Ex-Everton, Sunderland & West Brom striker plots EFL takeover | OneFootball

The former Nigerian international Victor Anichebe is reported to be part of a group which is plotting a takeover of League One side Bromley.

Former Everton, Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion star Victor Anichebe has been linked with a possible move into club ownership at League One Bromley.

It's been an incredible couple of decades for Bromley. Twenty years ago this year they were playing in the Isthmian League Premier Division, the seventh tier of the game in England, but steady progress since then has seen them rise up the ladder, winning promotion to the EFL at the end of the 2023-24 season.

Their progress has not yet run into any form of glass ceiling. They were promoted as the winners of League Two at the end of the 2025-26 season, and while they've had a hit and miss start to life in League One, a shock 2-1 win against Huddersfield Town in their last match before the international break demonstrated that they could have what it takes to stay afloat in the third tier.

But further progress up the divisions could be dependent on fresh investment coming into the club, and it's now being reported that the club could be set for new ownership, and with former Premier League star Victor Anichebe being part of a group looking to take control at Hayes Lane.

Victor Anichebe is plotting a takeover at League One outfit Bromley

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Reporting to his Patreon on Sunday morning, journalist Alan Nixon has confirmed that the former Sunderland, Everton and West Bromwich Albion star Victor Anichebe has already taken a leading role behind the scenes at League One Bromley, with a view to making a move to get complete control of the club.

Nixon confirms that Anichebe is already deeply involved at Hayes Lane, having arranged a training camp in Cheshire for their players during the current international break. This is, according to the journalist, a prelude to a bid to take the club over.

Anichebe is the owner of Lumira Group, who are 'a long-term holding company investing in sport, education, healthcare and infrastructure across the UK'.

There have been reports of his involvement with Bromley during the summer, with talkSPORT reporting at the start of August that he was "already having an impact on Bromley's summer recruitment ahead of a proposed takeover".

This isn't the first time that Anichebe has been linked to a lower division side. In March 2025, his interest in the National League club Gateshead was also reported, though this didn't end up coming to anything.

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What fans have been saying about Victor Anichebe's possible takeover at Bromley

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Rumours of the possible sale of Bromley have been doing the rounds for a couple of months, so here's what's been said about the possibility of it happening.

This Bromley fan feels that his club has the perfect owner now in the form of Robin Stanton-Gleaves, and is worried about what might happen under different ownership:

But this fan feels that the collapse of his interest in Gateshead made a Bromley takeover less likely too:

Bromley haven't looked out of their depth yet in League One - there's potential to grow

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Bromley were pre-season favourites for relegation back to League Two at the start of this season and, while they've had a reasonable start, a couple of their results will have raised alarm bells at Hayes Lane.

The Ravens started their season impressively, with four points from their first two matches including an excellent 1-0 win at Barnsley. Buy any early season confidence was brought back to earth with three consecutive defeats which served as a reminder that they are now playing at a higher level than they've ever been before.

In the space of ten days at the end of August, they lost 7-2 to Sheffield Wednesday, 5-0 at home to Leyton Orient and 2-0 at home to Wimbledon, which sent them crashing down into the relegation places. But a further four points from their last two games before the international break - including that win against Huddersfield - lifted them back up to 19th place, just above the drop zone.

Having been involved at the club since the summer, Victor Anichebe has clearly demonstrated that he has some degree of commitment towards Bromley, but it has been clear from fan comments on social media that there is some unease about the club being sold in the pursuit of 'ambition'.

Current owner Robin Stanton-Gleaves has carried out one of the more unheralded success stories of recent years at Bromley, but while it is reasonable to ask how much higher the club could go, it's also important to ask where they should set the summit of their ambitions. The costs of overambition can be very high indeed, and the history of the game is littered with stories of clubs who set their targets too high before crashing and burning.

No Bromley supporter would want to temper hopes that the club can continue to push up the divisions, and other formerly traditional non-league clubs such as Burton Albion and Wycombe Wanderers have both gone as far as the Championship. For now, the Ravens are still finding their feet in the third tier, and while a couple of their performances so far have demonstrated just how big the gulf between League Two and League One can be, they haven't looked uniformly out of their depth yet.