Club Background
Farnborough Town was another comparatively new club which went a relatively long way in a short time… only to suffer disaster owing to ending up in the wrong hands.
Formed in 1967 it began its active life in the Surrey Senior League in 1968, progressing from there into the Spartan League before joining the Athenian League and at the same time moving into the present home at Cherrywood Road in the mid-70’s.
More success followed with the club moving to the Isthmian League, and eventually working its way up the pyramid to the Conference for the first time in 1989. Its first stay in the Non-League game’s elite didn’t last long however. Boro, in the first setback of its brief history, was relegated back down to the Southern League a season later.
During the 1990’s and early 2000’s it bobbed up and and down the pyramid with a series of promotions and relegations following one another rapidly, an excellent impression of a rather inefficient yo-yo. During this period enter a Mr Graham W*stl*y.
Former Barrow boy boss W*stl*y took over the managerial reins in 1999 and – as the saying goes – liked the team so much that he bought the company; and then made everybody chuckle when he said his aim was to get Farnborough into the Premier League within 10 years. The ominous news for the club was that to all appearances he actually believed his own ridiculous hype, changing the name of the stadium to Aimita (= Attitude Is More Important Than Ability). He also made himself Club Secretary, Press Officer and possibly a few other things. Boro fans, however, weren’t wryly chuckling for long as W*stl*y’s mixture of a somewhat bizarre (for which read “lunatic”) managerial style and fast & loose handling of the club’s finances set it on course for disaster.
W*stl*y floated schemes to get ground-shares going with Aldershot and Woking (both coming to nothing) and, weirdest of all, for a full-blown merger with cash-strapped Kingstonian which would have seen the merged club playing in Kingston, some 30-odd miles away from Farnborough itself. In the event that plan was also kicked into touch and he did a 180 degrees U-turn, deciding in 2002 Cherrywood Road would be upgraded to a Football League standard ground with a minimum 6,000 capacity while also threatening (promising) to leave the club unless sufficient support from the local community – fans, local business and the local council – was forthcoming.
In the 2002-03 season the club progressed beyond the FA Cup First Round Proper for the second time in its history, the run ending up with a plum Fourth Round home draw versus Arsenal. W*stl*y pulled the wool over the FA’s eyes, coming up with all sorts of arguments as to why the tie should be switched to Highbury. Once it was, immediately after the 5-1 defeat, he walked out of The Aimita (Cherrywood Road), to arrive at Stevenage Borough, publicly asserting he was leaving the club “debt free”. This wasn’t true. As well as taking much of the playing squad with him, it would emerge that the money had mysteriously vanished somewhere and unpaid bills were dropping from every direction.
Farnborough Town was in dire straits: soon relegated down to Conference South, it then went into administration and was deducted ten points. But that was the least of it. By May 2007, with the club teetering on the verge of complete collapse, expulsion from the Football Conference followed. It was formally liquidated on 27th July.
A new club, Farnborough FC, was formed, restarting life down the pyramid in the Southern League Division One South & West. Promoted to the Southern League Premier Division as Champions at the first time of asking, two seasons later it was another a title and up to Conference South. There a second placed finish in 2010-11 saw it into the play-offs but, after knocking out Woking in the semis, Boro lost 2-4 to Ebbsfleet United in the Final.
The club’s response to this set back was to announce it was going full-time. This turned out to be a mistake, ambition over-reaching financial realities. Before the 2011-12 season was over it was deducted five points for submitting “misleading information” in its quarterly returns to the Conference. Relegation was just avoided on the penultimate Saturday. By the following campaign it was in deeper monetary trouble and was back in administration, deducted ten points for that and four more for other irregularities. Despite the 14 points deduction it again avoided the drop.
Its financial struggles were not going to see the inevitable postponed for ever. In 2014-15 Boro finished second from bottom, 12 points short of safety, relegation to the Isthmian Premier League the consequence. The next campaign it was back in administration yet again. This time it was the Isthmian League which had had enough, booting Boro out despite it finishing 18th in a 24 club division. It dropped another level down the pyramid, finding a new home in the Southern League Division One Central. Finishing second in its first season there was promotion to the SLPD, beating Egham Town and Barton Rovers in the play-offs.
The next season was a tough one, Farnborough finishing 20th, but there was no danger of relegation anyway, the Southern League having one if its periodic reorganisations instead. There was a mid-table finish in what had become Southern League Premier Division South and then the following two campaigns were lost to Covid 19. In 2021-22 when football finally got back on track down at that level Boro finished third. Into the play-offs, Metropolitan Police were beaten 2-1 in extra time and Hayes & Yeading United 1-2 in normal time.
Back in National League South for 2022-23 Farnborough ended up the most mid-table of mid-tableness last term, 12th.
We’ve Met Before
Previous Results for Yeovil Town First Team vs Farnborough Town
| 22/11/1980 | Home | FAC1 | W | 2-1 | 2396 | Morrall, Ritchie | |
| 28/08/1985 | Home | IPL | W | 1-0 | 1414 | McGinlay | |
| 29/10/1985 | Away | IPL | W | 2-1 | 760 | Pearson, Smith | |
| 16/09/1986 | Away | IPL | W | 2-1 | 830 | Randall(2) | |
| 08/10/1986 | Home | IPL | L | 1-2 | 2352 | James | |
| 11/02/1987 | Home | ILC4 | W | 6-3 | 1331 | Miller, Randall(2), Coates, Pearson, Zachhau | |
| 26/10/1987 | Away | ILCC1 | W | 2-1 | 453 | Ferns, Wallace | |
| 26/12/1987 | Home | IPL | W | 2-0 | 2008 | Pearson, Rutter | |
| 02/04/1988 | Away | IPL | W | 1-0 | 1018 | Randall | |
| 12/08/1988 | Away | Frnd | W | 2-1 | 350 | ||
| 26/12/1989 | Home | CONF | D | 0-0 | 2487 | ||
| 01/01/1990 | Away | CONF | W | 4-2 | 1183 | Wallace, Carroll(2), Cordice | |
| 03/09/1991 | Away | CLC1A | L | 2-3 | 461 | Spencer(2) | |
| 17/09/1991 | Home | CLC1B | W | 3-0 | 1473 | Carroll(2), Boulton | |
| 02/11/1991 | Away | CONF | D | 0-0 | 685 | ||
| 21/12/1991 | Home | CONF | D | 2-2 | 1659 | Pritchard, Spencer | |
| 09/03/1993 | Away | CONF | L | 1-2 | 582 | Batty | |
| 30/03/1993 | Home | CONF | W | 5-2 | 2404 | Spencer(2), Wilson(2), Sherwood | |
| 26/12/1994 | Home | CONF | L | 0-1 | 1938 | ||
| 18/03/1995 | Away | CONF | W | 3-0 | 680 | Whale, Black, Evans | |
| 21/10/1995 | Away | FAC4Q | L | 1-2 | 1409 | Patmore | |
| 25/08/1997 | Home | CONF | L | 0-1 | 3286 | ||
| 13/12/1997 | Away | CONF | D | 2-2 | 1093 | Hannigan, Archer | |
| 01/11/1998 | Away | FAC4Q | W | 3-1 | 1396 | Piper 40, Hayfield 51, Patmore 69 | |
| 28/12/1998 | Home | CONF | W | 6-3 | 2924 | Patmore 17, 84, 87, Thompson 30, Stott 52, 66 | |
| 05/04/1999 | Away | CONF | D | 0-0 | 870 | ||
| 11/09/2001 | Home | CONF | L | 0-1 | 2316 | ||
| 09/03/2002 | Away | CONF | W | 3-1 | 1404 | Own Goal 53, Giles 86, Stansfield 90 | |
| 03/09/2002 | Home | CONF | W | 2-0 | 2231 | Crittenden 50, Johnson 72 | |
| 15/02/2003 | Away | CONF | W | 4-2 | 2114 | Johnson 14, McIndoe 65, Jackson 74, 90 |
Results Summary For Yeovil Town First Team vs Farnborough Town
| Home | Away | Overall | ||||||||||||
| W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A |
| 8 | 2 | 4 | 30 | 16 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 32 | 19 | 18 | 5 | 7 | 62 | 35 |
Previous Results for Yeovil Town First Team vs Farnborough
| 14/11/2023 | Home | NLS | W | 4-2 | 3206 | Murphy 20, Young 42,59, 90 | |
| 02/03/2024 | Away | NLS | W | 3-1 | 1880 | Lo-Everton 13, Fisher 58, Whittle 85 | |
Results Summary For Yeovil Town First Team vs Farnborough
| Home | Away | Overall | ||||||||||||
| W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 3 |
Club Statistics
RECENT RESULTS
| 26/12/2023 | Havant & Waterlooville | Away | NLS | W | 1-0 | 1075 | Ghandour 11 | |
| 01/01/2024 | Havant & Waterlooville | Home | NLS | L | 2-4 | 1358 | Ghandour 42, Norville-Williams 51 | |
| 06/01/2024 | St Albans City | Away | NLS | L | 1-2 | 1629 | Ghandour 89 | |
| 23/01/2024 | Hemel Hempstead Town | Away | NLS | L | 1-2 | 329 | Fearn 14 | |
| 27/01/2024 | Eastbourne Borough | Away | NLS | L | 1-2 | 1148 | Robinson 10 | |
| 03/02/2024 | Dartford | Home | NLS | W | 2-1 | 1011 | Kuhl 50 (pen), Young 78 | |
| 17/02/2024 | Truro City | Home | NLS | W | 3-2 | 808 | Kuhl 26 (pen), Holmes 70, Ghandour 89 | |
| 20/02/2024 | Torquay United | Home | NLS | D | 0-0 | 980 | ||
| 24/02/2024 | Hampton & Richmond Borough | Away | NLS | D | 1-1 | 734 | Ghandour 90+2 | |
| 27/02/2024 | Chelmsford City | Home | NLS | D | 1-1 | 650 | Ghandour 25 | |
| 02/03/2024 | Yeovil Town | Home | NLS | |||||
LEAGUE ATTENDANCE STATISTICS
Highest League Attendance: 1,358
Lowest League Attendance: 604
Average League Attendance: 809
CURRENT LEAGUE SEQUENCE STATISTICS
| Games Without A Win: | 3 | Games Without A Home Win: | 2 | |
| Games Without An Away Win: | 4 | Games Without Defeat: | 5 | |
| Games Without A Home Defeat: | 4 | Games Without An Away Defeat: | 1 | |
| Games Without A Draw: | 0 | Games Without A Score Draw: | 0 | |
| Games Without A No-Score Draw: | 2 | Games Without Scoring: | 0 | |
| Games Without Conceding: | 0 | Home Results Sequence: | LWWDD | |
| Away Results Sequence: | WLLLD | Overall Results Sequence: | WLLLLWWDDD |
Club Information
Address : Cherrywood Road, Farnborough, Hampshire, GU14 8UD (current sponsorship name Saunders Transport Community Stadium)
Telephone Number : 07503 683370
Email : info@farnboroughfc.co.uk
Chairman : Simon Gardener
Matchday Manager : Phil Martin
Club Secretary : Jim Hardy
Team Manager : Spencer Day
Capacity : 6,500
Seated : 1,948
Covered Terrace : terraces mostly covered
Surface : grass
Record Attendance : (as Farnborough FC) 2,230 v Corby Town, Southern League Premier Division, 21/03/2009
Colours : shirts, shorts, socks all bright yellow with black & blue trim
Nickname : Boro
Programme : £2.50
Ticketing
The home club has declared this match will not be segregated. Tickets are available for purchase online HERE up to 24 hours before kick-off. Though why would one bother since one’s stung a £1.00 booking fee per ticket when the biggest raison d’etre for online sales is that it’s saving clubs money on their ticketing costs.
For those buying walk up it seems turnstiles 2, 3 and 4 are cash only, turnstiles 5 and 6 cash and card.
Prices :
Adult: £15.00 (£16.00 with booking fee if bought online)
Concession (Over 65, Armed Forces and Students with valid ID): £10.00 (£11.00 with booking fee if bought online)
14-18 Year Old : £5.00 (£6.00 with booking fee if bought online)
Under 14 (maximum of two when accompanied by paying adult): FREE
Disabled:
Any visiting disabled fans requiring special provision or assistance are requested to contact the club at least 48 hours prior to the match so necessary arrangements can be made for them, and their carer if applicable: 07950 394150. Wheelchair users and other disabled supporters pay the entrance cost appropriate to their age/status. If the attendance of a carer is required the carer will be admitted free of charge.
Official Away Travel
The Green & White Supporters’ Club is running away travel to Farnborough on Saturday 2nd March, 3.00 p.m. kick-off.
Details are as follows:
Members: Adult £20; Concession £18
Non-Members: Adult £23; Concession £21
Coach departs Huish Park: 10.00 a.m.
To book, call Paul Hadlow on 07736 044570 (after 6.00 p.m. please) or email him on paulhadlow@outlook.com.
If you are getting in touch by email, please make it clear which match you are booking for and that you give your full name, the names of people that are travelling and a contact telephone number.
You may be asked to pay a £5 deposit to reserve your seat.
Directions To The Ground
General
Farnborough’s a sprawling mess of a place in Hampshire with little real focus to it. What probably passes as the town ‘centre’ (South from Farnborough Main Railway Station – below) is 1.6 miles (so around half an hour’s walk) from the ground. The stadium is located between two large housing estates towards the northern edge of the town just South of the M3.
By Road
From Huish Park to Cherrywood Road is a smidgeon under 100 miles via the A303 and M3. Exit the M3 at Junction 4 taking the A331 South across the motorway. At the roundabout system on the southern side stick with the A331 (first exit). After a third of a mile drop off the A331 following the A325 through a series of three roundabouts for 0.7 of a mile. At a set of traffic lights turn right onto Prospect Avenue.
At the roundabout at the end of Prospect Avenue take the third exit, this is Cherrywood Road. Follow Cherrywood Road for half a mile and the stadium is on the right.
Parking
There’s around 250 parking spaces at the stadium (so probably about 200 available for fans once officials, employees etc. have taken up theirs). The charge is £2.00 (with correct cash requested). The alternative is (fairly limited as the residents will have taken most of it) free on-street in the estates surrounding the ground. The host club warns that those who think they are being cunning by parking on any of the wide grass verges behind where double-yellow lines are present are not: that’s still a potential ticketing offence.
By Rail
The nearest station to the stadium is actually Frimley at 1.2 miles. Off-peak there are two trains an hour in each direction operated by South Western Railway. Outside of a few peak time services a change at Ascot will be required to get onto this branch line (which runs from Ascot down to Guildford).
Farnborough itself has three stations but one can ignore North Camp which is on completely the wrong side of town three and a half miles away. The other two are pretty much equidistant from the stadium at 1.4 miles (roughly a half hour walk).
Farnborough North (an unmanned station) is on the North Downs Line between Reading and Gatwick via Guildford and Redhill. Great Western Railway runs one train an hour each way off-peak. Much the busier station is Farnborough Main with three direct trains an hour off-peak into and out of London Waterloo (journey time just under an hour and a half) via Basingstoke by South Western Railway. All journeys from Yeovil Junction to Farnborough Main require a change at Basingstoke. Journey time is two and a quarter hours.
There are no taxi ranks at Frimley, Farnborough North or (slightly surprisingly) Farnborough Main.
By Bus
From central Farnborough and Farnborough Main Railway Station the Yo Yo service operated by Stagecoach South, running every 15 minutes during the bulk of the day, is the best option up to the ground as the route runs along Cherrywood Road. The nearest stops to the stadium at which to alight are Grange Community Junior School or Lulworth Close, both two to three minutes walk from the ground.
A second alternative is the No. 2 (also operated by Stagecoach South) with two buses an hour. This also runs via central Farnborough (and Frimley Railway Station – see By Rail, above – is on its route if anyone is using that station) with the nearest stop to the stadium being South Hawley Lane Shopping Parade ten minutes walk away.
By Taxi
A selection of Farnborough taxi companies can be found here.
Web Resources
Web Sites
Farnborough FC – Official Website.
TheBoroTV – club’s You Tube channel.
Farnborough FC fans forum – what it says.
Social Media
FarnboroughFC – official Twitter account.
Local Press
If any local press bothers to cover Farnborough FC they hide it well.
Food & Drink
General
Another “outskirts” stadium with not much in the way of places to eat and drink close by.
Club Bar
The large clubhouse, Cherrywood Bar, has access external to the ground and opens from noon on a Saturday matchday. Has Sports TV, Pool and Darts. There are two hand pumps but one can’t rely on these always having anything on. Home and away fans are welcome unless segregation is in force – which is not planned for our visit.
For this season the Supporters’ Trust was aiming to increase the match day offering with the introduction of a Fan Zone, kebab van in the car park, Fast Food and Boro Burger Kitchen (kiosks) inside the ground. How much of this happened/didn’t happen I have no idea.
Local Pubs
Hawley Arms: Closest pub to the ground (third of a mile, 10 minutes walk). Estate pub owned by Admiral Taverns. Started doing food in the ‘Greasy Spoon Café’ style from this January. Multiple screens with Sports TV, Pool, Table Football, darts, beer garden, car park. Opening hours appear to be from 3.00 p.m. weekdays and noon at weekends, closing 11.00 p.m. (and possibly midnight Friday & Saturday).
The Hawley Arms, 51 Churchill Crescent, Hawley, Farnborough, Hampshire GU14 8EL. Tel: at least three different phone numbers given by different sources. Map: Hawley Arms.
Prince of Wales: This Free House has been Farnborough’s premier pub for real ale for decades. Just a couple of minutes walk from Farnborough North (see By Rail, above) for anyone who happens to be using that station it’s then another 1.3 miles (so around half an hour) walk to the ground. Ten hand pumps host five regular and five constantly changing beers from small independent breweries. More recently some ‘craft’ lines have begun to appear amongst the more standard keg options. Children allowed until a slightly vague “early evening”. Outside areas front and back, car park. Opening hours: 4.30 p.m. – 11.00 p.m. Monday to Wednesday; noon – 11.00 p.m. Thursday to Saturday; noon – 10.30 p.m. Sunday.
The Prince of Wales, 184 Rectory Road, Farnborough, Hampshire, GU14 8AL. Tel: 01252 545578. Map: Prince of Wales.
Thatched Cottage: 0.8 of a mile (15 minutes walk) northwards from Farnborough Main Railway Station just off the route up to the ground which is a further 0.8 of a mile due North. Was closed for a couple of years after Greene King lost interest, reopening in 2021 as an independent pub on a twenty year lease. Menu is mid-range pub food (also has separate Kids’ Menu) with service from noon – 4.00 p.m. and 5.00 p.m. – 8.00 p.m. (noon – 6.00 p.m. on Sunday). Three hand pumps with changing offerings generally from small independent breweries. The keg is from multinationals. Sports TV, large beer garden, car park. Opens from noon every day, closing 11.30 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and 12.30 a.m. Friday & Saturday.
The Thatched Cottage, 122 Prospect Road, Farnborough, Hampshire, GU14 8NU. Tel: 01252 444180. Map: Thatched Cottage.
Tilly Shilling: Farnborough’s Spoons 0.4 of a mile (8 minutes walk) South of Farnborough Main (see By Rail, above) and one and half miles (half hour walk or see By Bus, above) from the ground. Disabled access, smoking area a cordoned off zone on pavement to the front. Opens from 8.00 a.m. every day (alcohol service beginning from 9.00 a.m.), closing midnight Sunday to Thursday and 1.00 a.m. Friday & Saturday.
The Tilly Shilling, Units 2-5, Victoria Road, Farnborough, Hampshire, GU14 7PG. Tel: 01252 893560. Map: Tilly Shilling.
Likelihood the Natives Will Understand You: A put upon bunch of fans who’ve suffered more than most in the last few decades. Be sympathetic, there but for the grace… etc.
Top-Tip: Not that any Yeovil fan is likely to, but don’t mention Mr Graham W*stl*y‘s name anywhere around Cherrywood Road without spitting. Two decades on Boro fans have neither forgotten nor forgiven.
Local Amenities: A French Emperor, Napoleon III, is buried here, if that counts as an amenity?
Other Points Of Interest: The biennial International Air Show is worth a visit for those interested in that sort of thing, otherwise the best thing about Farnborough is that it’s not Aldershot.
[No responsibility is taken for any inaccuracies. This page is entirely the product of bias and prejudice. ]