Godalming & Farncombe Athletic FC
12 Feb 2009

The club, who play at Holloway Hill, was originally formed in 1969 as Ockford Social F.C playing friendly matches, then in 1970 they joined and won the Guildford & District League Division 4, with a record of Played 16, Won 16, Goals for 158 and against 10. They went on to win both Divisions 3 and 2 as well as reaching the League Cup Final on three occasions, winning two and losing the other.

In 1973 they were accepted by the Surrey Intermediate League Premier �B� finishing in third place. The highlight of that season however was reaching the Premier League Cup Final where they were narrowly defeated 1-0 by Merrow in an evenly matched contest played at Godalming.

The rest of the 70s and early 80s saw Social finishing in mid-table positions until they were relegated to Division 3 in 1982. Little success on or off the field was seen until in 1984, new club officers were elected, including Barrie Hogan as Secretary (A position he still holds). Since then the club has narrowly missed promotion on an almost regular basis and have reached the Quarter Final stage of the League Cup on no fewer than five occasion and the County Cup quarter final in 1988.

The early 90s continued in the same fashion as Ockford Social just missed on promotion to Division Two in the first three seasons. Then prior to the 1993-1994 season Ockford Social F.C changed its name to Godalming Athletic Football Club.

The rest of the 90s again continued with several missed promotions. Then in the 1998-1999 season Godalming Athletic F.C. finished bottom of the league. This was mainly due to a lack of players for this current season and therefore no Reserve team and a serious lack of experience. The only good thing to come out of the season was the fact that new facilities were being built at Holloway Hill, which would lead to a brand new Clubhouse.

Godalming Athletic F.C had far superior facilities within its new Clubhouse and so we were able to attract new players and in season 1999-2000 the Reserves were reformed. Although the Reserves finished bottom in their respective league the first team finished in the top half of the Surrey Intermediate League Division 3. Also that season we were runners up to Chiddingfold in the final of the Dunsfold Charity Cup.

Season 2000-2001 brought an even better improvement as both the first and second teams missed promotion by one place. The first team finishing fourth and the reserves finishing fifth.

Season 2001-2002 started well with us winning the Dunsfold Cup 3-1 against Milford & Witley.

In 2002-2003 Godalming and Farncombe merge to become Godalming and Farncombe Athletic and since that time the club has been challenging for promotion on a consistent basis.
A third place finish in season 2008/9 saw the club move into the premier division, albeit for only a season but in recent times a succession of First team managers coming and going has not given the club the stability it needs to challenge consistently at the top of the division.
Despite this the club can offer wonderful facilities and continues to attract good quality players. Current managers, Dave Cheeseman and Nick Gill are looking to bring that much sought after stability and the good times back to Holloway Hill.