Non-League Macclesfield wrote their name into FA Cup folklore with a stunning victory over holders Crystal Palace.
A team that was only formed as a phoenix club five years ago and sit 117 places below their Premier League opponents in the National League North, pulled off a sensational upset at the Leasing.com Stadium to reach the fourth round.
It is the first time in the competition’s 154-year history that a club from the sixth tier have knocked out a top-flight side.
Captain Paul Dawson, his head bandaged after a clash of heads in the opening moments of the game, used it to put his team in front before half-time, and Isaac Buckley-Ricketts stunned Oliver Glasner’s side on the hour mark. A late strike from Yeremy Pino wasn’t enough to save Palace.
The fact that Dawson, signed from Bamber Bridge in 2023, was up against £100m-rated England international Adam Wharton in midfield underlines the gulf between these two clubs. Glasner sent on £35m record signing Brennan Johnson at half-time but to little effect.
The team that shocked Manchester City in the final at Wembley in May were themselves victims of one of the great upsets in this competition.
It was a sensational victory for Silkmen boss John Rooney, who is managing in his first season after quitting playing to replace Robbie Savage when he left for Forest Green Rovers last summer.
His brother Wayne Rooney had flown back from holiday in Barbados to be a BBC pundit for the game and celebrate the moment with his younger sibling.
It was a hugely poignant occasion too, coming just a few weeks after Macclesfield forward Ethan McLeod tragically died in a car crash on the M1 coming back from a game at Bedford Town after he had decided not to travel on the team bus.
Paul Dawson rises high to score a brilliant header and put Macclesfield 1-0 up
… and goal hero Dawson celebrates amid a pitch invasion following the epic Cup victory
The club have retired McLeod’s No20 and a banner paying tribute to the 21-year-old hung between the two dugouts here.
Rooney had warned beforehand that Palace might struggle on the 4G astroturf pitch and so it proved. The biggest compliment that you can pay his players is that they were not flattered by this result.
The non-league side suffered a setback before a ball had been kicked when leading scorer Danny Eillott was forced to pull out. Elliott, whose 15 goals this season included four in the FA Cup, had been a doubt for the game and was only fit enough for the bench but had to give up his place to Cameron Bradbury-Allen.
It didn’t seem to affect Macclesfield too badly as they limited Palace to very few chances in the first half and then stunned the holders with a goal just before the interval.
The clash between Dawson and Jaydee Canvot occurred in the opening seconds, requiring the Palace defender to have treatment for a wound to his head. The Macclesfield skipper also suffered a cut, but it was a few more minutes before he needed to have it bandaged and it was a case of running repairs after that.
It took the underdogs quarter of an hour to get near the Palace goal as James Edmondson swung a free kick into the box and Luis Lacey – the elder brother of Manchester United’s rising star Shea – tried his luck with a tame effort from 20 yards.
Isaac Buckley-Ricketts makes it 2-0 on the hour to give Palace a mountain to climb
… and Buckley-Ricketts wheels away celebrating his goal on an incredible day
Luke Duffy was the next to picture his name up in lights when he intercepted a ball out from the back by controlling it on his chest, but his volley was well wide.
Great credit to Macclesfield, Palace rarely threatened at the other end. Young Joel Drakes-Thomas was inches away from getting his head on Kaden Rodney’s cross from the left in the 21st minute, and Christantus Uche muscled his way into a position to shot wide from 20 yards before poking the ball wide as he put Sam Heathcore under pressure.
A rather uneventful first half came alive in the 43rd minute when Dawson put his team in front after Rodney fouled Josh Kay outside the box. Heathcote stood behind Dawson fixing his bandage as Duffy prepared to deliver. When he did, it was right onto the bloodied head of his captain who steered the ball wide of goalkeeper Walter Benitez and into the far corner.
Dawson led the celebrations in front of the Star Lane End, heading straight for the corner where he was swallowed up in a heap of bodies. The cameras switched to Glasner who slumped back his seat and then to Macclesfield owner Rob Smethurst in the stands. ‘Wow!’ he mouthed as the fans around him savoured the moment.
Fearing a huge shock, the Palace boss made three changes at half-time as he sent on Johnson, Will Hughes and Tyrick Mitchell.
If anything, though, it was the home side who raised their game as they had Palace on the back foot at the start of the second period and Kay volleyed over.
Owner Rob Smethurst congratulates manager John Rooney after the massive win
Rooney being interviewed by brother Wayne, who was on punditry duty for the BBC, before his side made FA Cup history
If either side were going to score, it was Macclesfield and they did just that on the hour mark.
In truth, it was a dog’s dinner of a goal but their fans won’t care. Palace failed to clear their lines as the ball bobbled around the penalty areas, Chris Richards not getting enough on his header and then making a clumsy challenge on D’Mani Mellor that brought unsuccessful claims for a penalty. The ball rolled out of the box and Lewis Fensome met with it with a shot that glanced off Marc Guehi and deflected to Buckley-Ricketts who stuck out a foot and diverted it just enough to wrong-foot Benitez and sent it rolling over the line.
After that every tackle, every time goalkeeper Max Dearnley gathered the ball, it was greeted like a goal. Palace hit back in the 89th minute after Mellor and Guehi collided on the edge of the box and Pino curled a free kick over the wall and into the drop corner – but it was too little too late.
Macclesfield Town reached the fourth round only once in their entire 146-year history, losing to eventual winners Wigan in 2013 before being wound up in September 2020. Macclesfield FC have managed it inside five years after Smeturst bought the club the following month and began this incredible journey.
