Farningham F.C.
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox football club |
| clubname=Farningham
| image=
| fullname=Farningham Football Club
| nickname=
| founded=1872
| dissolved=1875
| ground=Lion Hotel, 1 mile from Farningham station
| capacity=
| chairman=
| mgrtitle=Secretary
| manager=George Rashleigh
| league=
| season=
| position=
| website =
|pattern_la1=_thinnavyhoops|pattern_b1=_thinnavyhoops|pattern_ra1=_thinnavyhoops|pattern_so1=_hoops_navy|leftarm1=|body1=|rightarm1=|shorts1=000080|socks1=|}}
Farningham F.C. was a short-lived English association football club from the village of Farningham in Kent.
File:1874–75 FA Cup 1st round, Wanderers 16–0 Farningham, Morning Post, 2 November 1874.png
History
The club played two matches in its first season (1872–73). Its first match was against the Harrow Chequers, and resulted in a win for Farningham, although that was to a large extent down to the Chequers only turning up with four players and relying on three substitutes against the ten men of Farningham.{{cite journal |title=Farningham 3-1 Harrow Chequers |journal=The Field |date=8 March 1873 |page=229}} For its first match outside Kent, against the Philistines of Leytonstone, the club was able to secure the services of F. E. Maddison, who scored an equalizer right at the death.{{cite journal |title=Leytonstone |journal=Woodford Times |date=29 November 1873 |page=5}}
The club entered the FA Cup on two occasions. In 1873–74 the club was drawn to play at home to the Trojans, but scratched.{{cite book |last1=Alcock |first1=Charles |title=Football Annual |date=1874 |publisher=Virtue |location=London |page=72}} In the following year, the club was drawn against the Wanderers, at the Kennington Oval, and the club decided to play the match rather than scratching. The game ended 16–0 to the home side, at the time a record score. The newspapers praised the performance of Farningham's goalkeeper W.D.O.Greig, whose play was described as "very brilliant"{{cite journal |title=Wanderers 16-0 Farningham |journal=The Field |date=7 November 1874 |page=504}} and "excellent goalkeeping".{{cite journal |title=Wanderers 16-0 Farningham |journal=Bell's Life |date=7 November 1874 |page=5}} The club appears to have been handicapped for the match by only having four of its regular players available for the tie (the others being captain and club secretary Revd. George Rashleigh, and backs Burnside and English).
Greig's reward was to be chosen for the London representative side in the match against the Sheffield Football Association representative side, albeit not as a goalkeeper.{{cite journal |title=Sheffield 2-0 London |journal=The Field |date=14 November 1874 |page=531}} However, there are no further fixtures recorded for Farningham, which had been struggling in previous matches to put out a full side. On one occasion the club relied on a spectator to help fill out a 10-man side,{{cite journal |title=Gitanos 6-3 Farningham |journal=Goal |date=11 April 1874 |page=2}} and two weeks before the Wanderers game the club only turned up with eight men for a match with South Norwood.{{cite journal |title=South Norwood 2-0 Farningham |journal=Norwood News |date=24 October 1874 |page=5}}
The next season, Greig joined the Wanderers, and played in goal in their Cup Final victory.{{cite web |title=FA Cup Final: 1876 |url=https://www.fa-cupfinals.co.uk/1876.html |website=FA Cup Finals |access-date=9 September 2023}}
Colours
The club's colours were dark blue and white,{{cite book |last1=Alcock |first1=Charles |title=Football Annual |date=1873 |publisher=Virtue |location=London |page=68}} which were probably in hoops.
Notable players
- The Revd. George Rashleigh, vicar of Horton Kirby, and secretary to two Masters of the Rolls{{cite web |title=George Rashleigh |url=https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Men-at-the-Bar/Rashleigh,_George_Burvill}}
- Frederick Maddison, England international and Cup-winner with Oxford University F.C.