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| Farsley Celtic at Edgar Street last month |
The chairman of National League North club Farsley Celtic has said he is 'living the dream' after avoiding relegation for another season.
The club, between Leeds and Bradford in West Yorkshire, sees some of the lowest attendances in the league, with an average of just 668.
But chairman Paul Barthorpe pointed out that while some clubs, such as Hereford and Chester, can sell thousands of season tickets, his side sold "less than 10".
In a statement after avoiding relegation on the last day of the season - for the third season in a row - he said they absolutely celebrate and explained why.
"It’s easy to criticise and mock our achievements but we couldn’t be any prouder of who we are," Barthorpe said after the 2-0 win over Buxton on the final day of the season.
"We are a small village club, the population of our village is only double the capacity of our ground and you could fit our whole population into the grounds of some of the teams we play against.
"Our gates are one of the lowest in the league, and while many clubs at our level sold hundreds of (sic) not thousands of season tickets, we sold less than 10. We might not have (as) many fans as others, but the ones we do I wouldn’t swap for any others!"
He confessed that his club "should be playing The Dog and Duck or The Miners Welfare" but they are not.
"We are punching well above our weight and have done so for half a decade, and we are still here ready to go again next season," he added.
"We manage to beat the odds every season because everyone at this club bleeds green and white! Our fantastic team of volunteers from board members to coaches, to the guys who choose to help out in their free time to litter pick are all Farsley!
"We are blessed to have a first team squad full of players who would run through walls for this club and have played with injuries at times this season and between them have amassed hundreds of appearances for this club!"
"We are who we are and we are proud to be it! I absolutely love this club and I can guarantee you there isn’t a chairman feeling prouder than me anywhere today!"
Thanking everyone for another "history-making season", he said: "We are all living the Farsley Celtic dream!"