 Farrell began his career at non-league club Redditch United in 1991 before joining Aston Villa in 1992 for a fee of £45,000.He made eight league and cup appearances for Aston Villa in three seasons and then joined Wycombe Wanderers for a fee of £100,000, where he made over 70 appearances in all competitions in two seasons.He moved on to Peterborough United in June 1997, where he spent nine seasons, making almost 400 appearances and scored 52 goals, and became a London Road legend.