By John Baron
National League chiefs have placed Farsley Celtic Football Club under a transfer embargo.
The embargo was imposed on the National League North club on Monday, 23 September.
According to the National League website, the breach is for ‘non-compliance with league financial regulations’.
Chairman Paul Barthorpe played down the embargo. He said: “The embargo is over a small amount of money [and] is more to do with what we believe is right and making a point than anything else.
“It doesn’t affect anything business-wise and once our point has been heard we will clear it.”
Farsley Celtic was last placed under embargo – which the club contested – on Friday, 23 February. The embargo was lifted in early June.
Farsley Celtic have played their first nine league matches and one cup game away from the Citadel this season as they look to install a state-of-the-art 4G pitch.
Work has stalled due what the club says is a ‘historic’ problem discovered when removing the grass surface.
A statement issued by the club’s new CEO Jon Wickham said: “As you are aware we were expecting a third party subcontractor on site this week to resolve the issue we are currently suffering from with the ground underneath the pitch area.
“Again as discussed this has had contracts signed and has been paid for in full, however due to the adverse weather conditions in the UK at the moment, the subcontractor has been delayed on their current job meaning that our job is been on hold too.
“Obviously this is far from ideal, but is a situation that is out of our control because we are relying on third parties and their work loads.
“We obviously have a contingency in place with back up contractors, and we also have a contingency in place with where we will be playing any further home games that may be disrupted should this delay cause us to miss the deadlines we have set for completing the job.
“We are just awaiting league approval on this, with whom we have been with closely with throughout, and as soon as we get that we will share it with you.”
FA Cup preview
The Celts are back on the road and looking ahead to an FA Cup tie tomorrow (Saturday), which is being streamed live on the BBC.
They travel to south Manchester to face Wythenshawe Town, who play their football two leagues lower in the North West Counties Football League.
The game will kick off at 12.30pm and will be available to watch via BBC iPlayer, the red button and BBC Sport website on tablet, phone and desktop.
The NPL West Division new boys have enjoyed a solid start to their first season at Step 4 and will prove tough opposition for their higher league visitors, who beat Hallam FC in the last round.
Each club will receive a £2,000 broadcast fee from the BBC.
- Farsley this week announced Penthouse Living as a new Farsley commercial partner.