Although born in the south, Tommy Farrer moved to the north-east where he worked as a clothing designer and signed for the area’s top amateur team Bishop Auckland in 1945. He spent eight years at the club and won the first of his 20 England amateur caps during his time there. He became captain of Bishop Auckland and skippered them against the bare-footed Nigerian touring team in 1949. He appeared in three FA Amateur Cup finals between 1946 and 1951 and was on the losing side each time. He moved back down south in 1953 and joined Walthamstow Avenue (now Dagenham and Redbridge). An established international at the time he was selected for the Great Britain team for the 1956 Olympics and played at full-back in both games. He retired to Maidstone with his wife and it was reported in the match-day programme for the Bishop Auckland v Benfield game in January 2009 that Tommy had passed away and over 2,000 fans stood for a minute’s silence before the match. The cub chairman then telephoned Mrs Farrer to pass on the club’s condolences only be told he was still alive and ‘out at the shops!’ Tommy and his wife Gladys saw the funny side of it.
Great Britain