[2] In the spring of 1895, Charles Robson, the newly appointed secretary/manager of Southampton St. Mary's, and Alfred McMinn, one of the club committee, visited "the Potteries" in search of new players to strengthen the team ready for their second season in the Southern League.

[3][4] At the time of his arrival at the Antelope Ground, the local press described Farrell as "fast, tricky and reliable"[1] – he soon justified his reputation with a series of impressive displays as centre-forward.

[6] By now team captain,[1] Farrell received the Championship shield from Dr. Russell Bencraft, who was both president of the League and of the club, at a ceremony in the Artillery Drill Hall in Southampton.

Farrell played in all seven cup matches, scoring seven goals, including a hat-trick in an 8–2 victory over Swindon Town at the County Ground on 2 January 1897.

[6] In 1898, Farrell helped guide the Saints to the semi-finals of the FA Cup, scoring in the emphatic 4–0 victory over First Division Bolton Wanderers in the quarter-finals.

[7] Farrell was injured in the first semi-final match, a 1–1 draw with Nottingham Forest, and took no part in the replay when Southampton were eliminated in a controversial 2–0 defeat in a blizzard.

Farrell was unable to reproduce his goal-scoring form at the Victoria Ground, scoring just four goals from 22 appearances in the Football League First Division, with Stoke finishing the season in 12th place.

but matters went badly for the team from the start, and some players, instead of making special efforts to save the game, attributed their non-success to the deliberate flouting of their wishes.

Farrell spent a season at New Brighton Tower in the Football League Second Division at the end of which they finished in a creditable fourth place in the table but were forced to fold because of financial difficulties.

On 29 December 1901, he returned to The Dell with Northampton, but was on the wrong end of an 11–0 scoreline, with Farrell's eventual replacement Albert Brown scoring seven of the goals.

His penultimate appearance was back at The Dell when he was once again on the losing side, as West Ham lost 6–0 to the Saints[15] (with a hat-trick from England international Archie Turner) who thus claimed the Southern League title for the fifth time in seven years.