Abandoned football ground once home of legendary Prem star left to rot – as furious fans demand bosses QUIT over eyesore

AN ABANDONED shot crushed wherever Premier League fable Micah Richards started his vocation has been near to rot.

Fans of West Yorkshire squad Farsley Celtic - successful the National League North - are demanding nine bosses discontinue implicit the eyesore.

They are having to marque circular trips of 140 miles to ticker HOME games - presently totalling astir 30 games.

Their historical pitch, astatine The Citadel - antecedently called Throstle Nest, has been dug up and is conscionable mud, the terracing is dilapidated and the gates and turnstiles are padlocked.

Former Manchester City, Aston Villa and Fiorentina close back, Micah, 36, grew up successful Chapeltown, Leeds, and played for section squad Farsley Celtic arsenic a youth.

Since retiring, helium present works arsenic a pundit for the likes of Sky Sports Football and BBC's Match of the Day.

Plans to laic an artificial 4G playing aboveground astatine The Citadel are massively down docket and determination is nary motion of enactment astatine the ground.

The club’s authoritative supporters’ radical proceed to telephone for chairman/owner Paul Barthorpe to permission the club, saying they person shown ‘remarkable patience implicit respective years’ with him.

Farsley are presently playing location games astatine Buxton, successful Derbyshire, with nary fixed day for their instrumentality to The Citadel, portion cardinal players and unit person departed of late, including fashionable physio Gareth Liversidge aft 18 years.

Farsley’s president had his car windscreen smashed pursuing his side’s FA Cup past month, allegedly by 2 fans.

Local nonmigratory Isabell Jenkinson, 70, who was walking her 12 twelvemonth aged cocker spaniel Polly beside the bare Farsley ground, told The Sun: "All my kids utilized to play here. Football, cricket, the societal life.

“My ex hubby utilized to spell to the games and my lads were fans.

“That transportation was expected to beryllium already laid, I believe, and it has ne'er been done. But everything is dilapidated.

“The mentation is that this geezer that has got it present is putting nary wealth into it. He’s not looking aft the community.

“There is upset and choler successful the community. The young men, they are angry.”

Isabell said that Farsley Celtic utilized to beryllium a "fantastic" club, but it has "gone to the dogs" and "wrack and ruin" since caller owners took over.

She said that she is missing the dependable of the assemblage connected a Saturday location game.

Miriam Hitchman, 70, lives straight beside the crushed and has been forced to support the shot club’s woody bound obstruction aft it toppled implicit onto a nationalist footpath.

Miriam said: "A fewer winters ago, the Farsley Celtic’s woody obstruction was practically down crossed the path.

“Parents and children usage the way and I could spot a unspeakable mishap could happen. So maine and my lad tied the obstruction up with drawstring to effort and close it.

“The drawstring is inactive determination and the obstruction is nary person to being repaired.

"The nine has a work for that fence. I’ve warned the directors astir it and I got my MP to travel round, but it remains an mishap waiting to happen.

“We ne'er person immoderate problems with the shot fans, but the nine is terrible. The authorities of that transportation is appalling. It needs knocking down and houses built connected it.

“The full happening is an eyesore.”

She said the disuse of the transportation is present attracting youths from retired of the area, throwing stones.

A caller bonfire astatine the nine for Plot Night attracted astir 1,000 radical paying £3 each.

Miriam said: "That’s the biggest assemblage the nine has had present for ages, but determination erstwhile nary fans.”

Farsley instrumentality Derek Smith, 63, said: "It is shocking however we person been treated.

“Some supporters are inactive making it to what are laughably called our ‘home games’, but it can’t spell connected similar this. Buxton is not precisely adjacent and takes hours to get determination and back.

“The president needs to spell and wealth needs to beryllium pumped into the club.”

Another fan, George Fearnley, commenting connected societal media, stated: "Us fans person done 28 distant games successful a enactment due to the fact that of him (Paul Barthorpe).

“We’ve had problems mode earlier this and we volition mode aft this adjacent if the transportation does ever get enactment down with him astatine the helm.

“The supporters person unanimously realised 1 thing, helium indispensable leave, helium indispensable merchantability the club.”

Farsley Celtic FC said: "The president and the committee aren’t going anywhere.

"We are committed to this nine and this task and person backed this up with words, time, actions and important concern implicit the years and proceed to bash truthful present connected a regular basis."

'NO MEANINGFUL INCOME'

It said determination had been "no meaningful income" astatine the nine since April, "so each operating costs person been covered by the president since then".

The connection said Mr Barthorpe had covered the club's operating costs of up to £15,000 a week, yet had been "subjected to changeless ridicule, idiosyncratic abuse, threats and adjacent had his spot criminally damaged with the worth of the harm moving into the thousands".

Farsley Celtic Football Club Supporters’ Club said successful a statement: “Farsley Celtic Supporters’ Club notes with vexation yet different antiaircraft connection from the proprietor which again sees him reluctant to instrumentality immoderate work for the existent chaos surrounding the club.

“As owner, the subordinate stops with you, no-one else.

“The narration betwixt the proprietor and supporters person been strained for respective years and we person shown singular patience.

“We cannot envisage relationships with supporters improving should the proprietor remain.

“The supporters’ nine notes the proprietor provides nary mentation for the delays successful the pitchworks astatine the Citadel.

“It fails to explicate wherefore nary enactment has been undertaken for six months, nor does it authorities specifically the quality of the problems astatine the ground.

“We person been fixed nary crushed wherefore the dates stated by the president for the recommencement of transportation enactment person each been pushed backmost and the basal crushed for wherefore enactment has not been undertaken has not been addressed.

“We inactive person nary acceptable restart date, oregon day erstwhile shot volition again beryllium played astatine The Citadel.

“The chairman's connection besides fails to notation oregon code wherefore cardinal unit person near the club.”