 | |||
| Full name | Farsley Celtic Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | The Celt Army | ||
| Founded | 1908 | ||
| Ground | The Citadel,Farsley | ||
| Capacity | 4,000 (300 seated)[1] | ||
| Manager | David Stockdale | ||
| League | Northern Counties East League Premier Division (resigned) | ||
| 2024–25 | National League North, 24th of 24 (relegated) | ||
Farsley Celtic Football Club is afootball club based inFarsley,West Yorkshire, England. The club was founded in 1908, but folded in 2010 and were reformed as Farsley AFC before returning to the name Farsley Celtic in 2015.[2] In 2025 the club resigned from theNorthern Counties East League. The club plays atThe Citadel.
The club was established in 1908 as Farsley Football Club and played in amateur leagues inLeeds.[3] They joined theWest Riding County Amateur League in 1926 and were runners-up in 1936–37.[4] In 1949 they joined Division Two of theYorkshire League. They won the division in 1951–52, earning promotion to Division One.[5] After three consecutive bottom-half finishes, league performances improved and Farsley finished fifth in 1955–56 and fourth in 1956–57, before ending the season as runners-up in both 1957–58 and 1958–59.[5] The 1959–60 season saw them win the league for the first time, and throughout the 1960s the club finished in the top seven of the league. They were champions again in 1968–69 and runners-up in 1970–71 and 1971–72.[5] In1974–75 the club reached the first round of theFA Cup for the first time, losing 2–0 at home to Third DivisionTranmere Rovers in a match moved toElland Road to accommodate the record 11,000 crowd.[3] After finishing in the bottom four of Division One the following season, the club were relegated to Division Two. The following season saw them finish fourth in Division Two, earning promotion back to Division One. However, their stay in Division One only lasted one season as they were relegated again at the end of the 1977–78 season. After three years in Division Two they were promoted back to Division One at the end of the 1980–81 season.
In 1982 the Yorkshire League merged with theMidland League to form theNorthern Counties East League, with Farsley placed in Division One North. They remained in the division until winning it in1984–85, after which they were promoted to the Premier Division. In1986–87 they were Premier Division runners-up, earning promotion to the newly formed Division One of theNorthern Premier League. The club remained in the division for seventeen seasons until a third-place finish in2003–04 saw them promoted to the Premier Division.[5] Theirfirst season in the Premier Division ended in controversy;Spennymoor United failed to fulfil their fixtures as they folded and the league opted to expunge their results, leaving Farsley ending the season as league champions. However,the Football Association over-ruled the league, awarding three points to all clubs who had not played Spennymoor at the time they had stopped playing. This meant that bothHyde United andWorkington moved above Farsley in the table, with Hyde gaining automatic promotion.[6] Farsley attempted to overturn the decision in theHigh Court, but were unsuccessful and subsequently entered the play-offs.[7] After beatingWhitby Town 1–0 in the semi-finals, they lost to Workington on penalties in the final.[8]
In2005–06 Farsley finished fourth in the Premier Division, again qualifying for the play-offs. After beatingMarine 1–0 in the semi-finals, they defeatedNorth Ferriby United 2–1 in the final to earn promotion to theConference North.[5] A second successive promotion was achieved thefollowing season when a fifth-place finish in the Conference North saw them again qualify for the playoffs. They went on to beatKettering Town 4–2 on aggregate in the semi-finals, before beatingHinckley United 4–3 in the final at thePirelli Stadium.[9] They also reached the first round of theFA Cup again, eventually losing 2–0 in a replay toMilton Keynes Dons after the home match had ended 0–0.[5] The club'sfirst season in the Conference National ended in relegation back to the Conference North.[5] Financial problems led to the club being expelled from the league prior to the2009–10 season, although they were readmitted shortly afterwards.[10] However, they subsequently went into administration and were expelled from the Conference in March 2010 after being unable to fulfil their fixtures,[11] before being disbanded on 10 March.[12]
The club was reformed as Farsley A.F.C. and joined the Premier Division of the Northern Counties East League for the2010–11 season.[13][14] They went on to win the division, earning promotion to Division One North of the Northern Premier League.[15] A fourth-place finish in2011–12 saw them qualify for the play-offs, losing 3–0 toWitton Albion in the semi-finals.[16] In 2015 the club returned to the name Farsley Celtic.[2] They finished second in2016–17, again qualifying for the play-offs. After beatingColne 4–0 in the semi-finals,[17] the club defeatedOssett Town 4–2 in the final to earn promotion to the Premier Division.[18][19] Thefollowing season saw the club finish fifth in the Premier Division, reaching the play-offs. However, they were beaten 2–1 in the semi-finals byAshton United.[20] In2018–19 the club were Premier Division champions, earning promotion to the National League North.[21]
In 2019 the club changed their playing colours from blue to green and white, adopted a new badge and renamed their ground following a takeover.[22] Following relegation at the end of the2024–25 season the club were not granted a license to compete in steps 1–4 for the following season and were instead placed in the Premier Division of the Northern Counties East League.[23] On 16 June 2025 the club confirmed it had been taken over by the family of managerDavid Stockdale,[24] but later the same month announced its resignation from the Northern Counties East League.[25]
The club moved to Throstle Nest in 1948.[3] Following the club's collapse into administration in 2009, Leeds City Council purchased the ground from the administrators and sold it to the owners of the new club, while retaining the adjoining sports hall and land proposed for new football pitches.[26] The ground was renamedThe Citadel in 2019. During the 2024–25 season Farsley were forced to play some home games at other stadiums includingBradford (Park Avenue)'sHorsfall Stadium andBuxton's the Silverlands due to issues with installing artificial turf at the stadium.[27]
