Celtic were red-hot favourites to plummet through the trapdoor 12 months after sealing promotion from Conference North – but it wasn't until the final week of the campaign that their fate was finally sealed.

And it only came after the loss of key midfielder Craig Bentham, who returned to Bradford City following his loan spell, and an horrendous list of injuries.

Deacey said: "It's still hurting – it's killing me to be fair – but you
have to put it into context which is what I have done.

"You have to consider where we have come from and what we have tried to do.

"We have tried to battle against every team in the league, all of which are bigger and have more history than Farsley Celtic.
"We tried to fight right until the very end and at the last we just fell short in vital areas. But as long as we have learnt from what we have done, and if we can move forward from it, that's the positive at the moment.

"The club are looking to bounce back next season and have another go at it and there is no reason why we can't if we can keep the nucleus of the squad together.

"And we do go out with our heads held high. The board, the supporters and the players haven't disgraced themselves. I think we have all done very well to be honest."

It's been anything but plain sailing for Farsley since they beat Hinckley United in the play-off final last May to seal a third promotion in four seasons.

They were just becoming accustomed to their new surroundings when boss Lee Sinnott left to take up the managerial reigns at Port Vale in November.

That was followed by another hammer blow, as skipper Carl Serrant followed Sinnott into the Football League, taking up a full-time role as a fitness coach at Crystal Palace.

Celtic then lost another skipper just before Christmas when Ryan Crossley was struck down with a season-ending back injury.

But Farsley kept battling and Deacey thought he had found the one ingredient which could carry them over the finishing line when he snapped up Bentham from Bradford City in January. Celtic looked set for survival when they won 1-0 at Torquay in the last game of Bentham's loan spell at the start of last month to move two places clear of the drop zone.

Instead, it was the beginning of the end as injuries to Amjad Iqbal, Georges Santos, Mark Jackson, Andy Watson, Steve Downes and Dominic Krief just compounded the loss of the combative midfielder.

Deacey said: "We put ourselves in the best possible position after the Torquay game but losing Craig Bentham was a massive, massive blow.
"As well as losing a very good player, he was fantastic for the dressing room as well.

"He was a really, really nice kid and you could tell the other players were gutted when he went back to Bradford.

"That was one big loss, but the upheaval all the way through the season hit us hard.

"We lost the manager and two club captains.

"I think we had to cope with more things than a lot of other clubs.

"Last season we didn't have any major injuries or setbacks but this season we had them all at once.

"We also lost Amjad Iqbal for several games when he was called up to play for Pakistan.

"I know other clubs get injuries and I know they have got certain things that go wrong and this may sound like a book of excuses.

"But I really feel we were good enough to stay in this league, I stand by that and under different circumstances I do belive we would have stayed up."

Deacey is now preparing for life back in Blue Square North and, though it is inevitable he will lose several players, he wants to retain the pedigree of the side.

But he is in the dark as to whether or not he will still be in control in August.

He said: "We have given it a good go, we will regroup and start again.
"Everybody is trying to put plans together so we can go forward.

"Will I be in charge? I don't know yet – the board haven't said anything to me yet. I will have to have a word with them first and see if everything is okay.

"But at the moment I am still manager of Farsley Celtic and that is the way I am treating it.

"I have been to meetings about all sorts of things regarding next season. I am sorting the players out and I will continue to do so until someone tells me otherwise.

"Circumstances have been difficult this season and I have made some mistakes along the way, which you are going to because it is a learning process, but overall we have held our heads up and done very well."