Macclesfield’s greatest day: Step inside the biggest giant killing in FA Cup history as holders Crystal Palace knocked out in third round

“Has anyone got a long screwdriver?”

It’s -3°C in Macclesfield and the corner flag won’t go in the ground. Sans screwdriver, the volunteer manages to scoop ice and gunk out of the hole before twisting the flag in. It’s definitely not all the way in. “Don’t show the ref this,” he chuckles.

Not everyone is thrilled. It’s already kicking off in a local WhatsApp group. More than 5,000 supporters are expected and parking is the hot topic. Amid the grumblings, someone announces they are walking into town so their space isn’t nicked. Smart move.

Macclesfield manager John Rooney has a packed schedule, but I grab a few words with him in his office. He sounds unavoidably like his older brother Wayne, who won this competition in 2016 and is in attendance today.

“Listen, we’re massive underdogs,” he says. “But it’s the FA Cup, a one-off game and anything can happen. If you look at the bookies odds, I think they give us a 7% chance.”

They are probably being generous. No sixth-tier side has ever knocked out a Premier League club, let alone the holders. Macclesfield are the lowest-ranked team left in the competition and are hardly flying in the National League North, sitting 14th, 23 points behind leaders South Shields.

The Silkmen train twice a week. Most of the squad have day jobs in teaching, property and beyond. Their most famous player is forward Tom Clare, who appeared on Love Island in 2023, then came back to win Love Island All Stars a year later. He is rarely around now, though he was on the bench for the 6-3 win over AFC Totton in the first round.

Football is not the only thing on everyone’s mind today.

On December 17, just 24 days ago, Macclesfield striker Ethan McLeod died in a car accident while travelling home from a game. He was 21.

“It’s a game of football at the end of the day,” says Rooney. “There are bigger things out there. It’s our first FA Cup game since the passing of Ethan, but I don’t think we’ll ever get over what happened and he’ll surely be with us today.”

A memorial to former Macclesfield player Ethan McLeod

Image credit: Getty Images

At 11am, the Palace coach arrives. Marc Guehi, Adam Wharton and Oliver Glasner sign autographs and pose for selfies before heading into a stadium a long way from their usual destinations. Palace step out for their warm-up and test the artificial surface. Over the tannoy, the home club thank the Eagles for waiving their right to 45% of the gate receipts.

Then it’s into the home dressing room. Rooney stands in the middle grasping a tactics board. Kick-off is minutes away.

“Make it a horrible game for them. They won’t like it – trust me, they won’t like it. You’re not just here to turn up. It’s 11 v 11 with one ball. Anything can happen on the day. There’s enough in here to go and win this game. Believe in yourselves.”

They do.

From the first whistle, Macclesfield are at them. Pressing, chasing, winning every second ball. The crowd are up for it. Half-chances come and go. Then Luke Duffy swings in a free-kick towards the back post and Paul Dawson, head wrapped in bandage, throws himself at it.

1-0. Bedlam.

‘What a moment!’ – Dawson nets ‘fantastic header’ as Macclesfield STUN holders Palace

Video credit: TNT Sports

Macclesfield see out the half. At kick-off, 117 places separated the teams. Now the part-timers are 45 minutes from immortality.

Instead, things get a whole lot stranger.

On the hour mark, Isaac Buckley-Ricketts adjusts to meet a loose ball in the box, sending a bobbling shot beyond the flailing Walter Benitez in the Palace goal… bobbling… bobbling… and into the net.

More carnage.

‘Magic moment’ – Buckley-Ricketts doubles Macclesfield lead with classy finish

Video credit: TNT Sports

With half an hour to play, the impossible is imaginable. Palace belatedly probe, shifting the ball across the pitch, but they struggle to cut through as mocking chants of “backwards and sideways, everywhere we go” sound out.

Just as a comfortable win looks on the cards, Yeremy Pino curls home a fine free-kick in the 90th minute. 2-1. The fourth official signals an additional six minutes. Now it’s tense.

Macclesfield sink deeper, but the chances never come. The final whistle goes. Fans rush the pitch. Dawson and Duffy are hoisted into the air. Others are swallowed in the throng.

‘We’re gonna win it now!’ – Macclesfield captain Dawson on historic FA Cup win

Video credit: TNT Sports

Inside, the dressing room is loud but oddly empty. Down the corridor, a queue has formed outside the Palace changing room. Macclesfield players, still in kit, hope for a souvenir to mark their greatest day. To Palace’s huge credit, shirts are handed out through a crack in the door.

Defender Lewis Fensome parades Guehi’s shirt as players start to filter back. Madonna’s Like A Prayer is the backdrop. Fortunately, someone takes over as DJ and the vibe improves.

Chairman Robert Smethurst, who famously bought the club on Rightmove in 2020 after “four days of drinking”, wanders around in a daze. Midfielders James Edmondson and Carlos Dos Santos keep shaking their heads. Nobody quite knows what to do.

Fortunately, the champagne arrives and the party ramps up. Spray fills the air. An open bottle is thrust at Coyne, who duly obliges with a huge swig. The celebrations peak with an epic, surprisingly tuneful rendition of Adele’s Someone Like You.

And then gradually it winds down.

Out of the triumphant dressing room, past a deathly hush from Palace staff still processing the day’s events, and out into the long overdue sunshine. The cold has gone, but the shock remains. The fourth round, absurdly, awaits for Macclesfield.

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