Farnborough Football Club started life in season 2007/08 in the Southern League Division One South & West and it was a season that turned to glory as the club won the Championship and with it promotion to the Southern League Premier Division. The League title was secured under manager Andy Clement with 89 points and an impressive 120 goals being scored in the process that underlined a fantastic achievement for the club’s new beginnings.

Despite the success, the club and Andy Clement mutually agreed that due to the extra demands in the next step up a change of manager would be made and former Crawley Town and Basingstoke Town manager Francis Vines took up the reigns in the summer of 2008, assisted by former Reading and Basingstoke Town midfielder Steve Richardson.

Farnborough’s Cherrywood Road ground had a large face-lift and investment was being put into a number of areas under the leadership of former Chairman Simon Hollis and the Board of Directors.

Boro almost made it back-to-back promotions, just missing out in the BGB Southern Premier Play-Off Final, losing 1-0 to Gloucester City. That came after Vines’ men had led the way for six months of the campaign, before losing the title to Corby Town in the final game of the season.
In the summer of 2009, it was announced that Vines would not remain as manager, with Steve King replacing him as first team boss. Justin Skinner also arrived as assistant manager, with both signing full-time deals. Season 2009-10 saw Farnborough go on to win the Southern League and with it promotion to the Blue Square South.

Season 2010-11 saw ‘Boro for the second time in their short history follow up a Championship with a second place finish, and after accounting for Woking in a two legged Play-Off Semi-Final, fell again at the last hurdle, Ebbsfleet United winning promotion to the Blue Square Premier in front of a record Rushmoor Community Stadium crowd exceeding 4,000.

Steve King left the club in May 2011, replaced by former Hayes & Yeading manager Garry Haylock, and the club declared that it was transferring to full time status.

Following a poor run of results, Haylock’s tenure as manager came to an end in November 2011, and his replacement came in the guise of Chertsey Town manager Spencer Day, and a return to part time football.

With the change of manager came an upturn of fortunes, and a run of six successive league wins spanning January through March pulled Boro away from the danger zone, although a five point deduction imposed by the Football Conference took the club back into trouble, but Blue Square South football was secured on the penultimate Saturday with a solitary goal victory over Havant & Waterlooville.

In 2012/13 the club enjoyed a relatively successful season on the pitch, playing a good brand of football, resulting in a 14th place finish.

Season 2013/14 saw Boro secure a major sponsorship deal with well-known bookmakers Paddy Power and retained their status in the Football Conference South.

Historical financial debt problems inevitably left the manager with no choice but to implement a reduced player budget in season 2014/15. The consequences of this long term handicap finally came home to roost when Boro finished 20th in the Vanarama Conference South suffering relegation to the Isthmian Premier League, and a further relegation the following season. A re-defining of the league’s geographical borders also resulted in a sideways move to the Southern League.
Off the pitch, things were beginning to look a little brighter, thanks to the hard work of the owners and the club was debt free for the first time in many years!

The 2016/17 season got off to a good start, with Farnborough briefly leading the charge before dropping back to the second position behind Royston Town. A season-long chase ensued, waiting for Royston to slip up, a slip that never materialised, and the Boro had to settle for second place and a home draw in the playoffs. The team stayed stable throughout the season, based on the successful late season squad from the previous year with a few local favourites in the guise of Nic Ciardini, Josh Huggins and Perry Coles added. The start of the season saw us graced by the presence of former Norwich/Reading/Bristol Rovers star, Jamie Cureton, before he departed for higher level football at Eastleigh. On the coaching side, long time assistant coach, Leigh Dynan, left to pursue a manager’s role at Whyteleafe, but Spencer wasted no time in bringing in Jon Reed whose knowledge of the Southern league proved to be invaluable.

A late season run by Egham Town saw them arrive at The Rushmoor Community Stadium as Play-Off Semi-Final opponents but Farnborough were also a team in form, and having secured the services of Cureton again, along with former favourite, Scott Donnelly, were just too strong, coming out on top with a 4-0 winning scoreline.

Onto the Play-Off Final, and in front of 1,000 plus Boro supporters, The Yellows secured a nervous, but comfortable 2-0 victory over Barton Rovers to signify their return to The Southern Premier League.

The 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons were to be seasons of consolidation.

Onto the eventful 2019/2020 season, the season that never was! An up and down season on many fronts.

An opening day loss to a fancied Poole Town was one of several lows, which included 0-7 and 0-5 home defeats to Tiverton Town and Wealdstone, the latter sending Boro crashing out of the FA cup. The passing of club stalwart, Chris Cook who lost his fight with cancer.

In contrast, several highs also, 4-0 home victories against Taunton Town, Yate Town and Hendon, and an impressive 1-3 away victory at Weston-super-Mare. The high flying Boro squad making their way to Truro, LHR to NQY return!
Alas it was all in vain, with the outbreak of COVID-19, the League was suspended in March and declared Null and Void.

With the outlook for season 2020/21 pretty bleak again due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Farnborough decided to “risk” a low budget approach for the start of the season, and it proved to be the correct decision when the season faltered after just eight matches.

Season 2021/22 started well. Spencer assembled an exciting squad with many promising signings, most notably Sam Deering and Ricky Holmes making the weekly journey from Essex to spearhead the Boro challenge.

Despite an opening day draw at home to Walton Casuals, Farnborough followed up with impressive victories away to Chesham United and Poole Town and at home to Hendon. A small stutter was soon forgotten by an 11 match run of victories in all competitions which saw the Yellows take a healthy lead at the head of the division. Top at Christmas, followed up with a nine game unbeaten run in January emphasised the desire of this squad to gain promotion, although with chasers, Hayes & Yeading United, falling behind in fixtures, the lead was never mathematically safe.

Despite the “small” distraction of a Hampshire Senior Cup run ending in victory in the Final at Eastleigh, a battle ensued in the League, and as Hayes & Yeading United played out each game in hand, the chase for the title became tighter and tighter. A draw between the two teams in March added to the tension with still no clear winner.

Then all of a sudden, there was a third horse in the race. A revitalised Taunton Town came on a fantastic run which would see them hurdle both of the long-term leaders, and the race went down to the last game of the season, with any one of the three able to claim the title. At the final whistle, Taunton Town were champions, Hayes & Yeading United second and Farnborough in a slightly disappointing third.

On to the Play-Offs, with Farnborough earning a home fixture against Metropolitan Police, a team that had solidly been top four all season. A nail-bitingly close match ensued, with The Met taking an 85th minute lead, only for Boro to get an injury time equaliser, and an extra-time winner.

So, a showdown against our season-long rivals, Hayes & Yeading United was set, and what a day it turned out to be. A master game plan to thwart the effectiveness of the attack minded home team was to eventually bear fruit, despite going a goal down early on. A first half injury-time equaliser by club favourite Reggie Young, and a late winner by Sam Deering saw the Boro celebrating at the final whistle, and finally, promotion back to Step Two, The National League South!

Farnborough’s first season back in The National League South really turned out to be one for the fans to remember. Initially, without playing at all badly, the team found it difficult adjusting to the level and points were at a premium. However, a quarter of the way into the season, it all began to click with a long unbeaten run, coinciding with a super FA Cup campaign which saw victories against Biggleswade Town, Swindon Supermarine, Hayes & Yeading United, and League Two outfit Sutton United. This set up an exciting away tie with National League Wrexham and despite a valiant effort against the TV stars of Non-League football, Boro finally succumbed to the strength of their squad, in front of nearly 10,000 fans. Buoyed by the Cup run, Farnborough pushed on in the League, briefly flirting with the Play-Offs, until settling for a comfortable and commendable 10th place finish.