FA Cup tie gives Farsley Celtic boost despite pitch problems

The West Yorkshire based side are currently having to play their ‘home’ fixtures away from their usual base - The Citadel.

At the beginning of the season Farsley put plans in motion to relay their pitch surface, meaning the first four fixtures of the campaign were to be played as ‘away’ matches elsewhere.

Unfortunately for the Celts, issues relating to the historical use of the site have resulted in further problems for the club.

They’re now having to play their ‘home’ fixtures as planned, but at different grounds, with today’s FA Cup blockbuster against Kettering Town being hosted by Guiseley AFC, at Nethermoor.

One home game, against Leamington (September 21), even had to be played at Alfreton’s Impact Arena, Derbyshire.

Speaking on the club’s delayed return to The Citadel, chairman Paul Barthorpe recently said: “As some of you may be aware there have been some issues with the laying of our pitch.

“These issues relate to the historical use of the site, and its impact on the ground beneath. Unfortunately, the impacts of this weren’t detectable until we dug down to begin works.

“There have been a number of causes for the delays; the nature of the issue requires specialist individuals and companies to resolve.

“These types of companies are few and far between for projects of this scale and nature.

“We have frustratingly been in the hands of third-party contractors, who to them we are just another job, but for us this is imperative.”

He added: “We hope to get the project done which should get us finished well in time for the Spennymoor game (October 19).”

Unfortunately, Farsley’s return date to The Citadel is still unknown and it has been confirmed that the poor weather has led to further delays in the club’s move back to their homebase.

With that in mind, Farsley are currently in discussions with another local club to use their ground for ‘home’ fixtures in the near future.

Speaking to the T&A, although frustrated with the recent situation, manager Pav Singh said that he has been grateful for the support shown by local clubs so far.

He said: “The problems we’ve had with the pitch has meant that we’ve had to keep pushing the return date further and further back.

“The issues we are facing are for the chairman and contractors. My focus is on making sure the team sticks together, and they’ve certainly done that.

“The lads have been phenomenal throughout this period, especially with all the travelling to these away grounds that they’ve had to do.

“Ultimately, it’s been very frustrating for everyone involved but hopefully we can get it sorted soon and get a concrete date in place for when we can return to our home.

“Once the pitch is down, then the only way is up for us because we’ve got a thriving setup in place for the club to continue pushing forward.”

Action from the The Citadel in 2023, as Avenue travelled to play Farsley Celtic (Image: Alex Daniel) Singh went on to thank the stand-in clubs from across the district, when he said: “We are not letting this situation affect what we need to do as a football team.

“Thankfully, several clubs from the area have allowed us to keep our focus on the football, and we are extremely grateful for that.

“I’d like to thank Guiseley for allowing us to play our FA Cup tie at their ground this weekend.

“Discussions are continuing with another local club to allow us to use their ground as our home for the near future, so hopefully that will give us a bit more stability.”

Farsley’s huge FA Cup tie with Kettering will be played at Nethermoor today and although it should have been at The Citadel with the club’s home supporters, Singh admitted that it’s an occasion that everyone should be up for.

He said: “It’s the FA Cup, it’s what dreams are made of.

“It’s one of the biggest games that the club and I have been involved in, so everyone should be looking forward to it.

“Although it’s not at our home ground, we are still expecting a good number of supporters to turn up, so hopefully we can progress to the next round of this great competition.”