Paul David Appleby Farman (born 2 November 1989) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

club Barrow. Farman started playing first-team football for

Blyth Spartans Blyth Spartans Association Football Club is a football club based in Blyth, Northumberland. They are currently members of and play at Croft Park. They were founded in September 1899 by Fred Stoker, who was the club's first secretary before fo ...

of the

Conference North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

during the 2008–09 season. Prior to making his debut for Blyth, he was loaned out to

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

in order to gain first-team experience. He joined

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...

club

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

ahead of the 2009–10 season, and spent three seasons there. During his time at Gateshead, Farman joined fellow Conference Premier club Lincoln City on a loan deal in November 2011, later signing for the club on a permanent basis in May 2012. Farman spent six seasons at Lincoln, helping them achieve promotion to League Two after winning the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

, as well as winning the

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

during the 2017–18 season. He signed for Stevenage in June 2018 and spent two seasons there. Farman joined Carlisle United in August 2020, followed by rivals Barrow a year later.

Club career

Early career

Farman began playing as a

at the age of seven after he attended a goalkeeping course in the summer holidays. The course resulted in him being asked to play for North Shields Boys Club. He spent time on trial at

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

's youth academy in 2008 after two of Newcastle's goalkeepers were injured. He was not offered professional terms with Newcastle and subsequently joined

club

during the 2008–09 season. Farman was loaned out to

during the opening months of the campaign in order to play games and experience first-team football, where he was earning £35 per week. He returned to Blyth in October 2008 and made his first-team debut in a 1–0 win over

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.

in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

. He was Blyth's second-choice goalkeeper for most of the season behind Mark Bell, playing 17 times in all competitions during the campaign.

Gateshead

Ahead of the 2009–10 season, Farman signed for

club

. He made his Gateshead debut a month into the new season, keeping a clean sheet in a 0–0 draw with

Rushden & Diamonds Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park. The club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town. The cl ...

on 22 September 2009. He remained a regular starter for the remainder of the season, making 35 appearances. Before the start of the 2010–11 campaign, Farman had to have an operation due to injury and was ruled out of first-team action until November 2010. The form of his replacement,

Tim Deasy Timothy Deasy (born 1 October 1985) is an English former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Career Born in Salford, Greater Manchester, Deasy began his career with Macclesfield Town in League Two and made three first team appearances for th ...

, meant that Farman was limited to just eight appearances during the season. He was offered a short-term contract extension by manager

Ian Bogie Ian Bogie (born 6 December 1967) is a former footballer, and former manager of Gateshead and Stockport County. He spent two decades as a professional player, from 1985 up until 2001 he was playing in the English Football League, where he made 3 ...

in May 2011, who stated Farman would remain at the club if he impressed him in pre-season. He began the 2011–12 season as Gateshead's first-choice goalkeeper, keeping two clean sheets in the club's opening six fixtures. His contract was subsequently extended for the remainder of the season on 1 September 2011. Despite having played regularly for Gateshead during the opening months of the season, Farman was loaned out to fellow Conference National club Lincoln City on a two-month loan deal on 3 November 2011. Farman made his Lincoln debut in a 2–1 home win over Barrow on 5 November 2011, and made eight appearances during the brief loan spell. He returned to Gateshead in January 2012 and ended the campaign having played 25 times for the club that season.

Lincoln City

Having spent time on loan at Lincoln City the previous season, Farman signed for the club on a permanent basis on 25 May 2012. He made his second debut on the opening day of the club's 2012–13 season as Lincoln secured a 1–0 win over

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team compete in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. Formed in ...

Sincil Bank Sincil Bank Stadium, known for sponsorship reasons as LNER Stadium, is a football stadium in Lincoln, England which has been the home of Lincoln City since 1895. Previously, Lincoln City had played at the nearby John O'Gaunts ground since th ...

. Farman was Lincoln's first-choice goalkeeper throughout the season, making 47 appearances in all competitions. He signed a new two-year contract extension with the club on 14 May 2013. Farman made 38 appearances during the 2013–14 season. Having played in every one of Lincoln's matches during the campaign, Farman's season was cut short in February 2014 when he suffered an injury in Lincoln's 4–3 away win over

Hyde United Hyde United Football Club is a semi-professional football club in Hyde, Greater Manchester, England. Formed in 1919, they were renamed Hyde F.C. between 2010 and 2015 as part of a sponsorship deal with Manchester City. Farman began the 2014–15 season behind new loan signing,

Nick Townsend Nicholas Peter Townsend (born 1 November 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Newport County. Born in England, he represents the Antigua and Barbuda national team. Townsend began his career with Birmingham Ci ...

, who had served as Farman's replacement for the remainder of the previous season. Having not made an appearance during the first month of the campaign, Farman was loaned out to Conference North club

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is known ...

on 11 September 2014. The loan deal was for an initial three-month period. He made his Boston debut in a 3–2 loss away to

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional association football, football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they wer ...

two days after joining the club. Farman made four appearances in the opening month of the spell before he was recalled by Lincoln after

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

had withdrawn permission for Townsend to play in the

. Farman returned to Lincoln and consequently regained his place as the club's first-choice goalkeeper immediately. Having been ever present since being recalled from the loan spell, Farman signed a new two-year contract with the club on 25 February 2015. He made 32 appearances for Lincoln during the season, and was named as the club's Player of the Yeason at the end-of-season awards. Farman cemented his place as Lincoln's first-choice goalkeeper, making 49 appearances in all competitions during the 2015–16 season. Farman was a mainstay in the side during the 2016–17 campaign as Lincoln won promotion to

after securing the

title as champions. He kept 22 clean sheets in the club's 46 league matches. He was also part of the side that made the FA Cup quarter-finals that season. He played in all nine of the club's FA Cup fixtures as they defeated

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

Turf Moor Turf Moor is an association football stadium in Burnley, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Burnley F.C. since 1883. This unbroken service makes Turf Moor the second-longest continuously used ground in English professional football ...

before losing to eventual winners

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. Farman made 58 appearances during the campaign. With his contract due to run out at the end of the season, Lincoln manager

Danny Cowley Danny Cowley (born 22 October 1978) is an English professional football coach who was most recently manager of EFL League One side Portsmouth. He has previously managed Concord Rangers, Braintree Town, Lincoln City, Huddersfield Town and P ...

offered Farman a two-year contract extension, which he signed on 11 May 2017. The 2017–18 season began with Farman making his

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

debut in a 2–2 draw with

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their home ...

on the opening day of the campaign. Following Lincoln's 4–1 loss away at

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

on 23 September 2017, Farman was limited to just eight further appearances during the season. Five of these came in the

, which Lincoln would go on to win, although Farman was an unused substitute in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

. He made 18 appearances during the season. Farman played 242 times during his six years at Lincoln.

Stevenage

Farman signed for fellow League Two club

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevena ...

on 12 June 2018. He made his Stevenage debut in the club's opening match of the 2018–19 season, a 2–2 draw with

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they adop ...

Broadhall Way Broadhall Way, known as the Lamex Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is an association football stadium in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. It has been the home ground of Stevenage (formerly Stevenage Borough and Stevenage Town) since the early 1960s, an ...

. Despite starting the season as Stevenage's first choice goalkeeper, Farman lost his place to loanee

Seny Dieng Seny Timothy Dieng (born 23 November 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for EFL Championship club Middlesbrough. Born in Switzerland, Dieng represents the Senegal national team. Club career Early career In July ...

in September 2018, although regained the position from December through to the end of the season. He made 34 appearances during his first campaign with the club.

Carlisle United

On 17 August 2020, Farman signed for

side

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

on a one-year contract.

Barrow

Having been offered a new contract with Carlisle at the end of the season, Farman instead joined Barrow signing a two-year contract.

International career

Farman was called up to represent the

England C The England national football C team (previously known as the England National Game XI and the England Semi-Pro national team) is the football team that represents England at non-league level. Formed in 1979 as the England Non-League team, it fe ...

team, who represent England at

non-league Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

level, for their fixture against India U23s at Victoria Road in September 2011. He was set to make his debut, but the match was cancelled due to the

2011 England riots The 2011 England riots, more widely known as the London riots, were a series of riots between 6 and 11 August 2011. Thousands of people rioted in cities and towns across England, which saw looting, arson, as well as mass deployment of police ...

. He also made the stand-by list several times. He was called up once again during his time at Lincoln City in October 2012. Farman was due to make his debut by playing the second-half against Albania U23, but the match was postponed due to the rain.

Career statistics

Honours

Lincoln City *

: 2016–17 *

: 2017–18 Individual * Lincoln City Player of the Year: 2014–15

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Farman, Paul 1989 births Living people English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Blyth Spartans A.F.C. players Gateshead F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Boston United F.C. players Stevenage F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players National League (English football) players English Football League players Footballers from North Shields