They`ve Played for Your Club…..Farnborough

Continuing the series which started during lockdown on players who have represented the current clubs in the Pitching In Southern Football League.

The club was formed as Farnborough Town in 1967 and joined the Surrey Senior League in 1968.

In 1971 they reached the top division of the Surrey Senior League and after finishing as runners-up in 1971/72, they moved up to the Spartan League and went on to win three consecutive league titles, losing only one league match during each of the 1973/74 and 1974/75 seasons.

When the league merged with the Metropolitan–London League to form the London Spartan League in 1975, the club were placed in Division One, and became its first champions.

Following their move to Cherrywood Road, Farnborough moved up to Division Two of the Athenian League in 1976 and won the division at the first attempt and were subsequently accepted into Division Two of the Isthmian League.

During their domination of the Spartan and Athenian league divisions, the club went 87 matches unbeaten at home between 1973 and 1977.

In 1978/79 they won Division Two of the Isthmian League, earning promotion to Division One.

The 1980/81 season saw them reach the First Round of the FA Cup for the first time, losing 2–1 at Yeovil Town.

They reached the First Round again in 1984/85 and faced Football League opposition for the first time, losing 3–0 at Hereford United. The season also saw them win the Division One title, resulting in promotion to the Premier Division.

They were Premier Division runners-up behind Leytonstone/Ilford in 1988/89 and were promoted to the Conference as Leytonstone/Ilford were unable to be promoted due to their ground failing to meet the necessary criteria.

Farnborough were relegated at the end of their first season in the Conference and were placed in the Premier Division of the Southern League.

They won the division at the first attempt to earn promotion back to the Conference.

After reaching the First Round of the FA Cup in all but one of the seasons between 1983/84 and 1990/91, the club progressed beyond the First Round for the first time in 1991/92; after a replay win over Halesowen Town, they defeated Third Division Torquay United 4–3 in a Second Round replay.

They were drawn at home to First Division West Ham United with the game switched to Upton Park, and they held the Hammers to a 1–1 draw before losing the replay 1–0.

The season also saw them finish fifth in the Conference, but they were relegated back to the Southern League at the end of the following season.

Farnborough were Southern League champions again in 1993/94, making an immediate return to the Conference and they spent five seasons in the Conference until being relegated at the end of the 1998/99 season, which had seen them finish bottom of the table.

They were placed in the Premier Division of the Isthmian League, which they went on to win in 2000/01, resulting in promotion back to the Conference again.

In 2002/03 the club progressed to the Fourth Round of the FA Cup and were drawn at home to Arsenal, although the game was switched to Highbury.

Following a 5–1 defeat, highly successful manager Graham Westley left the club, also taking seven players with him as he moved to Stevenage Borough.

Farnborough remained in the Conference (and its new top division the Conference National) until the end of the 2004/05 season when they were relegated to the Conference South.

A third-place finish in 2005/06 saw them qualify for the promotion play-offs, but they lost 3–0 to Histon in the semi-finals.

In 2006/07 Farnborough went into Administration and were deducted 10 points and in May 2007 were expelled from the Conference and were re-formed as Farnborough Football Club.

They were admitted to Division One South & West of the Southern League, which they went on to win at the first attempt, earning promotion to the Premier Division.

In 2008/09 they were Premier Division runners-up, qualifying for the promotion play-offs and after beating Hemel Hempstead Town 4–3 on penalties after a 0–0 draw in the semi-finals, they lost 1–0 to Gloucester City in the final.

The following season saw them win the Premier Division, earning promotion to the Conference South.

They were runners-up in their first season in the division and entered the promotion play-offs and after a 2–1 aggregate win over local rivals Woking in the semi-finals, they lost the final 4–2 to Ebbsfleet United.

However, Farnborough began to suffer financial problems and in 2011/12 they were deducted 5 points after submitting misleading financial information to the Conference and had 10 points deducted the following season after going into Administration again.

They were relegated to the Premier Division of the Isthmian League at the end of the 2014/15 season and were subsequently demoted to Division One Central of the Southern League at the end of the 2015/16 season, despite not finishing in the relegation zone due to their financial situation.

They were Division One Central runner-up the following season and in the subsequent play-offs they defeated Egham Town 4–0 in the semi-finals before beating Barton Rovers 2–0 in the final to earn promotion back to the Southern Premier Division South.

The club`s appearance record holder is Brian Broome with 529 games to his tally.

He originally came through Camberley Town`s youth teams and also played in their first team against Farnborough, who he must have impressed on the day as they snapped him up in August 1980.

His last match was a 6-0 victory at Corby Town at the end of the 1993/94 Southern Premier Division title-winning season.

Boro fans will also recall him scoring what turned out to be the crucial fourth goal against Torquay United in the 1991/92 FA Cup.

As well as making over 500 appearances for Boro, he also scored 109 goals and also had spells with Aldershot Town, Wokingham Town – who he also managed - Basingstoke Town and Bracknell Town.

Nic Ciardini played for Farnborough at youth, reserve and first-team levels and in his several spells with the club, played over 200 games.

He joined Lewes from Farnborough in July 2011, staying with the Southern League side until re-signing with Farnborough in February 2012.

During 2012/13 he also proved himself as a goalkeeper when Farnborough were unable to replace Craig Bradshaw but left the side immediately at the end of the season and signed a two-year contract with Havant & Waterlooville in May 2013.

In his first season at Westleigh Park he quickly became a fan favourite and played 93 games over his first two seasons and netting 19 goals.

He later played for Kingstonian and Hartley Wintney.

Centre-forward Alan Morton played for Surrey Schoolboys and joined Woking and played in the first team aged 17 while working as a golf course greenkeeper.

Whilst with the Cards, he was spotted playing for Surrey Youth in a game at Selhurst Park and signed professionally for Crystal Palace but failed to make the first team at Selhurst Park.

He played 14 times, scoring twice, on loan at Stockport County in the first two months of the 1969/70 season as they were relegated from the Third Division and had a short spell at Nuneaton Borough before returning to London and joining Third Division Fulham after a trial in August 1970.

Morton made his full debut in the Fourth Round of the League Cup at home to Queens Park Rangers in front of a 31,727 crowd paying record receipts, setting up the first goal.

However, he played mostly in Fulham's Combination side, scoring 18 goals.

Still working on the golf course, he joined Wimbledon the following season, scoring 14 times in 35 appearances before setting a goalscoring record at Ashford Town in the Southern League in 1972/73 with 46 goals in 59 games.

He moved on to Maidstone United and continued playing up until 1984 with spells at Woking, Kingstonian, Wokingham, Walton & Hersham, Farnborough Town, Epsom & Ewell and Westfield.

Midfielder Bobby Howe`s career began with Newcastle United before he moved as a trainee to Nottingham Forest in December 1990.

He spent eight years with the then-Premiership side and enjoyed a brief loan period at Ipswich Town in 1997 where he played 3 times before moving to Swindon Town in January 1998, having made 14 appearances for Forest.

He played four and a half seasons with Swindon, notching up 122 appearances and scoring 11 goals from his midfield position.

In the 2001/02 season, it was his 76th-minute goal that settled Swindon’s FA Cup tie with Hereford United, putting the team into a Fourth Round match with Manchester City.

Howe signed for Havant & Waterlooville two days before the start of the 2002/03 campaign and very quickly became a core component of the team.

During the 2003/04 campaign injury prevented him from becoming a constant in the side, and in March 2005, he left the Hawks for Farnborough.

Defender Steve Baker started out with the well-respected Wallsend Boys Club in the north-east and was recommended to Southampton by the famous scout Jack Hixon, signing a professional deal in December 1979.

However, because of the presence of Ivan Golac at The Dell, Baker had to wait until the last game of the 1980/81 season for his debut – a 3-2 win at Portman Road against Ipswich Town.

He had to wait until Golac departed in 1982 to get a few more games under his belt, but then Lawrie McMenemy first decided to switch Reuben Agboola to right back and then bought former England defender Mick Mills.

That pattern was repeated in 1985/86, with the arrival of Gerry Forrest halting Baker’s second run of appearances.

Forrest was cup-tied, however so Baker played in every round of Saints’ FA Cup run – until he was omitted for the semi-final.

He stayed another season in which he played in a majority of the league games and in the League Cup run, this time coming off the bench in the semi-final at Anfield.

The variety of shirt numbers he wore in that 86-87 season reflected his ability to do a job in midfield, sometimes man-marking – already a familiar assignment for him, not least in Europe. His second league start of 1987/88 – a 2-0 home defeat by Portsmouth – would be his last and he accepted blame for one of Pompey’s goals but felt he unfairly took the can for the overall performance.

In March 1988 he was transferred to Fourth Division Leyton Orient where he was a regular first-teamer, making over 100 appearances and then his League career ended with a handful of games at Bournemouth.

He continued to play non-League football until he was 40, his most notable spell being five seasons at Farnborough in the Conference.

Spells with Hayes, Aldershot Town and Basingstoke Town.

He has since had a number of positions in the game, including work as an analyst for the PFA and the Press Association but, most significantly, with the Saints Academy.

In 2004 he became a stevedore in the Docks.

Forward Dennis Bailey was born in Lambeth and started his career at Watford playing in their youth and reserve sides before going on to have a nomadic footballing career playing for many clubs at various levels.

He played for Barking, Fulham, Farnborough Town, Crystal Palace, where he scored on his debut while partnering Ian Wright, Birmingham City and had two spells on loan at Bristol Rovers before signing for Gerry Francis, manager at Queens Park Rangers in a £175,000 deal in July 1991.

He made his debut for the Rs on the opening day of the 1991/92 season against Arsenal at Highbury, scoring in a 1-1 draw. The one feat that he will always be remembered for came on New Year`s Day in 1992 when he scored a hat-trick in a 4-1 win away at league leaders Manchester United, a game covered by ITV.

He remains the last player to have achieved this in the league at Old Trafford, although Ronaldo did match it in a 2002/03 UEFA Champions League game for Real Madrid.

Injury restricted Bailey to a fringe role in the Rangers squad in his last couple of seasons at Loftus Road, and further loan spells followed with Charlton Athletic, Watford, where he scored in three successive games having come off the substitute's bench, which helped the Hornets escape relegation and Brentford.

Having made 48 appearances for the West London outfit, scoring 13 times, then-Gills` boss Tony Pulis paid £50,000 for the services of the forward in August 1995, and he made his Gillingham debut away at Lincoln City in the second game of the campaign, scoring in a 3-0 win.

He didn't miss a league game from then on, making a total of 51 appearances in all competitions that season, scoring 10 goals, and was an important part of the side that won promotion from Division Three that season.

He played in fewer games over the next two seasons, and after scoring 13 goals in a total of 103 appearances Bailey moved on to Lincoln City in March 1998.

His stay at Sincil Bank was short-lived, making just 5 league appearances, he then returned to non-League football for a second spell with Farnborough in the summer of 1998.

He had a good season at Cherrywood Road scoring 21 goals - including a hat-trick against Rushden & Diamonds - in 39 games.

In March 1999 he was on the move again, this time signing for Cheltenham Town who he helped achieve Football League status at the end of that season.

Spells at Forest Green Rovers, League of Wales side Aberystwyth Town, Halesowen Town, Tamworth, Stafford Rangers and Moor Green followed, and his final club was then-Midland Alliance side Stratford Town from whom he retired in November 2006.

Since then, he has done some of the UEFA coaching badges and has completed an HND in sports and community studies at Birmingham University. The now self-employed coach has also worked at Soccer Schools in the U.S.A.

He later played and coached his local Church Renewal Christian Centre in Solihull, or Renewal Solihull FC as they are known, who play in the West Midlands Christian Football League and was named as joint league player of the year in 2010 at the age of 45!

Midfielder Martin Kuhl started his career with Birmingham City, where he progressed to make over 120 appearances in the Blues` first team.

He went on to play over 500 times in the Football League for Birmingham, Sheffield United, Watford, Portsmouth, who he helped reach the 1992 FA Cup semi-final, but was one of three Pompey players to miss his kick as they lost in a penalty shoot-out to Liverpool, Derby County, Notts County and Bristol City.

He then played for Happy Valley in Hong Kong and represented the Hong Kong League in matches against Mexico and Bulgaria before returning to play in non-League football.

He spent the 1999/20 season with Farnborough and finished off with spells at Carshalton Athletic and Aldershot Town.

Kuhl was assistant to manager Gary Waddock at Aldershot Town until October 2009, when the pair joined Wycombe Wanderers. He left the club in April 2011 after being suspended.

He went on to coach at youth level at Reading - his son, Aaron, came through the youth team at the club.

In December 2015, after Steve Clarke was sacked as manager, Kuhl was put in charge of Reading on an interim basis.

Kuhl left Reading in September 2017 and joined Torquay United as assistant to new head coach Gary Owers on 13 September 2017.

In November 2018, Kuhl was appointed as manager of then-Southern League side Basingstoke Town.

A highly decorated Pro Licenced coach having won promotions with both Aldershot and Wycombe Wanderers, he also played a major role at Reading working under Brian McDermott, Nigel Atkins and Jaap Stam. Alongside that role, Kuhl managed one of Reading’s most successful under-23 sides that the club had produced.

He left Basingstoke in September 2019 and then took over as manager of struggling Isthmian South Central side Staines Town in December 2019 until February 2020.

Defender Keith Dublin was a vastly experienced former England Youth international defender who spent six years with Chelsea and made over 50 first-team appearances before transferring to Brighton & Hove Albion in 1987.

He then played for Watford and Southend United and totalled more than 530 League appearances before joining Farnborough in August 1999 after turning down possible moves to Port Vale and Plymouth Argyle to move to Cherrywood Road.

He spent three seasons with Boro before finishing his playing career with Isthmian League side Carshalton Athletic.

Another defender, Alan Wooler, was born in Poole and was an associate schoolboy with Manchester United before playing as an amateur in the Hampshire League with Alton Town and the Southern League with Weymouth.

He signed for Reading in 1971 and in two years at Elm Park made 38 first-team appearances.

He then joined West Ham United and in four years with the Hammers made only 4 first-team appearances. However, he had three summer-long loan spells with North American Soccer League side Boston Minutemen whilst at Upton Park, making a total of 66 appearances in the USA.

He signed for Aldershot in 1976 and in eight years at the Rec made 305 appearances in all competitions, including a spell between August 1979 and October 1981 when he didn't miss a single first-team game.

A cultured left-back who loved to get forward at every opportunity, he was the creator of many goals for a good Shots team of the late 1970s.

While with Aldershot he spent his summers playing in Finland, first for HJK Helsinki then for Finnarin Palloilijat.

Wooler left Aldershot at the end of the 1983/84 season and played non-League football with Leatherhead and Farnborough Town, where he spent four years and in the summer months, returned to play in Finland for Malmin Palloseura.

He later had a spell as manager of top female side Millwall Lionesses.

Striker David Leworthy grew up in Portsmouth and joined his home-town club in 1980.

His opportunities at Fratton Park were somewhat limited though, and he finished his time there with just a 15-minute substitute appearance.

He subsequently joined Southern League Fareham Town where his prolific goalscoring brought him to the attention of several top-flight clubs.

Tottenham Hotspur took the chance and signed him in 1983, and he spent two years at White Hart Lane before joining Oxford United.

After four seasons at Oxford during which he had a spell on loan with Shrewsbury Town, he joined Reading in 1989.

He made the decision to drop back down to non-League football in 1992, and joined Farnborough Town, before a move to Dover Athletic.

In January 1997, he was signed by ambitious Rushden & Diamonds for £15,000, becoming one of Roger Ashby’s last signings, and he had an immediate impact with his goalscoring exploits.

After scoring three times in his first four games, he further increased his popularity with the Diamonds fans by scoring twice in their 5-1 win over Kettering Town, one of which was from 35 yards.

His goals helped take the Diamonds out of the relegation places in the Conference that season.

At the end of the season, however, he didn’t feature in new manager Brian Talbot’s plans, and he was sold to Kingstonian in May 1997 for £18,000.

He made two FA Trophy Final appearances at Wembley during another successful period in his career, before moving to Havant & Waterlooville where he also spent time as a player before retiring and becoming their manager.

He came out of retirement briefly in 2006 to re-join Kingstonian for a short spell, before going into coaching with Croydon Athletic in 2007.

He went into management again, this time with Banstead Athletic in December 2007, and Croydon in the Kent League in October 2008, but he took a back-seat role there in January 2009 due to work commitments.

Midfielder Allan Cockram joined Tottenham Hotspur as a schoolboy in 1975 and went on to make 2 first-team appearances towards the end of the 1983/84 season.

He was released at the end of the 1984/85 season and a two-year period followed as a football nomad, which included short periods playing for Bristol Rovers and Farnborough Town and two spells in the United States with San Francisco Flyers and San Jose.

A move to Isthmian League Premier Division club St Albans City during the latter part of the 1986/87 season, in a bid to return to fitness following an Achilles injury, proved to be the turning point in Cockram's career and he was voted the Saints' player of the year at the end of the 1987/88 season.

After a successful spell training full-time with Brentford during the 1987/88 season, Cockram signed a contract with the club in March 1988.

He made 118 appearances and scored 17 goals for the club before his release at the end of the 1990/91 season.

After a spell back in non-League football with Woking, Cockram made a return to the Football League with Reading in October 1991 and had his second spell with Farnborough and then re-joined St Albans prior to the beginning of the 1992/93 season.

He remained at Clarence Park until the end of the 1995/96 season and scored 73 goals in 211 appearances across his six seasons with the Saints.

Cockram finished his career with spells at non-league clubs Chertsey Town and Leatherhead.

He later became a fireman and also ran Brentford Penguins, a club for footballers with Down's Syndrome associated with DSActive and Brentford FC Community Sports Trust.

Cockram player-managed St Albans and Chertsey and was later a technical specialist at Philadelphia Union and coached at University College London.

In 2019, he became manager of Cambridge University`s football team.

Forward Rocky Baptiste became something of a cult figure in non-League football, most notably for his heroics in the FA Cup.

For Farnborough, in 2003, he scored in a tie at Arsenal, and whilst playing for Havant & Waterlooville in 2008, his goal earned a Third Round replay with Swansea City, where he would score in a famous victory to force a Fourth Round tie with Liverpool at Anfield.

Baptiste enjoyed a well-travelled career that has taken in stops with the likes of Hayes, Luton Town, Stevenage Borough, Margate, Maidenhead United, Harrow Borough, Wingate & Finchley and finally Eastbourne Town.

He spent two years at Cherrywood Road, netting 30 goals in 59 games.

Farnborough have had several former international players wearing their colours.

Goalkeeper Maik Taylor was serving as a staff sergeant in the REME regiment of the British Army when he began his football career at ASC Nienburg of Nienburg in Germany before moving to England as a schoolboy.

He later followed in his father's footsteps by joining the REME based at Arborfield in Berkshire, where he attended Princess Marina College.[4]

He later moved to Bordon in Hampshire where he played football for his regiment and for the Army and Combined Services representative sides.

During this period, he also played for Petersfield Town, Basingstoke Town and Farnborough, with whom he won the Southern League Premier Division title in 1993/94.

He went on to play over 500 games in the Football League with Barnet, Southampton, Fulham, Birmingham City, Leeds United and Millwall and won 88 caps for Northern Ireland.

Midfielder James Younghusband is one of the best-known players from the Phillippines and won over 100 caps for the island.

Coming through the Chelsea academy, the Surrey-born player went on to play for AFC Wimbledon, Staines Town and Woking before signing for Farnborough in 2010.

He then moves to the Phillippines to play for San Beda, Meralco Sparks, Davao Aguillas and Ceres-Negros before hanging up his boots in 2020.

Farnborough-born goalkeeper Sam Somerville started his playing days with Boro and made 15 first-team appearances as well as spending the 2012/13 season on loan at Godalming Town.

He made 70-plus appearances for Slough Town and had a season with Tooting & Mitcham United before going over to Malaysia – he held a Malaysian passport – to play for Johor Darul Ta`zim and, currently, Penang.

He has five caps for Malaysia.

Forward Bradley Bubb started out at Hendon before being signed by Queens Park Rangers in 2005.

He was released by QPR as a youngster and built up an impressive scoring ratio at Chalfont St Peter, Beaconsfield SYCOB and Farnborough, where he spent three seasons, scoring 40 goals in 88 appearances, earning him a move to Aldershot Town.

After a spell with Belgian side Royal Antwerp, he re-joined the Shots before moves to Havant & Waterlooville, Oxford City and Ebbsfleet United.

He signed for Wealdstone from Fleet in February 2018 on an initial 18-month deal.

He got off to a perfect start, scoring a hat-trick on his debut against Billericay Town to send the Stones into the FA Trophy semi-finals.

He has played international football for Grenada, winning 10 caps between 2010 and 2012.

Farnborough Web Site