Paul Farman was Boro’s sixth signing of summer 2018; another new face arriving barely more than a month after seeing the back of the 2017-8 League Two campaign. In securing the services of Farman, the club had finally sourced what seemed like a long-term replacement for veteran Chris Day. The previous season had seen us bring in two loan stoppers; something that boss Dino Maamria was keen to avoid repeating in 2018-9.
For Farman, his move to the Lamex was a bit of a step down at the time. Before you get all moody, it’s just that he’d won the Checkatrade Trophy and reached the playoffs in his final season with Lincoln City. Boro’, meanwhile, plodded somewhere into the mid-teens; 20 points behind the Imps. That, however, isn’t relevant. All that matters is that Farman was now a Boro’ player.
But, for a time when Seny Dieng came in on loan, Farman was undisputed number one at the Lamex. He had to work hard to get the jersey back, but had a strong second half of the 2018-9 season – one or two minor errors aside. He retained the number one jersey for the 2019-20 campaign and it says much about the quality of the player that, despite us ending up bottom of the league, Farms was one of the better performers. He left in summer 2020 at the end of his contract; opting to move north and join Carlisle United.
Paul Farman: Before Boro’
A native of the North East and North Shields in particular, Farman had spent seven seasons at Sincil Bank. And we know there’s a lot of alliteration going on here. Yeah, it is deliberate. After joining Lincoln on loan from Gateshead in November 2011, that move was made permanent in summer 2012.
In September 2014, first team opportunities had become less, well, abundant at Lincoln. So, agreement was struck for Farman to go out on loan to Boston United – initially, for three months. Four appearances later, and he was on his way back to Sincil Bank. From that point, he went onto establish himself at the club and had amassed well in excess of 200 appearances before leaving. He even helped Lincoln to the 2016-7 FA Cup quarter finals.
His time at Lincoln wasn’t without its highs and lows. On one hand, he picked up the Lincolnshire Echo Player of the Year Award. On the other, his keepy-uppies need a bit of work based on this experience against Altrincham back in February 2016. And the Lamex staff may want to keep an eye on the goals during future warm-ups too.
Farman started out with Newcastle United, before moving to Blyth Spartans and onto Gateshead. There was also a loan spell at Washington before leaving Blyth. Now having topped up his Football League experience with a little dash of silverware, Boro’ got themselves a good stopper in summer 2018.
