FORMER Premier League star David Stockdale has bought non-league side Farsley Celtic – a club he has managed since February.
The crisis club were demoted THREE divisions following relegation from the National League North last season.
Stockdale, who made 39 Prem appearances for Fulham, was unable to change the clubs’ fortunes as Farsley picked up just five wins from 46 matches.
The former keeper took charge in February and has now completed a takeover of the club with his family, buying out controversial owner Paul Barthorpe.
A club statement read: “The club can confirm that the Stockdale family has agreed with the major shareholders to acquire 100% of FC 2010 (Holdings) Ltd.
“The formal completion of the purchase is subject to final legal technicalities.
“The club will provide further updates in due course.”
Stockdale, 39, has a rebuild on his hands with Farsely Celtic set to compete in the Northern Counties East League Premier Division – step nine of the football pyramid.
The Celts were denied an FA licence for steps one to four of non-league, and were homeless for the last campaign.
A problem installing an artificial pitch at their ground Throstle Nest meant Celtic had to play 70 miles away in Buxton, Derbyshire.
Fan protest followed with many unhappy at Barthorpe’s stewardship of the club.
He departed midway through the season after receiving death threats and being physically attacked.
Fans, who have boycotted matches, accused ex-owner Barthorpe of trying to “ruin” the club and believe he is more interested in trying to sell their home stadium to housing developers.
He denied those claims and accused supporters of damaging his property.
A statement in January read: “People saying I don’t care, I’m destroying the club, I’m not investing in the club, I have ulterior motives which clearly could not be further from the truth!
“This has been my life for almost six years and anyone who owns a business and commits everything to it knows the unconditional love you have for it!
“If my motivation was to run it into the ground I wouldn’t have kept investing to the levels I have on a weekly basis.”
Barthorpe added: “There have been accusations of a lack of information being shared and a lack of clarity.
“The truth is I have had a number of death threats hand delivered to my home address, I have been physically attacked, I’ve had my car damaged three times, my car tyres slashed, items thrown at my house.
“And a number of other incidents that have happened directly after club posts or directly after other posts that are damaging and critical and as usual shared across multiple social media sites.
“All of this is currently under investigation and we have been therefore advised to keep our posts to a minimum, so as not to escalate these incidents.
“We are also conscious of sharing any issues or problems we may be encountering, as these get weaponised and used against us repeatedly on social media.”
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