LONDON STATIONS. SERVICES ON THE SIDCUP LINE INTO LONDON ON SATURDAY REQUIRE A REPLACEMENT BUS SERVICE REQUIRING A CHANGE AT GREENWICH FOR LONDON SERVICES. ALSO ON THE BEXLEYHEATH LINE TRAINS ARE NOT STOPPING AT LONDON BRIDGE/LONDON CHARING CROSS. SERVICES ARE RUNNING DIRECT TO VICTORIA. FOR LONDON SERVICES CHANGE AT BLACKFRIARS FOR UNDERGROUND SERVICES
THERE ARE TRAINS RUNNING DIRECT FROM DARTFORD TO ABBEY WOOD WHERE YOU CAN PICK UP THE ELIZABETH LINE TO BRENTWOOD VIA A CHANGE AT WHITECHAPEL FOR THE SHENFIELD BRANCH.
Brentwood station is on the Great Eastern Line, approximately 35 minutes from Liverpool Street, and is about 1¾ miles from the Brentwood Centre. To walk it from the station (a bit of a hike, perhaps a cab if you are strapped for time) walk north on Warley Hill/B186 towards St James Rd and follow the B186 for 0.1 mile and at the roundabout, take the 1st exit onto Kings Road/B185. After 0.3 miles continue onto Weald Road and at the roundabout take the 1st exit onto Western Road going through 2 roundabouts for 0.4 miles. Then turn left onto Ongar Road/A128 and at the roundabout, take the 1st exit onto Doddinghurst Road for 0.6 miles then turn right, then a left and a right and the ground will be on the left. Please see above for information on the Brentwood Centre in which the Arena lies.
There should be regular services from Liverpool Street on a Saturday to Brentwood and returns with at least six trains an hour.
By underground
Brentwood can be reached on the Elizabeth Line on the Shenfield branch via Whitechapel. This can be picked up from Abbey Wood, Woolwich and Docklands stations. You can also reach Liverpool Street Station (one stop after Whitechapel) for national rail services to Brentwood.
By Bus
From Brentwood Station, the 37 (First Bus Company) and 31 (NiBS) bus services both run approximately every 20 minutes, via the High Street and Doddinghurst Road, to the Bishops Hall Estate, turning into Elizabeth Road opposite the Brentwood Centre.
Nearest Pubs: Brentwood is quite a decent sized town so if time you can make a day of it. The Rose & Crown (390 Ongar Road, Pilgrims Hatch, Brentwood CM15 9JH) is around 1.1 miles from the ground so a 25 minute walk so perhaps a cab might be the best option or a bus service (as above). Slightly further away is the Black Horse (420 Ongar Road) which is a 16th century built pub with gnarled beams and fireplaces and serves real ale and modern pub food. Also on Ongar Road is the Robin which has live music on the weekends. A lot further away from the ground there are lots of pubs in the High Street including The Dairyman (JD Wetherspoon) as well as plenty of restaurants in the town.
Brentwood is a commuter town in central Essex close to the M25 with a Roman Road which linked London to Colchester passing through the town and during the 13th century was a popular destination for pilgrims to pass through in homage to St Thomas the Martyr (Thomas Becket) of whom there was a chapel in the town.
Brentwood was also one of the key early meeting point ahead of the Peasant’s Revolt and after a riot began the movement which led to the groups’ heading to London. With Brentwood being located fairly close to London the town was renowned for its pubs and inns and was a stopping point for travellers heading to East Anglia.
The area also has a military history with Warley Barracks and later a psychiatric hospital and was home of the Essex Regiment until 1958 and was home of the Ford Motor Company until 2018.
