FARSLEY Celtic’s chief executive officer Josh Greaves is a happy man after the club landed an unexpected windfall payment from UEFA.

Greaves’ club banked £21,589 from a £150 million pot that was shared out between clubs who lost players to international commitments in the 2016 European Championships and associated qualifying stages.

Striker Adam Priestley had been called up to the Gibraltar squad and he represented the country of his birthplace in games against Germany and Scotland. Farsley were blissfully unaware they would be compensated for him not being available.

Greaves explained: “It was a bit of a surprise to be honest.

“Back in November I had a phone call from someone at the FA asking me why we hadn’t filled in and returned our UEFA form. I didn’t know about it but he forwarded the details and asked me to get the form completed.

“I did that and, to be honest, I never gave it another thought for weeks. Some time in December I got an email from the FA asking me to check an earlier email and when I opened it and saw how much we’d been awarded, it was in Euros and it looked even more! It was a tidy sum.

“It’s safe to say that I then had a very pleasant phone call to our chairman John Palmer and the bottom line is that we’re all delighted. At the level we’re at, money is tight and we have to work within a very strict budget.

“We work very hard to keep the club alive. We have football matches and events on all the time and we make sure that we’re at the hub of the community.”

The club is pushing for promotion to the Evo-Stik League Premier Division but the money is being kept as a safeguard.

Greaves added: “It’s nice to have 21 ‘grand’ in the back as a bit of a cushion. Despite all the time and effort that goes in, there are still times when ends don’t meet and it’s reassuring to think that we’re in a position to have things covered.

“The FA sent me a breakdown of the payments they made to English clubs and we got more than some Football League clubs.

“It’s a complex system regarding the player’s ranking, the ranking of the club he represents and how many times he was unavailable. There are a lot of factors.

“But all things considered, it’s an incredible amount of money for a club of our size and it’s all thanks to Adam – and Gibraltar for selecting him.”