NO senior football club in England has gone from nightmare to nightmare like debt-riddled Farsley Celtic.
But it’s somehow got worse – AFTER the season finished.
Fans blasted an “absolutely crazy” situation as Celtic have been relegated THREE DIVISIONS.
Crisis upon crisis has descended upon the semi-professional Yorkshire club following a failed decision to put in an artificial pitch at their Throstle Nest ground last year.
It never got built – so Celtic played most of their 2024-25 ‘home’ games 70 miles away in Buxton, Derbyshire.
They famously lost ex-Leeds star Neil Redfearn as manager in February after just three weeks in charge.
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Controversial chairman Paul Barthorpe then departed – with Celtic forced to field youngsters on the way to finishing bottom of the National League North.
But instead of dropping into the Northern Premier League, they have been booted all the way down to the ninth tier – the Northern Counties East League Premier Division.
Low points of the season included a 6-1 defeat to then-bottom Needham Market – when Redfearn was absent without explanation.
Women’s team manager Izzy Roads and youth coach Phil Lake took the reins, with Redfearn later revealing he had resigned days earlier.
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Under-fire Barthorpe soon quit too after six years steering a club that had went bust in 2010 but reformed in 2015.
Now homeless Celtic have been denied a licence to play in Steps 1-4 – the four highest levels below the EFL.
The club said: “As a board we recognise this will be as disappointing for our fans as it is for us. It’s not what we wanted.
“But sometimes you need to take a step backwards in order to move forwards, and pragmatically we believe this move to be necessary to protect the long-term financial future of our club.”
One fan responded: “It’s absolutely crazy that Farsley Celtic has dropped three divisions to now the 9th tier of the English football pyramid.
“It’s an absolute joke, should never have got this far out of hand.”
Another wrote: “Triple relegation to Step 5… what a mess!”
However, a third supporter took a longer-term view.
He posted: “Like any fan I want to get back up ASAP but we need time to stabilise behind the scenes and then get back up where we belong.
“I’d say 2-3 seasons hopefully then we go back up with a sustainable model.”
While we could have appealed against this decision, the long-term future of the club remains our priority
Club statement
Celtic issued a lengthy statement on being booted down the leagues – insisting a groundsharing deal has already nearly been sorted for next term as they rebuild gradually.
They said: “At the end of the last season we said our efforts would be concentrated around ensuring the financial stability of the club.
“A season playing all our games away from The Citadel was always going to leave us with a financially challenging summer.
“The debts facing the club have continued to mount in recent weeks.
“We are in a situation where we have to be pragmatic. NCEL offers us significantly lower travelling costs and running costs in general as we seek to stabilise the club.”
Celtic are finally hoping to get a new surface so they can return home.
Their statement added: “Our funding bid for a new pitch will be decided by the Football Foundation next month.
“Our planning application for new energy efficient and reliable floodlights is being considered by the council and is subject to a funding bid.
“A ground share for the start of next season is almost agreed, and we are still working on securing a lease for the ground.
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“While we could have appealed against this decision, the long-term future of the club remains our priority and a lot of work is being put in by the board and others to ensure Farsley continues to have a semi professional football club.
“The long-term future of our first team, Deaf, Junior and Women’s sides continues to be our priority.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
