Comment: By John Baron
When I first brought my son to watch Farsley Celtic about eight years ago, it’s true to say neither of us were prepared for the impact it would have on our lives.
He was a football-mad ten-year-old, crackers on Leeds United (which I’m not!) and I wasn’t sure if either of us would take to life watching the rough and tumble of non-league football.
Much of it was typical ‘kick and rush’ football and we had fun counting the number of times the ball was hoofed out of the ground and into neighbouring gardens – it must have cost a small fortune in replacement footballs!
Little did I know in those first games that my son and I would develop such a deep love for the club, even with its uncomfortable old wooden seats and outdated facilities. While the ground may look tired, it’s a club with real heart and I’ve always believed it has a lot of potential, in the right hands.
This little village team, punching way above its weight in tier six of English football, brought us together and strengthened our relationship in ways I’d never have imagined. It’s helped bring him out of his shell and has given us new friends, which we both cherish. I’m forever grateful for how this little village club has made a difference in our lives. It’s about so much more than just football.
Home games were a place for dreaming. We’d sit and plan what we’d do with the club if we won the lottery – new stands, a decent pitch, new community facilities… It would become the beating heart of the village – what potential!
We have travelled on the Farsley Celtic supporters’ club minibus – optimistically nicknamed the ‘fun bus’ – to almost every away game since the supporters’ club reformed after Covid some three years or so ago. I reckon we must have done around 14,000 miles (and spent countless hours) travelling to league and cup games in that time.
The hours have certainly clocked up this season.
Our last home game at The Citadel (it was renamed from Throstle Nest when Paul Barthorpe took over the club in 2019 from the Palmer family) was a dramatic final-day 2-0 win against Buxton on 20 April 2024. It’s hard to believe it’s been a year to the day since ‘the great escape’.
It was the third year running the club had avoided relegation in dramatic fashion on the last day of the season. Farsley Celtic’s ‘great escapes’ on the field have truly made the phrase ‘by the skin of its teeth’ synonymous with the club (obviously less so this season as we were relegated weeks ago).
Sadly it’s been a nightmare for fans since then, thanks, primarily to the disastrous removal of the old grass pitch and subsequent delays with laying a planned new state-of-the-art 4G playing surface.
The delays have led to Farsley playing 50-odd consecutive games away from The Citadel (including pre-season friendlies), a supporters’ club motion of no confidence in the chairman, a fan boycott, home games been moved 70 miles away to Buxton, and players speaking to the press about payment concerns.
The ongoing soap opera also includes four men’s first team managers – other backroom staff also quit – and using seven goalkeepers and 40 players.
The lack of stability, on and off the pitch, would cripple the most resilient of clubs, let alone a club with a limited fanbase which has had little in the way of revenue in the past 12 months. Chairman Paul Barthorpe resigned from running the club in February and is no longer on the board (although he still owns the ground via the club’s holding company).
The new 4G pitch which would have transformed the club’s finances was never laid, and an unplayable desolate surface currently sits in its place.
A crucial summer
It’s going to be a pivotal summer for the future of Farsley Celtic. Critically, the club has also has a year without substantial revenue, causing significant financial stress.
The board has set out their plans, including submitting a grant to the Football Foundation to pay most of the cost of laying a new grass pitch (they should hear in June). We’re told new floodlights could follow and new sponsors are already lined up.
There’s also talk of the Farsley Celtic Community Trust, a group of local people, businesses and fans which is apparently aiming safeguard the club’s future and ensure it remains a vital part of the Farsley community. Would a community trust work at a small club like Farsley? Who knows. But it’s one to keep an eye on.
There are regular rumours that other parties are interested in taking over the running of the club, too. Time will tell if this interest becomes concrete.
Farsley’s great escape this season could this time be played out off the pitch over the summer months.
But it’s not just the club’s finances that will need sorting. There will need to be healing and reconciliation among its fractured fan base.
This season we’ve seen the club’s connection to the community being stripped away, and splits among fans amid a lot of social media hot air. Will fans return? Some have already said they won’t. And – critically – can the club attract new fans, despite its battered reputation? There are some deeper challenges to face, whoever is in charge.
While some fans have drifted away from attending games, disenchanted by the two-hour trip to Buxton in Derbyshire, I’d like to pay tribute to the handful of people who have kept the club going in the past few months.
Hats off to those people who have continued to go down to Buxton, to volunteer on match days, to help get the ground back into passable state for the FA’s ground grading and to carry out the myriad of other jobs that no-one gets paid for but which are essential to the running of a semi professional football club at this level. They’ve kept the club alive in difficult times.
I won’t even attempt to name everyone in case I miss anyone out, but you know who you are and you’re all heroes.
I do – however – want to briefly highlight young Jimmy Charing. Jimmy has been attending games regularly in recent months, helping to keep the club going and often singing his heart out on the terraces even when he’s stood by himself and surrounded by opposition fans. He’s become a bit of a minor celebrity!
Jimmy also put shifts in during both the two action days at the Citadel. If the club’s to thrive moving forward, it will need more do-ers like young Jimmy who sets an example some of the club’s older fans would do well to follow.
It’s also been touching to see the support of the wider football family towards the club. I’ve lost count of the number of well-wishers approaching Farsley fans at games, asking what’s happening and expressing sympathy – and financial support – towards the club.
Hats off, also, to new manager David Stockdale and his team of youngsters, who have continued give 100% for their shirts and given everyone cause for hope, despite results not going their way. They have ensured the club has been able to continue during uncertain times and deserve all there recognition they can get.
Some of them will undoubtedly be first teamers for years to come.
I know this has been a somewhat unorthodox end of season review. Then again, it has been an unorthodox season in extraordinary times, even set against the ongoing soap opera of Farsley Celtic in recent seasons.
But amongst the gloom there’s always light.
As a fan my overriding positive memory of this season was in December and the news that Lewis Turner was back at home with his young family. Lewis, you may recall, was revived after suffering a cardiac arrest on the pitch at Gateshead. I’m sure every Farsley fan continues to wish Lewis and his family the very best of health.
Ultimately, family means everything.
My son and I will make the most of the final two games of the season and relish every minute in these uncertain times.
After all, “we all live in a Farsley Celtic dream,” as the terrace song goes. Up the Celts!
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