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They and everyone else was expecting Farsley Celtic to be placed in the Northern Prem following their relegation from the National League North.  Instead they have been placed in the Northern Counties East League.


An update from the board
​15 May, 2025. John Baron

The board have issued a statement confirming our placement in the football pyramid next season.



Following our relegation from National League North last month, we had hoped to be able to compete in the Northern Premier League Premier Division in the 2025-26 season and had begun our preparations to do so.
This week we have been informed that we have not been granted a licence by the FA to compete in Steps 1-4 next season. This means we have been placed in the Northern Counties East League Premier Division. 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.As you know, our initial aims were to complete last season in order to preserve the integrity of the competition and to give the club the best chance of success into the future. 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. 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. 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. We shall, of course, continue to update you.
The board

Last edited by Matchman (15/5/2025 1:55 PM)