Macclesfield F.C.

Macclesfield Football Club is an association football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England. It is a phoenix club of the former Macclesfield Town F.C. founded in 1874, which was wound-up after a High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. The club began their first competitive season in the North West Counties Premier Division, the fifth step of the National League system (ninth tier in the English football pyramid), in August 2021, and currently competes in the Northern Premier League following two successive promotions.

History
Macclesfield F.C. is a successor to Macclesfield Town. Founded in 1874, Macclesfield Town was liquidated and expelled from the National League in 2020 because of debts of over £500,000. Its assets were put up for sale, including the Moss Rose stadium on the Rightmove property website. In October 2020, the stadium and all available assets were purchased by Robert Smethurst, the owner of Stockport Town, with the aim of returning professional football to Macclesfield by creating the phoenix club as Macclesfield F.C. Smethurst appointed the Welsh former professional footballer Robbie Savage as a member of the board for the new phoenix club with Danny Whitaker as manager. He also invested in upgrading the stadium to improve the commercial viability of the new club.

In May 2021, it was announced that Macclesfield would be placed in the NWCFL Premier Division for their first season. Savage announced that the club would be joining with his foundation to offer free tickets to foundation participants to encourage youth attendance at the club's matches. Macclesfield entered the FA Vase for the first time in 2021–22.

2021–22 season
On 31 July 2021 Macclesfield played their first competitive match, a 1–0 win at home against Burscough in the NWCFL Premier Division played in front of a restricted capacity sell-out crowd of 2,018; Leon Arnasalam scored the only goal. The club's first away match was on 3 August, a 4–4 draw at Winsford United, also in the NWCFL Premier Division, with Tom Clare scoring all four Macclesfield goals. On 7 August Macclesfield played their first FA Cup match, beating Burscough 4–0 in the Extra Preliminary Round, but were then knocked out of the FA Cup in the Preliminary Round losing 6–4 at Squires Gate.

On 30 August Macclesfield defeated local rivals Congleton Town 1–0 in the NWCFL Premier Division in front of a record crowd of 3,502, James Berry-McNally scoring the only goal. The match was suspended for several minutes late in the second half due to crowd trouble. It was the first time the neighbouring towns had met in a league match since the 1964–65 season.

On 11 September, Macclesfield played in the FA Vase for the first time, losing 3–2 at Northern Counties East League Premier Division side Winterton Rangers in the first qualifying round.

Macclesfield F.C. was featured in a BBC Sport documentary film, Robbie Savage: Making Macclesfield FC, broadcast on 13 November 2021, which followed the launch of the new club following the collapse of Macclesfield Town.

Despite a relatively poor run of form at the start of the new year (L2, D1, W2 in January), a run of ten consecutive wins followed, in which 37 goals were scored and only four conceded. On 12 March 2022, Macclesfield secured the North West Counties Premier Division title and promotion to the NPL Division One West after a 4–0 win against Ashton Athletic, becoming the first club in England's top nine tiers in 2022 to guarantee promotion. Macclesfield finished their league campaign on 2 April, 15 points clear of second-placed Skelmersdale United.

2022–23 season
In October 2022, with the club three points clear at the top of the NPL West Division, Danny Whitaker was replaced as Macclesfield manager by David McNabb. McNabb stepped down in December 2022, with midfielder Neil Danns being appointed interim manager. A 3–1 win against Trafford on 1 April 2023 saw the club crowned champions and achieve back-to-back promotions.

2023–24 season
During the summer of 2023, manager Neil Danns left to take up an assistant role at Tranmere Rovers, and his assistant Mark Duffy was named as the new head coach. Record goal-scorer James Berry departed for a club record fee to join National League side Chesterfield. Luke Duffy joined for a record fee from Warrington Town, and John Rooney, Wayne Rooney's younger brother, returned to the Silkmen having started his career with 41 league appearances for Macclesfield Town.

Macclesfield entered the FA Cup in the first qualifying round. Victories over Whickham, Buxton, and Warrington Rylands secured a place in the fourth qualifying round against Alfreton Town. After four defeats in five games, including a 3–1 FA Cup defeat at Alfreton, Duffy was sacked as head coach on 27 October 2023, and was replaced by Alex Bruce. The Silkmen entered the FA Trophy in the third qualifying round; in the fourth round proper they defeated National League opposition Dorking Wanderers 5–0. Macclesfield were the only side outside of the National League to reach the semi-finals, but were knocked out of the competition in a 2–1 defeat at Gateshead on 7 April.

On 21 February 2024, Bruce stepped down as Macclesfield manager to take up a coaching role at Salford City, and was replaced by Michael Clegg, previously manager at Warrington Rylands. Under Clegg, Macclesfield finished second, qualifying for the NPL play-offs, but lost the play-off final 2–1 to Marine. On 17 June 2024, Clegg left his role as manager by mutual consent; Robbie Savage was appointed head coach.

Managerial history
As of 17 June 2024

Seasons
As of 19 July 2024

Attendance

 * Highest home attendance (Top 3):
 * 5,329 v Marine, 6 May 2024 – NPL Premier Division play-off final
 * 4,720 v AFC Liverpool, 2 April 2022 – NWCFL Premier Division
 * 4,701 v Prescot Cables, 15 April 2023 – NPL Division One West


 * Lowest home attendance:
 * 340 v Tranmere Rovers, 5 December 2023 – Cheshire Senior Cup second round


 * Highest away attendance (Top 3):
 * 3,031 v Gateshead, 6 April 2024 – FA Trophy semi-final
 * 2,342 v FC United of Manchester, 26 August 2023 – NPL Premier Division
 * 2,024 v Leek Town, 16 August 2022 – NPL Division One West


 * Lowest away attendance:
 * 181 v Northwich Victoria, 16 November 2022 – Cheshire Senior Cup first round

Results

 * Biggest home win:
 * 7–0 v Tadcaster Albion, 13 September 2022 - FA Trophy first qualifying round
 * 7–0 v Tadcaster Albion, 13 September 2022 - FA Trophy first qualifying round


 * Heaviest home defeat:
 * 2–5 v Crewe Alexandra, 30 January 2024 – Cheshire Senior Cup quarter-final


 * Biggest away win:
 * 0–6 v Vauxhall Motors, 22 February 2022 – NWCFL Premier Division


 * Heaviest away defeat:
 * 3–0 v Lancaster City, 22 August 2023 – NPL Premier Division


 * Highest scoring draw:
 * 4–4 v Winsford United (A), 3 August 2021 – NWCFL Premier Division


 * Highest aggregate score:
 * (10) 6–4 v Squires Gate (A), 21 August 2021 – FA Cup preliminary round

Player records

 * Most appearances (All comps):
 * 137 – 🇫🇷 Laurent Mendy, 31 July 2021 – present


 * Goals scored (All comps):
 * 53 – 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 James Berry, 7 August 2021 – 22 April 2023


 * Goals in a season (All comps):
 * 33 – 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 James Berry, 2022–23


 * Goals in a season (League):
 * 24 – 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 James Berry, 2022–23


 * Goals scored in a match:
 * 4 – 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 James Berry v Avro (H), 19 March 2022 – NWCFL Premier Division
 * 4 – 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Tom Clare v Winsford United (A), 3 August 2021 – NWCFL Premier Division
 * 4 – 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Kane Drummond v Atherton Collieries (H), 21 November 2023 – NPL Premier Division

Cup performances

 * Best FA Cup performance:
 * Fourth qualifying round, 2023–24


 * Best FA Trophy performance:
 * Semi-finals, 2023–24


 * Best FA Vase performance:
 * First qualifying round, 2021–22


 * Best Cheshire Senior Cup performance:
 * Quarter-finals, 2022–23, 2023–24

Honours
League
 * NPL Premier Division (level 7)
 * Runners-up: 2023–24
 * NPL Division One West (level 8)
 * Champions: 2022–23
 * NWCFL Premier Division (level 9)
 * Champions: 2021–22

Notable players
Macclesfield F.C. players who have attained at least one international cap during their career.
 * Alex Bruce
 * 🇬🇾 Neil Danns
 * 🇸🇳 Oumar Niasse