CLUB
Farsley Celtic
Updated
For those with a masochistic edge to their personality, BT Sport shows live coverage of the GM Vanarama Blue Square National Conference from time to time. BT, of course, are just the latest to try their hand at selling non-league football to the masses. First was L!ve TV, and then it was Sky. In 2006, however, Setanta took it on. And it meant we need not miss a cold January evening trip to Farsley Celtic or an absolute pasting from Aldershot.
We met Farsley Celtic at the peak of their powers – but then things went awry. Twice. The club we played disbanded in 2010; Celtic arguably overreaching in gaining promotion to the Blue Square Premier for the 2007-08 season. That one-season stay was probably not worth the cash problems mounting up. They were expelled from Conference North ahead of the 2009-10 season, but were given a reprieve. It lasted just months. In March 2010, the old club collapsed and were out of the picture.
A new club rose in its wake; at first calling itself Farsley AFC. But they again adopted the Celtic moniker and set about rising back up the divisions. Making it as far back up as National League North, a 2019 rebrand saw the ground name, nickname, and badge all change. Drama was never far away. A last-day escape at the end of the 2021-22 campaign saw local rivals Guiseley go down instead. But nothing compared to the absolute disaster that was the 2024-25 season; one in which the “second” Farsley Celtic ended up liquidated after some colossal, hmm, mismanagement?
Head-to-Head Story
First Meeting
4–0 18 Sep 2007 · H · Blue Square PremierLatest Meeting
0–0 24 Jan 2008 · A · Blue Square PremierBiggest Win
4–0 18 Sep 2007 · H · Blue Square PremierPrevious Meetings
Matches before 1980-81 pre-date Stevenage's senior status and are excluded from the head-to-head totals.
Club History
Who are Farsley Celtic?
Of course, that long trip up to Farsley Celtic – on a Thursday night, we should add – wasn’t exactly the greatest sporting occasion to grace the airwaves. More on this later. How did we come to be at Throstle Nest, however? When did us and the Villagers come to be on equal terms. Well, it’s a tale that starts back in 1908. And, to start with, you wouldn’t have known about them outside local amateur leagues in Leeds.
In 1926, they joined the West Riding County Amateur League and were there ’til 1940. After, we can see a nine-year gap between them leaving and then popping up in the Yorkshire League Second Division in 1949. You may guess the Second World War Two played a part, but it doesn’t fully explain it. Nonetheless, Farsley reached Div One inside three seasons and spent the next 23 years there – winning the title twice.
The time between 1976 and 1982 ended up being spent mainly in Div Two, but they returned to Div One in ’81 for one last season in the Yorkshire League before it merged with the Midland League to create the Northern Counties East League. Five years on, Farsley Celtic had been promoted into the Premier Division and then onto Northern Premier League Division One. It took until 2004 to earn promotion. Then things started moving fast.
How to get to Farsley Celtic
By Road
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By Rail
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Parking
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