What’s Happening at Farsley Celtic? No Wages, No Home, No Stability | OneFootball

On the east side of Leeds, a mere 20-minute drive from Elland Road, Farsley Celtic are facing a major uphill battle to ensure their club’s status going into the 2025/2026 season.

With a population of only 8000, Farsley is a tight-knit community built around The Citadel, the home of Farsley Celtic FC. The stadium possesses a capacity of 4000 people, with only 300 seats, an average of 662 fans per game and 15,232 spectators over the 23/24 season, so maybe former chairman Paul Barthorpe was right when he said that ‘in reality we aren’t a natural National League North club’.

But there isn’t much natural about Farsley Celtic FC. The club ranks highest of any non-league clubs in Leeds and third in Yorkshire, behind only York City and Halifax Town, who are both aiming to be in the Football League next year. Farsley have also faced extinction before, as they were expelled from the National League North for being unable to fulfil their fixtures in June 2009.

In 2010, Farsley had a new club., now called Farsley Celtic. The Celt Army were placed in the NCEL Premier Division and their first season was a roaring success, winning promotion whilst securing a cup and league double. The club managed to hold on to a large number of former players, which helped them push for promotion next year too, although they lost in the semi-finals of the playoffs.

Fast forward to 2018/19 and a further two promotions later, and Farsley Celtic were back in the National League North, the 6th tier of English football, where they have remained ever since. But where did it all go so wrong?

A Chairman in Chaos

The summer of 2019 saw the arrival of a new chairman, Paul Barthorpe, a man who has been described as ‘unhinged’, ‘a liar’ and a ‘fantasist’ by the owner of Farsley Celtic’s largest fan forum, George Fearnley. ‘All the issues we have are down to poor ownership,’ he told me, and many fans had taken the decision to boycott matches during his reign.

Kit staff, coach companies and bar staff are among the people who are owed ‘thousands’ by the club, including one member of the bar staff who is owed £8,000, a handyman waiting on ‘nearly £20,000’ and even directors who are owed in the range of £15,000 to 20,000 that have written off the debt based on the assumption that they’re never going to get it back.

The financial issues are even more face value than that, though. Due to scuppered plans to lay down a new 4G playing surface, Farsley Celtic have been without a pitch for the last ten months and, as a result, have been playing their home matches in Buxton, nearly 70 miles away. The result has been a feeling of disconnect from an extremely loyal group of supporters who now have to travel miles every week to watch their team play, as well as a disastrous decrease in revenue.

Many senior players have also left in recent months, looking for opportunities where they will continue to be paid and leaving the club continually plucking young players out of the development group to fill out a matchday squad. Although the Farsley Celtic Elite Talent Squad is a huge source of pride to the club, with over 400 players in their youth set up, this is not a position they would want to find themselves in.

The situation has caused problems off the pitch too, most recently with ex-Leeds manager Neil Redfearn resigning on February 10 after less than three weeks in charge—one of the shortest managerial stints in football history. A mere two days later, chairman and owner Paul Barthorpe had also resigned, following a vote of no confidence from the supporters group and what he called ‘months of criticism and negativity’.

The Reality

‘All the club really needs is cold, hard cash’, George said, and he is right. Celtic have announced a fundraiser in recent days, aiming to raise £25,000 to cover running costs until the end of the season, while their volunteer-led board is finding ways to increase their commercial revenue. The club attached a statement to the fundraiser, explaining that it would be used to get their stadium ready for ground checks in the coming March, as well as covering the cost of laying down a new pitch.

‘We’re getting quotes on that [a new pitch],’ the recently appointed Farsley Celtic manager and ex-Premier League player, David Stockdale, told me. ‘That’s one of the biggest threats to us: having a place to play next year’.

If the club fails to pass ground checks or get a new pitch laid by the end of the season, they may find their status once again withdrawn.

A Glimmer of Hope

The premise is shared by the club, who are offering rewards for donations to the crowdfunder, including a lifetime season ticket in the top prize bracket.

‘There’s still a lot of hard work to be done. The outreach of the football community has been brilliant and I’m sure the Farsley fans would do the same for another club, should it happen. Hopefully, in times to come, we can stop this happening to other football clubs,’ Stockdale says.

He is right about the outreach of support for the club; famous football YouTuber Ellis Platten has continually brought light to the issues the club is facing, including a YouTube documentary, while clubs such as Bournemouth and Scunthorpe have donated.

Scunthorpe have actually donated more than Farsley fans at the time of writing, due to the support Farsley Celtic showed them when they were in a similar position, meaning David was right when he said he was sure their fans would do the same.

‘We’re on a long road to recovery—a long, long road,’ said George. ‘We’ve taken a step in the right direction [with Barthorpe leaving],’ and fans now have hope that the club will be alright, despite admissions they are almost resigned to relegation.

The Future? Still Uncertain But Hopeful

Celtic sit bottom of the National League North, 9 points off safety and winless in eleven, whilst they barely have any senior players to put on the pitch anymore.

The fundraiser has just reached half of its target, and with the recent departure of Barthorpe, there seems to be a feeling of cautious optimism in the air. Despite all the uncertainty and trouble surrounding their club, Farsley Celtic fans remain fiercely loyal and deserve to watch their club playing at home next year.

The situation once again raises questions over the amount of investment in grassroots football and whether it is possible for grassroots-level clubs to develop, especially with high running costs and the recent scrapping of FA Cup replays. Many teams cannot afford to maintain the costs of playing football in the sixth tier or above and Farsley Celtic aren’t the only team in recent years to face the barrel of extinction due to questionable ownership.

This is the time for the FA to step up and show that they’ll do more to protect clubs like Celtic that embody what we all love about English football and the strength in depth of our football pyramid, as well as all the world-class talent that started their playing careers at non-league clubs like Farsley Celtic.