Farnham Town FC

Farnham. A historic market town in Surrey, England. Good connections to London. A creative arts university and a castle.

Oh, and a football team. A football team owned by a young marketing entrepreneur, and Farnham local, Harry Hugo. I recently heard his excellent interview on The Price of Football Podcast and thought I couldn't possibly go for long without turning my attentions to this club with a fantastic looking badge – one that has both a castle and beer barrels on it – what’s not to like?

The team itself has been doing fantastically well of late - as you would expect of any team at the lower levels that have received significant investment. They have been promoted twice in a row as champions and have started strongly this season in the Southern League Premier. One more promotion takes them into National League South and they can begin to eye up the big, big boys in the EFL.

So, Farnham then. Cracking badge. What can it teach us?

Let's start with those beer barrels shall we? Farnham Town FC began in 1906 when the local brewry team Farnham Bungs merged with another, Farnham Star, to make the current team.

Farnham’s connection to brewing goes way, way back. Hop growing began here in 1597, when a Mr Bignell introduced the crop from Suffolk (woo!). By the 1670s, there were over 300 acres of hopyards surrounding the town. The local soil and sheltered landscape proved perfect for growing, and by the eighteenth century, hop kilns and drying houses filled the valleys around Farnham.

In the 1750s, a local landowner, Peckham Williams, bred a new variety — the White Bine Grape Hop. Its pale bine and clustered cones set it apart from rivals, and it quickly became known as the Farnham Whitebine. It was cultivated from a single cutting, carefully maintained for generations, and eventually spread to Kent and Worcestershire under new names — Canterbury Whitebine and Mathon Whitebine.

Farnham growers picked the hops singly by hand, removed damaged leaves, and dried them without sulphur (the normal practice) — which helped preserve the taste. The result was a bright, “silky” hop that brewers across Britain paid a premium for. At its height, Farnham had 1,500 acres of land devoted to growing to hops, around 40% of the area’s total arable land.

Each year, the hop sacks were stamped with the Farnham bell, a mark of excellence known throughout the trade. The phrase “to bear the bell” — meaning to take first place — was inspired by Farnham’s hops.

Central to the Town today, and continuing that heritage, is the Farnham Maltings – a converted malting building that is an arts and community centre. It began life back in 1845 when John Barrett converted the old tanyard buildings beside the river into a brewery. The expansion of the army camp at nearby Aldershot brought booming trade, and by the 1870s, Farnham’s riverside was lined with breweries, maltings, and warehouses.

Barrett’s rival, George Trimmer, eventually bought the site in 1890, forming the Farnham United Breweries, which owned over 90 pubs and eight off-licences. Trimmer’s maltsters roasted barley grown in the same fields that once produced the Farnham Whitebine.

Malting continued until 1956, but more modern methods made the old ways unprofitable and production came to an end. The buildings were abandoned — and faced demolition.

But the local community wasn’t having any of it. Hundreds of years of tradition were not just about to be lost.

Within just six weeks, an action committee led by Raymond Krish raised £18,000, while the remaining £12,000 came from the Farnham Trust, through grants and the sale of nine restored cottages — including Tanyard House, one of Farnham’s oldest buildings. They raised the funds needed to buy the site in the centre of the town and form the arts centre that it is today.

What might have become a block of flats became instead a centre for community pride and identity – and is a legacy Farnham Town FC carry on their badge today.

The second feature of the team’s badge is the castle. Farnham Castle, has watched over the town for nearly nine centuries. Today it doubles as a popular wedding venue, admired for its mix of Norman stonework and Tudor mansions.

Built in 1138 by Henri de Blois, Bishop of Winchester and grandson of William the Conqueror, the first castle was torn down by Henry II in 1155 after “The Anarchy”. It soon rose again in stone, complete with a Great Hall, Norman Chapel, and the Shell Keep that still crowns the hill.

In 1216, Prince Louis of France seized Farnham and Guildford Castles before the Earl of Pembroke reclaimed them for the Crown. Later bishops lived lavishly — John de Pontoise, visiting in 1223, famously stocked 311 pigs in brine to feed his guests. He certainly brought home the bacon.

The Tudor period saw Cardinal Henry Beaufort preside over the trial of Joan of Arc, inspiring the later dedication of St Joan of Arc’s Church in the town. Mary I stayed here before marrying Philip of Spain, and Elizabeth I visited six times, her final stay coming just months before her death. Bishop Richard Fox remodelled the castle in grand style, adding towers, a new south range, and a stairway from the town. Its gardens even supplied white clay used for lawyers’ drinking cups in London.

During the Civil War, Parliament’s troops occupied Farnham in 1642, and by 1648 it lay in ruins. Bishop George Morley later restored it, transforming the fortress into a palace with gardens fit for royalty. When King James I visited in 1620, his three-day stay cost more than £2,000, “to the extraordinary contentment of his Majesty.”

Beneath these two images on the badge lie two wavy blue lines. I can not find any concrete explanation for them online but I have to assume they refer to the region’s geography: The River Wey, flowing through the town beneath Castle Hill, provided the fresh water essential for brewing, powering early mills and feeding the tanneries and maltings that lined its banks. The surrounding hills and ridges — including others known as the Hog’s Back to Crooksbury Hill and Caesar’s Camp — offered fertile slopes, good drainage, and shelter for the Farnham Whitebine hops, once the finest in England.

So, there you have it. The bastion, barracks and breweries. Hills, Hope and hops.

Farnham Town FC are on the rise – and they carry a magnificent heritage with them as they do.