The Stockdales started working on reviving Farsley when they agreed to take over the club in June last year, though that process was not completed until December.
“I was doing 16-hour days being here and then going to meetings with solicitors,” Stockdale says.
“We could have lost a lot of money.”
The overgrown original pitch at the club is a reminder of what is still left to do.
While the club was still Farsley Celtic, the grass was dug up with the promise of an artificial replacement – but that never came.
With no way of hosting football there, the side played its 2024-25 home fixtures 69 miles (111km) away in Buxton, Derbyshire, with many fans boycotting games.
“It’s an eyesore, but there are so many memories for people,” Stockdale says.
“They’re like, ‘I used to play here in 1980’ and then you’ll have a conversation about what this place means.”
Stockdale says he is hopeful new 3G artificial turf can be laid at Throstle Nest next year.
“If we get this 3G down soon, it will be the only 3G with a stadium around it in Leeds.”
The aim is also to free up the club’s training field for FC Farsley’s deaf team and its 25 junior teams, starting as young as 18-months-old in the Little Lambs, which is run by Stockdale and his 23-year-old daughter Molly.
“If you can walk, you can come,” says David.
Katie, Stockdale’s wife and co-owner of FC Farsley, says she “passionately” told her husband not to buy the club, but adds that she does not regret the decision.
“The thing with FC Farsley is, we’re more than just a football club,” she explains.
“Everybody wants it to succeed and turn it back into the great club we remember when we were growing up.”