Comment, by John Baron
It’s no exaggeration to say the past couple of years have been one long nightmare if you’re a long-suffering fan of football in Farsley.
To recap: The Throstle Nest pitch was dug up in late summer 2024, apparently to be replaced with a 3G surface which would transform the club’s finances. The new pitch never materialised, the club played the whole of the 2024-25 season away from home, finishing bottom of National League North and being unable to field a men’s team at all last season.
It’s been an off-field soap opera even the Welcome to Wrexham documentary makers at Netflix would have struggled to conjure up. To say it has been turbulent would be an understatement.
The Stockdale family – including former Premier League goalkeeper David Stockdale – took over the reigns last December following a protracted takeover. Their first job was to liquidate financially crippled Farsley Celtic and re-form it as phoenix club FC Farsley.
Yesterday marked an emotional rebirth for the club as FC Farsley played its first-ever game – a pre-season friendly against Shirebrook Town, a club which has recently experienced its own challenges.
Farsley fielded a young and inexperienced side featuring some who had previously played for the club’s development set up.
The result didn’t matter for the Farsley fans who travelled in numbers to Derbyshire for the game.
The day marked a reunion for many. It was something we had waited for a very long time, and had often worried if it would ever come. It was a coming together of old friends and familiar faces on a special day full of hugs and handshakes, smiles, laughter and catching up.
Forget the corporate and sterile Premier League. At non league level, football is about family. It brings people together, alongside a sense of community and belonging. For many, their local club is the centre of their social lives – it helps tackle social isolation and gives them purpose.
For some the connection they feel during matches is a lifeline – their club is as much a social entity as it is a sporting one. The lack of a men’s first team had left a huge gap in people’s lives.
Under the new owners, FC Farsley is trying to establish itself at the heart of the community, with genuine connections. For fans, yesterday was about spirit and identity, reclaiming what we feel is ours as supporters.
For the record, the young Farsley side lost 4-0 to Shirebrook. Two goals in the first ten minutes set the home side on their way, and Shirebrook were four-up by half time. Farsley improved in the second half, were more competitive and were better organised. It offered something to build on ahead of life in the Yorkshire Amateur League Supreme Division, which starts next month.
Yesterday’s result didn’t matter. No-one cared. The wait still goes on over the laying of the new 3G pitch at Throstle Nest, but those questions can wait for another day. Yesterday brought people together for the first time in far too long and that was all that mattered.
Yesterday will live long in the memory for those who were there. Farsley are back. And we’re very grateful to all who have helped make that a reality.
Come on Farsley!!
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