Education
He transferred to Crewe Alexandra in 1985, before he finished his career at non-league Barrow after a short tour of Europe.
He transferred to Crewe Alexandra in 1985, before he finished his career at non-league Barrow after a short tour of Europe.
He started his career with Bury in 1975, before he made a £40,000 move to Portuguese Vale in 1978. Loaned out to Doncaster Rovers and Shrewsbury Town in 1981, he joined Rochdale in 1982. During this tour he played for IFK Göteborg (Sweden), Keflavík (Iceland), Hamilton Academical (Scotland), and APOEL (Cyprus).
He later spent ten years as a coach at Bolton Wanderers, and two years as a coach at Brentford.
He was appointed manager of Warri Wolves (Nigeria) in February 2016. Farrell played for Ormskirk, before turning professional at Third Division Bury in 1975.
During his three years at the club Farrell made 54 league appearances, scoring nine goals. Farrell joined Dennis Butler"s Portuguese Vale for a then-club record fee of £40,000 in November 1978.
He became a regular in the Fourth Division side, but was soon "castigated" by Vale fans.
He finished 1978-1979 with four goals in 29 games. There was also a managerial merry-go-round at Vale Park, as Butler was replaced by Alan Bloor and then John McGrath. Farrell made thirty appearances in 1980-1981, scoring twice, but found himself dropped by McGrath in February.
He went on loan to Third Division Doncaster Rovers in August 1981 and Second Division Shrewsbury Town in October of that year.
However he did not make a league appearances for either side, and played just four games for Vale in 1981-1982. He was given a free transfer in May 1982, and signed with Rochdale.
Under manager Peter Madden, the "Dale" finished 1982-1983 outside of the re-election zone on goal difference, after Blackpool were deducted two points. Rochdale finished third-from-bottom in 1983-1984 under new manager Jimmy Greenhoff, but their peers voted them back into the Football League.
The club improved under Vic Halom"s stewardship, and finished seventeenth in 1984-1985, still only three points above the re-election zone.
During these difficult times Farrell played 73 league games, hitting seventeen goals. He joined Crewe Alexandra for the 1985-1986 campaign, playing 28 league games for Dario Gradi"s side, scoring four goals. He then moved to Sweden to play for IFK Göteborg, though he played just three games in the Allsvenskan under manager Gunder Bengtsson.
Farrell then switched to Frank Upton"s Icelandic outfit IBK Keflavík, playing 25 games in the Úrvalsdeild, scoring four goals.
He later flew to Scotland to play three games for Hamilton Academical. After playing for APOEL in Cyprus, he retired after a spell with English non-league side Barrow.
From the turn of the century he played a role in youth development at Bolton Wanderers. In ten years he worked his way up from under-18 coach to assistant academy director
In July 2011, he was appointed as first team coach at Brentford by manager Uwe Rösler.
Following Rösler"s departure to Wigan Athletic on 7 December 2013, Farrell left the club nine days later. He returned to football as manager of Nigeria Premier League side Warri Wolves in February 2016.