Farnham Town chairman Harry Hugo has overseen three consecutive promotions since taking over the Surrey non-League side, lifting the club from the Combined Counties Premier Division South to the National League South in the space of four seasons. The rapid rise, led on the pitch by manager Paul Johnson, has drawn comparisons to Wrexham’s high-profile ascent — and Hugo says reaching the EFL is no longer an unrealistic target.

This is, so far, a single-sourced report based on a Sky Sports interview published on 27 July 2026.

From Ferrari Showroom to Football Chairman

Hugo’s path to non-League ownership began in a car dealership. Having sold 40 per cent of his influencer marketing agency, Goat, in 2021 at just 26 years old, he recognised that financial independence would arrive before he turned 30. Rather than buy a Ferrari 458 Spyder, he told Sky Sports he challenged his friends to think of something that would deliver equal enjoyment for the same outlay. The answer was a football club.

Hugo and his group built a ranking matrix of non-League clubs within 50 miles of his home. Leatherhead topped the list, and he spent six months attending their matches in the Isthmian Premier Division before approaching the board. The talks stalled. He walked away not heartbroken about Leatherhead specifically, but struck instead by non-League football’s raw, old-school character in general.

Farnham Deal Completed in Five Weeks

Second on the matrix was Farnham Town. Hugo had grown up nearby and attended school in the town, which sits around 11 miles from Guildford. The board responded positively from the start. A takeover was completed within five weeks.

What he inherited was stark. Hugo described the ground — The Memorial Ground — as consisting of little more than a clubhouse, a single stand behind the goal, a concrete block wall along one side, and a fence at the top end. He told Sky Sports he was embarrassed to bring his wife there.

The facility has since been transformed.

Three Titles in Four Seasons

The results on the pitch have been equally dramatic. In Hugo’s first season, 2022/23, Farnham finished sixth in the Combined Counties Premier Division South. Progress was modest. Then the wins started piling up.

The following campaign, 2023/24, the club won that same division with 108 points. A year later, Farnham took the Isthmian South Central Division title with 102 points. Then, in 2025/26, they earned promotion to the National League South — a third successive step up the non-League pyramid.

Johnson has been in charge since November 2022. Three promotions in three attempts is the outcome.

The Wrexham Comparison and an EFL Ambition

The parallels with Wrexham — where celebrity ownership, documentary content, and rapid league progression drew global attention — have not been lost on Hugo. Where Wrexham produced Welcome to Wrexham, Farnham have their own content strand called Non-League Diaries. Hugo acknowledged the comparison to Sky Sports with a laugh, saying he was comfortable with it.

His wider point was about inspiration. He told Sky Sports that Farnham’s effect on clubs at steps three, four, and five of the pyramid was the same one Wrexham had on them — a proof of concept that rapid, structured progress is achievable. Surrey currently has no club in the EFL. Hugo sees no reason that has to remain the case.

The National League South is two tiers below the EFL. Getting there would require at least two further promotions. But three in a row suggests the ambition is grounded in something real.