Bromley host Rotherham in a huge first-round tie in the 2026-27 FA Cup between the two struggling EFL clubs.
Victory would see Bromley reach the second round for the second time in three seasons as an EFL club, whilst Rotherham are looking to avoid suffering a third consecutive exit at this stage of the competition.
Team News
Bromley have no fresh injury concerns to report following their 3-2 loss at Wigan in League One on Halloween.
Shamal George (muscle), Deon Woodman (unspecified) and Ashley Charles (cruciate) remain absent.
Rotherham could be without their top goalscorer, Paul Mullin due to illness.
Kian Spence is serving the second of his three-match ban, whilst Jili Buyabu and Dominic Iofra are beginning their three-match suspensions following red cards in the Millers’ 2-1 loss at Swindon on Halloween in League Two.
Ewan Otoo, Joe Rafferty (both thigh), Jamie Jellis (knee), Ossama Ashley (foot), Fabio Tavares (Achilles)
When is Kick-Off?
Bromley host Rotherham at the CopperJax Community Stadium on Saturday 7 November at 3pm GMT, untelevised live in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Bromley lost 3-0 in their only previous FA Cup meeting against Rotherham in November 2021 at this same stage of the competition.
- Rotherham are making their first competitive visit to Bromley in all competitions.
- Bromley are yet to beat a top-four tier club in the FA Cup.
- Rotherham have won just one of their three FA Cup away ties against London opposition this century (W1, L2) – which came at Wealdstone in first round of 2009-10 edition in a 3-2 win, whilst they lost 8-7 on penalties at QPR after a 1-1 draw in third round of 21-22 edition.
Prediction
With the managerial bounce of Karl Robinson’s arrival nicely timed for this intriguing cup tie, Bromley will have a point to prove under intense scrutiny of their own fans who will be hopeful that Robinson has worked on the passively lacklustre defending which was costly at Wigan.
This tie also marks a chance for Bromley to try and create some positive cheer with a cup run amidst their League One struggles, as they do at least still score goals even though mainly not from their strikers lately which is another concern alongside their defensive play.
Rotherham meanwhile will too view this as a chance to go on a cup run given their own woes but their relegation scrap has larger stakes than Bromley’s as the Millers are at risk of dropping into Non League, so they have to weigh the risks of a rewarding cup run against the danger of relegation.
This tie therefore is very difficult to call because neither defence is the strongest but if assume Mullin isn’t involved, Rotherham’s lack of firepower is a serious concern without his presence – with just 12 goals in all competitions if excluded Mullin’s eight goals compared to Bromley’s 14 in comparison.
Bromley though should benefit from a managerial bounce if the supporters turn up and get behind their team with their usual noise, but this is either going to be a tightly nervous battle or a messy goalscoring scrap and I imagine it will be the latter.
Prediction: Bromley 2-1 Rotherham
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