The Story Of Farsley Celtic: A Club In Crisis

Football clubs facing financial turmoil is far from a new phenomenon, from the lofty heights of the football league all the way down to the lowest tiers of the semi-pro landscape.

And no story is a more adequate example of exactly that than West-Yorkshire club Farsley Celtic.

A broken promise leaving them without a home pitch, A relegation which became so much more than that, A club on the brink of extinction. This is the Story of Farsley Celtic.

The 4G Pitch That Ruined Their Season

At the beginning of the 24/25 season, Farsley Celtic put plans in place for the 4G relaying of their home pitch at The Citadel.

This was a development brought about by at the time Owner and Chairman Paul Barthorpe, it was seen as a show of ambition by the club and was set to be completed in time for the start of the campaign.

But, as you might have guessed, it didn't exactly go to plan.

After repeated delays, the club running out of money to complete the project and what can only be described as mass confusion and uncertainty around what was actually going on- Farsley Celtic found themselves nearing the start of the new season with nowhere to play their home games.

This prompted a crowdfunding attempt where the club looked to raise an ambitious £25,000 to suffice the needed cash to finish the pitch. Unsurprisingly, this was unsuccessful and the club were left in the same position.

This resulted in an unprecedented circumstance which saw the Celt Army forced to play 70 miles away from their home ground in Derbyshire for the entire duration of the 24/25 season.

This led to significant challenges at almost every turn.

There was delayed kick-offs due to the Farsley team bus being stuck in traffic. There was the loss of key players as a result of the uncertainty around the club. They lost appointed manager Neil Redfearn after just three weeks in charge, after he was not informed of the full state of the club.

And most tellingly of all Paul Barthorpe, the man who caused the chaos with his careless oversight, resigned as Chairman and put the club up for sale after fan backlash.

Well, the end of the worst season on and off the pitch. Glad it’s over. Onto life in the NPL. New grounds, new fans, new friends to make. Up the Celts.

Brackley Town 5-0 Farsley Celtic

TikTok & IG: georgefearnleyfootball#farsley #farsleyceltic #brackley #brackleytown pic.twitter.com/mRZrpqWq2f

— George Fearnley (@_GeorgeFearnley) May 1, 2025

All of this combined meant that by February, Farsley Celtic were in shambles. The rest of the season saw financial troubles due to the expenses of the added travel, and a squad largely made up of youth products which struggled to compete at the level.

Fast forward to the end of the season and Farsley were rock bottom by a big margin and faced relegation.

The Relegation

Initially, Farsley were set to be relegated from the National League North into the Northern Premier League- But debts gathered from the previous campaign continued to mount.

As a result, the club weren't granted the licence needed to play in steps 1 to 4- the four highest tiers below the EFL. This meant that instead, the club faced a triple relegation all the way down to step five to the Northern Counties East League Premier Division (NCEL).

It is worth mentioning that despite the possibility of the club appealing the decision in favour of trying again to get the licence, they decided against it. In a statement, the club cited that in order to protect their financial security going into the future, they took the difficult decision to accept their fate.

A real shame to see @FarsleyCelticFC looking like this today. But a stark reminder that “it wouldn’t happen to us” is a very naive mindset. All it takes is a few months of poor choices and it could be your club.

Positive vibes coming from the club currently about the future,… pic.twitter.com/5hrh6D4Hij

— The Lower League Look (@LowerLeagueLook) July 24, 2025

The idea was that, due to the financial struggles caused by playing their home games so far away, being relegated to step 5 would allow them to rebuild in a league with less running costs.

Farsley were looking to strike a groundshare deal, install new energy efficient and reliable floodlights, and secure funding for the heavily belated relaying of their pitch.

Where Are We Now?

On June 16th, former Fulham goalkeeper and the manager appointed to take them into next season David Stockdale announced he and his family had purchased the club.

On the 30th June, Farsley Celtic announced their resignation from the NCEL for the upcoming season. This means that they will not have a men's team competing at any level of the English football pyramid next season.

An update from the club about the 2025/26 season ⤵️https://t.co/tpKS0rFT5i

— Farsley Celtic (@FarsleyCelticFC) June 30, 2025

The club announced that, once again, this was a carefully taken decision which aimed to secure the long term future of the club. The consensus is that the club needs to regain structure behind the scenes before they can make any attempt at once again establishing themselves as a viable entity.

But, this resignation far from means they are no more. In fact, the women's, deaf and development teams will continue to run as normal during the 25/26 season.

Farsley Celtic haven't yet announced when they will be back. But with a new vision already established, focusing on youth, community and more sustainably ran facilities- there is no doubt that they will return.

Whether they recover to the heights that they once reached is impossible to say, but the undeniable positive is that the community still has its football club.

So many rely on their local team to provide them a sense of togetherness and belonging, and all to often in the modern day we see that taken away by the avoidable grasps of financial mismanagement.

Farsley Celtic's story has been one of turmoil and uncertainty in recent times. But the fact that they are still alive and kicking, no matter their situation, is an massive win for lower-league English football.