Stability

Farnborough  2  Gosport Borough  1

Southern Football League – Premier Division South

For a relatively young football club, Farnborough has a history that could warrant a fairly lengthy book written about them.

Formed in 1967 as Farnborough Town, they started life in the Surrey Senior League, before moving into the Spartan League in 1972. By 1976 they were in the Athenian League, and within a season they’d been accepted to the Isthmian League. In less than ten seasons that was quite a rise.

The New Stand - Modest!

The First Round Proper of the FA Cup was reached seven times in the Eighties, but in 1989 they were admitted to the Conference after they finished runner-up to Leytonstone & Ilford who didn’t have the requisite ground grading. Relegation followed immediately but after one season in the Southern League they were crowned champions and returned to the Conference.

They survived for two more seasons, but hit the headlines in the 1991-92 season when victories over Halesowen Town and Torquay United took them to the Third Round of the FA Cup and a home draw with West Ham United. The game was switched to Upton Park and Farnborough held on for a famous 1-1 draw. The replay, also at Upton Park, saw them lose 1-0.

Crowned champions of the Southern League at the first attempt, they were back, this time for a five season stint. When that came to an end they were relegated to the Isthmian League, where they remained for two seasons until bouncing back.

The Far Side

They hit the national headlines in their second season back (2002-03) when victories over Harrogate Town, Southport and Darlington saw them reach the Fourth Round of the FA Cup, and with it came a dream home draw against Arsenal. Controversially, the game was switched to Highbury (the rules allowing clubs to do this were subsequently changed) and on the back of a huge pay day, they went down 5-1 to the Premiership giants.

It all started to go wrong after that. Graham Westley who was Manager, left to join Stevenage Borough, taking the bulk of the team with him, and two years later they were relegated to the Conference South.  In 2006-07 the club went into administration and were deducted ten points, but by the end of the season they were expelled from the Conference and reformed as Farnborough FC.

Main Stand

They were admitted to the Southern League Division One South & West which was won at the first attempt, while just two years later they were champions of the Southern League Premier Division and found themselves back in Conference South.

They missed out on promotion to the top flight of non-league football after a defeat to Ebbsfleet United in the Play-Off Final, but then it all started to go wrong again, lessons had seemingly not been learned. By the start of the 2011-12 season they had been deducted five points for providing misleading financial information to the Football Conference. The following year the club was once again in administration and were deducted the statuary ten points, which ultimately saw the club relegated. They were then demoted to Step 4 due to the clubs dire financial situation, but the following season they bounced back, and as of today, they sit at Step 3, playing in the Southern League Premier Division South.

Away End

Wow, that’s some history, and what a rollercoaster ride it’s been for the club and its supporters. They’ve seen more things in fifty years than some clubs have seen in double that time. Right now, the club appears to be on a stable footing under the Chairmanship of Simon Gardener and the CEO Rob Prince.

The first team is managed by Spencer Day, who himself is a colourful character who you may remember for being the nineteen year old who ‘saved’ Aldershot in 1990 when he was known as Spencer Trethewy. The story is well documented since, he’s also served time behind bars, but then gone on to become a hugely successful businessman,  initially he was involved with Chertsey Town, but now he is very much part of the fabric at Cherrywood Road.

Now then, Cherrywood Road, what an incredible stadium it is!

Looking Impressive

My journey from Milton Keynes was somewhat stop / start on the M25, but once on the M3 it was an easy run to the ground. The large car park leads you to the turnstiles, and once inside you are quickly hit by the magnificence of a stadium that is fit to host games in the Football League.

The focal point is the recently built seated stand that sits behind the right hand goal and can hold over 1300 spectators, while the Main Stand has been extended in recent years with executive facilities to the rear, and this can seat around 650.

Opposite is a stand that has been split into half terrace and half seating (for 1064 fans), while behind the opposite goal is some terracing that serves as an away end should segregation be required. This can hold just short of 2,000 spectators. The overall capacity is 7000, but with crowds averaging around 250, and even in the halcyon Conference days they were getting around a thousand, you do feel, in the nicest possible sense, that it might be a bit big for them?

Anyway, it was superb, and with a large sized clubhouse, very good club shop and excellent catering facilities, I couldn’t find fault with it at all.

Down The Touchline

So what about the game? Well, it won’t rank highly in terms of entertainment to be fair. Two mid-table sides battled it out on a cold night, and it was the hosts who took the lead in the ninth minute when Connor Cullen squeezed the ball home from a tight angle.

Despite going down to ten men in the second period, it was Gosport who found the equaliser when a free kick was only half cleared, allowing Tony Lee to rifle the ball home.

Just as the game was about to go into injury time, Farnborough got the all-important third goal when Marc Charles-Smith scored at the far post. Five minutes of added time was played, but the hosts hung on for a battling, if not pretty, three points. 203 spectators were in attendance, with a small number travelling up the A3 for a game that could be termed a Hampshire Derby.

The Away End - Up Close

So, as football in Farnborough moves into its 51^st season, you do wonder what the next few years has in store. One can only hope they can find some sort of stability, while at the same time they continue to do the great work they’ve been doing with the local community, in order to help lift attendances.

One thing is for sure, they certainly don’t want to be seeing any more boom and bust, they’ve had enough of that to last a lifetime!

Match highlights link below, from Farnborough FC website

http://www.farnboroughfc.co.uk/2018/highlights-farnborough-2-1-gosport-borough/