Fan group's fears for football club's future

A football supporters' group has expressed its fears over the future of its club following a vote of no confidence in the chairman.

Farsley Celtic, who play in the sixth tier of English football, are currently playing home games almost 70 miles away in Buxton, Derbyshire, due to delays in installing a new 4G pitch at the club's stadium.

The club has also faced allegations of late payment of wages to players and staff, with the Farsley Celtic Supporters Club passing a unanimous vote of no confidence in club chairman Paul Barthorpe last week.

In a statement, the club said it was "working through" what it called "a major but short-term issue".

David Pearce, who sits on the Farsley Celtic Supporters Club committee, told the BBC: "Too many issues that are pertinent to the future wellbeing of the club aren't being addressed.

"The view of the supporters' club is that it would prefer the chairman to stand down and the club to be sold."

In response to the vote, the club said: "The chairman and the board aren’t going anywhere.

"We are committed to this club and this project and have backed this up with words, time, actions and significant investment over the years and continue to do so now on a daily basis."

It said there had been "no meaningful income" at the club since April, "so all operating costs have been covered by the chairman since then".

The statement said Mr Barthorpe had covered the club's operating costs of up to £15,000 a week, yet had been "subjected to constant ridicule, personal abuse, threats and even had his property criminally damaged with the value of the damage running into the thousands".

This season the club has yet to play a fixture at its home ground, the Citadel.

Home games are currently being played in Buxton, which Farsley said was the "only option" after its previous groundshare at Bradford (Park Avenue) came to an end.

Its return to the Citadel has been pushed back on numerous occasions due to delays in resurfacing the pitch, which the club said were "unforeseen and unavoidable".

It added that the renovation was a "significant £1m development to secure the club's long-term future", with Farsley set to continue playing home matches at Buxton FC's Tarmac Silverlands Stadium until at least the end of December.

On the pitch, Pav Singh's side are currently 18th in the table, three points clear of the relegation zone.

Members of the playing squad alleged late payment of wages last month, according to the Yorkshire Post.

In response to allegations players and staff had been paid late, the club said it would be "under a league embargo" if that were the case, "which we are not".

Farsley had been under an embargo from the National League for "non-compliance with league financial regulations", which the club said it had now addressed.

A note of the embargo has been removed from the National League website, which said no embargoes were in place for any of its member clubs.

The BBC has contacted the National League for comment.

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