The modest Macclesfield, from the sixth division of English football, achieved a feat this Saturday (10) by eliminating the current FA Cup champion, Crystal Palace, with a 2-1 victory.
As is often the case in the oldest competition in the world, on the field there was no difference in level between 13th in the powerful Premier League and 14th in the National League North.
Led by John Rooney, brother of former England striker Wayne Rooney, the club from Cheshire, south of Manchester, opened the scoring with a header from captain Paul Dawson, in the 43rd minute of the first half.
In the second half, Isaac Buckley-Ricketts, at 15, stretched to deflect a shot from outside the box by Lewis Fensome and sent the ball into the net.
Macclesfield fans, who were playing at home, started asking for a third, but the only goal until the final whistle was from Yeremi Pino, who scored a free kick for Palace in the final minute, at 45.
In May, the London team defeated Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in the FA Cup final and won the first title in its history. Three months later, they lifted the Community Shield (Super Cup) by beating Liverpool.
“I didn’t think it was possible, but it’s proof that anything is possible one day”, declared Rooney after Macclesfield’s victory, already considered by the English press as the biggest upset in the history of the tournament created in 1871.
“I have no explanation for what we saw today. In this type of game, honestly, you don’t need tactics, you don’t need a coach. I think if you just show what you’re capable of and have a bit of pride, the performance will be different, but today we lacked all of that,” said Palace coach Olivier Glasner, who fielded a team that included England players Marc Guéhi and Adam Wharton.
The small Moss Rose stadium was invaded by the crowd after the final whistle, and among them was the club’s owner, Robert Smethurst, a local businessman who made the fairy tale possible.
Macclesfield FC was born five years ago from the ashes of Macclesfield Town, a fifth division club that had gone bankrupt.
The silkmen started in the ninth tier of English football in the 2021-2022 season and have gained three promotions in four seasons since then.
Less than a month ago, the team was mourning the death of their young striker Ethan McLeod in a traffic accident on his way back from a league game.
