I always have a list of clubs to go and watch and grounds to visit. That list changes during a season because either the person whose invited me there has left or others have sprung up that take my notice, some have been added through meeting people via podcasts and the like.
The Saturday between Xmas and New Year I took the opportunity to get out of Sussex and head to Surrey to watch a club that I would describe as progressive but also not everyone’s cup of tea.
Farnham Town stormed to the Combined Counties South Division title last year without losing a game. I always maintain anyone who gets a very good record in Steps 5 and 6 a fantastic achievement because the contact with players is so minimal especially if the weather cancels training sessions throughout that time.
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Midfielder Harry Cooksley featured on our PNLP (the Premier Non League Podcast) Winners Special and the end of last season and kindly invited us along at any time, so this was the perfect time to get along and see what it’s all about at The Memorial Ground.
As per the other Xmas fixtures it was a damp setting for the game, the temperature had dropped a little as well which you really expect for this time of year but not seen so much of it through December.
Town were hosting Badshot Lea, a local derby but a side rooted to the bottom of the Isthmian South Central with just a single league win all season, Farnham points clear at the top and looking for consecutive promotions.
Two games in 48 hours were certainly to test a lot of sides up and down the country and with most not carrying huge squads it was going to be a case of whose fitness held out better.
Surprisingly, it was the visitors who got off to a flyer. Just three minutes on the clock Charlie George let fly with a rasping shot from all of 25 yards out and arrowed the ball beyond Hugo Sobte and into the far corner, not quite the start the majority of the 1,020 people there were expecting.
It didn’t however knock Town off their stride, but a warning shot that despite their lowly position Badshot weren’t there to roll over. The home side levelled on X minutes, Jordan Gallagher cutting in from the left hand side and scoring as good a goal as George’s opener, parity restored early on.
From that point it was expected that Farnham would go on and dominate both the ball and the game, the former they did, the latter not so much. Badshot got men behind the ball and with pace on both flanks the ideal outlet ball on the counter.
Town moved the ball across the pitch trying to drag Badshot out of position, coupled with some diagonal balls from the back to drag the play out wide but the visitors held firm and really restricted the home side to half chances, the sides going in level at half time.
Within three minutes of the restart, Farnham were in front. A bit of pinball in the penalty area following a corner and Ryan Kinnane lashed the ball home. Again, many were expecting Town to go on and put their visitors to the sword but the combination of a heavy pitch and a second game in such a short space of time, quality was lacking on both sides of the ball in the second half.
Neither side had many chances to add to the scoreline either, Badshot spending a fair chunk of their time defending their own half but doing so well, the hosts coming off with the points at 90 minutes having been made to work very hard for them.
Games so close together certainly I think made this less of a spectacle as it should have been, not many leagues have crammed four games into an 11 day span although a few did opt for both Boxing Day and Saturday games so close together.
Sometimes though over the course of a season you do have to grind the results out and Farnham did just that to extend their lead at the top of the table and by the time you read this article they should have played again on New Years Day.
Badshot look a very young side, plenty of pace and endeavour, experience will come in time, for Farnham the two centre halves of Kinnane and Jordan Stepney stood out and gave very little change all afternoon.
As mentioned, a superb crowd in too 1,020 was a couple of hundred above their average and with Step 3 being the highest level played in the non-league game on Saturday no doubt plenty still looking for a football fix despite having one two days earlier!
I was able to grab some time with the Farnham chairman Harry Hugo before kick-off too, one of those characters in the game that can be labelled marmite. Yes, he has put a few quid into the club on but also off the pitch.
I was keen to hear the plans as they appear on course for a double promotion from Step 5 to 3 and that with it brings extra regulations and rules to follow. Plenty in place to develop the banked area behind the goal and good to hear the locals aren’t objecting either to developments.
It’s amazing how many people buy a house outside or near to a football ground and then complain about noise or progress, these clubs there long before them or others moved into the area.
They’re growing their fanbase too, nice catchment area and giving away free tickets to schools and businesses is a very good way to gain more supporters. That younger generation being priced out as families to the top level of the game means non-league can make great strides to entice them in to watch, a free ticket becomes a secondary spend which very few seem to understand, get those bits right with on field success and they come back to pay.
I have the time for those who want to make the improvements off the pitch as well, for all Glenn Tamplin’s faults he left Billericay in a better place pretty much and a facility the community could enjoy alongside the club, being sustainable doesn’t rank highly in the game but that depends at non-league level if you like the rollercoaster ride and the gamble knowing one false move and the club would disappear for good, bad cases of Russian Roulette can be found everywhere.
