The History of Farsley A.F.C

The village of Farsley is mentioned in the Domesday book and is sandwiched between Leeds and Bradford. During the Industrial Revolution it was a centre for wool processing and is the birthplace of the Revd Samuel Marsden.

Farsley Celtic, as the club once became known, was founded by a group of local men in 1908. Farsley initially competed in the Leeds Amateur League. After the Second World War ended the club purchased its current ground at Throstle Nest from the local council, where it played its first match in 1948 against West Yorkshire side Frickley Athletic.

Yorkshire Leagues

The Villagers moved up a level for the 1949-50 season, into the Yorkshire League Division Two where they finished eighth during their first season and scored 100 goals in 34 games, however they also conceded heavily. By 1951-52 Farsley Celtic were Yorkshire League Division Two champions and were promoted to the Yorkshire League Division One.By the mid-1950s, Farsley Celtic as they were later to call themselves, had established themselves as a mid table team in the Yorkshire league. They had a notable run in the FA Cup during the 1954-55 season where they reached the Fourth Qualifying Round, going out to Wigan Athletic 3-1. After finishing runners-up twice in succession, Farsley were champions of the Yorkshire League in 1959-60. However the club were not promoted due to not meeting up to the required ground regulations.. In 1968-69, and for the second time in its history, the Celts were crowned champions of the league but again were not promoted to a higher level. They came runners-up twice in the early 70s proving to be among the best in the league.

In the FA Cup, Farsley Celtic reached the First Round proper for the first time in 1974, playing Football League Division Three side Tranmere Rovers at Elland Road before a crowd of 11,000. The game ended 2-0 to Tranmere with Steve Coppell scoring the first of Tranmere’s goals..

Northern Leagues: 1980s and 1990s

In 1982 the Yorkshire and Midland Leagues merged to form the Northern Counties East League. Farsley started in Division One North and for the first two seasons they finished third. In 1984-85 they won the Division One North championship and were promoted to the Northern Counties East Premier Division. It didn't take the club long to rise up the league and after only two seasons in the NCEL Premier Division, the Celts finished runners-up to Alfreton Town and were invited into the Northern Premier League as founder members of the Northern Premier League First Division. The first few seasons in the new surroundings often saw the club near the bottom end of the table. This pattern continued until the mid to late 1990s when they finished in the top six for three seasons in a row.

2000 and Beyond

Farsley finished third in the 2003-04 season and earned promotion to the Northern Premier (Unibond) League Premier Division. In its first season the club finished third losing controversially a play off final with Workington on penalties. Farsley had, in fact, won the league after the expunging of the results of Spennymoor Town who had gone out of business during the season. Upon appeal by other clubs the FA overturned the league’s decision and instead awarded three points to all teams with whom Spennymoor were unable to complete fixtures leaving Farsley in only a playoff place. The following season in May 2006 after a fourth place finish, promotion to the Conference North was secured after defeating North Ferriby United 2-1 after extra time in the play off final.

Farsley reached the First Round of the FA Cup for only the second time in its history during the 2006-07 season. After beating Cambridge City 2-1 in the Fourth Qualifying Round, the club was drawn against Milton Keynes Dons and held them to a 0-0 draw at Throstle Nest before losing 2-0 in the replay at the National Hockey Stadium. In the Conference North, the club also performed well and reached the play-off final after finishing fifth, sneaking into the final play off place in the last match of the season A memorable match saw the club play Hinckley United at the Pirelli Stadium, the home of Burton Albion, winning 4-3 with a last minute penalty from Simeon Bambrook after twice coming from behind, securing their place in the highest echelons of non league soccer for the fist time in their history during their centenary season.

Farsley performed admirably in its season in the Blue Square Premiership, with notable victories away at Torquay United and Histon. The then manager Lee Sinnott was appointed manager at Port Vale with his assistant John Deacey managing the club for the remainder of the season. Unfortunately he was unable to prevent the club from relegation although this was confirmed only in the last week of the season .

Financial difficulties culminated in Farsley Celtic being placed in Administration in June 2009. The Football Conference's decision to prohibit them from playing their fixtures as a result of a breach to the infamous Appendix E was quickly overturned, and the team began the season with a points deficit of -10. Manager Neil Parsley orchestrated an excellent start to the season, quickly cancelling the points deduction. A consortium led by club President John Palmer failed to purchase the club despite lenghty negociations with Administrators Mazars who prematurely called time on the team's season resultin eventually in the failure of the first team to complete its season and have its results expunged.

A New Beginning

Farsley AFC, reformed by Palmer's consortium were accepted by the Koolsport Northern Counties East League, Premier division in June 2010 thus allowing the continuation of 102 years of football to continue in the village. In the new club's inaugural season, the club secured the Premier Division Championship and League Cup. championsLincoln