Farsley Celtic chairman Andy Firbank dismissed speculation that the Conf-erence North club was about to fold but he did admit there had been cash-flow problems.

He said: “There have been rumours flying about for about three weeks that we were about to be served with a winding up order. There is no truth in it at the moment.

“We have had our financial problems, as I expect a lot of clubs have. It’s a hard market out there.

“There was a point when the players had not been paid for three weeks but we have sorted that out now and owe nothing to the players.”

Firbank remains optimistic regarding the Celts’ future, pointing out some of the club’s assets.

He said: “I think I’m right in saying that Farsley Celtic FC is the only club in the Leeds/Bradford area that owns its own ground.

“We own land and facilities around our stadium as well which puts us in a strong position.

“The club owns seven acres of prime land in Leeds, has a ‘Grade A’ stadium fit for Conference football and has a healthy future.

“It is not facing the gloom and doom that has been bandied about because if we had been that bad we would have gone under.

“Our security far outweighs our debts by some margin. Land prices are not what they were before the recession began to bite but we are in the process of selling a plot of half an acre and, without going into figures, the sum we are capable of borrowing on the strength of that sale is huge, even for a club of our size.”

The chairman asked former director and life president John Palmer to return to the board and is delighted that he accepted.

He said: “John was big enough to accept my invitation to come back on the board and that has helped the club immensely. John was looking for a quieter life but he loves the club and wanted to help in time of need.

“There are two more individuals looking to join our board and bring finance and business acumen with them.

“Something else we are looking at is a share issue. We are a long way into that process and something could be happening in the next couple of weeks.”