Farnham Town - Proper Football 'On The Road'
The latest destination for our Proper Football 'On The Road' club visits was an off-the-cuff one. After looking at the midweek fixtures, Farnham Town vs Cirencester Town in an FA Cup 2nd qualifying round replay jumped off the page, with 3 tiers separating the two sides and the possibility of a big FA Cup upset.
Farnham Town and their Memorial Ground have always been somewhere we have wanted to visit. The club has had great success in recent years and has risen through the football pyramid in rapid time, breaking records along the way, and now finds itself in the National League South.
Normally, we would get in contact with the clubs before our visit so we can interview some of the staff and volunteers on the day to give people an insight into the club, but due to our impromptu decision to go, we didn't have time to arrange this. We still felt compelled to do this article due to the fantastic fan experience that we encountered on the night as a neutral!
Farnham is a picturesque market town in Surrey on the Hampshire border and only 1 hour away from London Waterloo by train.
The Memorial Ground is only a short, pleasant 20-minute walk from the station, which takes you through the town centre and its wonderful examples of Georgian architecture. We stopped halfway in a great little pub called the William Cobbett and sank a couple of pints in the big beer garden before making our way to the ground.
The ground is set in the heart of Farnham, and after entering through the turnstiles (£8) and going straight into the excellent fan zone, it was like a continuation of the Town centre with different bars and a wide range of food choices in a well-laid-out, quirky setting that blew us away!
Even though the Loaded Fries kiosk was closed (guessing it's open for a League game), there was still an abundance of other food choices on offer and reasonably priced.
One of us opted for a Chicken and mushroom pie (which was top drawer!) and a cider from the Pie and Pint kiosk. Unfortunately, cider was only on draught from the other bar, but this wasn't an issue as the helpful lady said she would bring me one over instead!
Fantastic customer (fan) service!
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Also within the fan zone was a well-stocked club shop with a wide range of merchandise.
The main bar was kitted out with loads of TV screens and many chairs and tables, which was also replicated everywhere else in the fan zone; there were lots of covered areas as well as a large outdoor bar.
There is also a wonderful-looking hospitality suite located within the fan zone, a fan zone that is like its own little village!
You really get the sense that Farnham Town want to give their supporters a wonderful fan experience, and we can happily say they do just that!
The Memorial Ground has been developed over the years and has grown in line with their success on the pitch; the brand-new stand at the Clock End, which is a part-covered steep terrace, is a testament to that!
So, onto the match, obviously, Farnham were big favourites to beat their opponents, who play three steps below them in the Hellenic Premier Division, but Cirencester are still unbeaten in their first 6 league games, and coming from behind twice to draw 2-2 at home and force a replay showed the Centurions definitely have some fighting spirit!
The first half saw Farnham take the lead in the 15th minute in a game they looked pretty comfortable in, and it looked like only a matter of time before they extended their lead, but they just couldn't break down the well-organised Cirencester defence.
With the referee about to blow for halftime, we nipped back into the fan zone for another pint just as the Centurions had a rare attack, and they only went and equalised with a great finish by their number 9, Harlie Price!
Thankfully we got to see the goal on one of the many TVs in the bar!
The second half continued in the same vein as the first, with Farnham having all the possession, but a mixture of the battling spirit from the Centurions and the woodwork kept the scores level; then with 90 minutes on the clock, the unthinkable happened!
A great bit of wing play and then a sublime finish from Harlie Price saw Cirencester take the lead!
It was backs-against-the-wall stuff for the remaining 4 minutes of added time, but the Centurions held out for a famous win and the cup shock of the round, prompting wild scenes of celebration from the 100 or so Cirencester fans who had travelled down from the Cotswolds!
Summary
Farnham Town may have lost on the pitch tonight, but it's safe to say they won us over off it, a fantastic fan experience for us neutrals, and we highly recommend anyone who hasn't been before to get yourself down there, a club who clearly values their supporters and are doing things the right way. We had at leasis interactions with different staff and volunteers who went out of their way to make you feel at home and couldn't do enough to make you feel welcome.
Congratulations to Cirencester Town, who now face a tough trip to National League South side Truro City in the 3rd qualifying round!
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We will definitely be making another visit to the Memorial Ground in the near future, in the hope of going behind the scenes to give a more in-depth insight into all the things they have done so well both on and off the pitch in recent years.
Impromptu visits to a non-league football match can be the best—they’re unplanned, spontaneous, and somehow always the most memorable!
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