Macclesfield Town

Macclesfield Town FC was a professional football club who were formed in 1874 that was finally wound-up owing to financial issues after a High Court ruling on the 16th September 2020. A new club Macclesfield FC was formed a few months later to take up occupancy of Moss Rose.

The club was based in what was a traditional market town based about halfway between Manchester and Stoke on Trent, which was a prominent manufacturer of silk, hence the club nickname of 'The Silkmen'.

In 1890 the club joined The Combination and then the Lancashire Combination in 1911 as Macclesfield FC. The previous year they had moved into their Moss Rose home in 1891 after playing games at Macclesfield Grammar School, Rostron's Field, near to where Coare Street now stands, and Victoria Road, which was then known as Bowfield Lane. 

The club were also known as Macclesfield Football and Athletic Club and Hallifield FC in their early years. In 1919 'Macc' as they are known as locally, became founder members of the Cheshire County League.

The league title was won in 1931-32 and was retained the following season, before just missing a hat-trick in consecutive years when the team ended as runners-up in 1933-34. Further championships were collected in 1953-54 and then 1960-61.

A fifth crown was won in 1963-64 with runners-up spots being achieved either side of that title. Macclesfield Town was the name of the club from 1966, with a sixth Cheshire League win being added to the honours board at Moss Rose in 1967-68. 

Town became founder members of the Northern Premier League in 1968-69 and cemented their place as a powerhouse in the non-league game by becoming the inaugural champions of the competition. This coincided with an FA Cup run that ended in the third round against Fulham at Craven Cottage.

The side retained the title in 1969-70 as well as lifting the FA Trophy at Wembley after a 2-0 win against Telford United. Macc reached the semi-final in 1973-74 which ended in defeat to Dartford over two legs.

A quite spell ensued in which the highest league finish was fifth place in 1982-83. A third NPL title followed in 1986-87 which saw the club elevated to the Football Conference under manager Peter Wragg, with the Silkmen also reaching the FA Cup third round in the same season.

 

Carlisle United and Rotherham United were eliminated along the way before Port Vale defeated them. In 1988-89 Town reached Wembley in a repeat of the first ever FA Trophy final. This time Telford United won with a single goal.

Chester City moved into Moss Rose in 1990 for a couple of years while their new Deva Stadium was being built, giving the ground a welcome facelift. In 1991-92 Macc reached the last four of the FA Trophy, where they were defeated by Colchester United.

In 1993 Wragg was replaced by former Manchester United hero Sammy McIlroy after the team flirted with relegation. He took the team to the Conference title in only his second season in charge in 1994-95 but remarkably despite Moss Rose previously staging action in the Football League, the new stricter gradings deemed the stadium unfit, so promotion was denied. 

However, they were not to be denied as they lifted the title again two years later and were admitted to the League in May 1997 in place of Hereford United after Moss Rose had been upgraded.

Town finished runners-up in their debut 1997-98 season and won promotion to the third tier finishing the season with an unbeaten home record. Unfortunately, their new status was too much, and they were relegated after just one season.

The highlight were the local derbies with Stoke City and Manchester City. It was the second of those games that has led to the "We're not really here" song coming about that Man City fans sang all the way on their run from Macc to the Champions League and beyond. 

McIlroy left soon afterwards to become the manager of Northern Ireland as the club went through a succession of managers as they finished in lower mid table on a regular basis. The experienced Brian Horton took on the reigns in 2004 and the following season The Silkmen reached the play offs but were defeated in the semi-finals by Lincoln City.

In September 2006 with the team at the bottom of the league and winless, Horton was sacked to be replaced by Paul Ince. Macc reached the FA Cup Third Round where Chelsea beat them 6-1 at Stamford Bridge, and they survived relegation on the final day of the season following a victory against Notts County.

Ince departed afterwards to become the manager of MK Dons. In 2007 Town initially expressed an interest in moving to a new stadium south of the town. Ian Brightwell had a spell as boss before successful lower league and non-league manager Keith Alexander was appointed in February 2008.

 

Alexander was doing an excellent job with limited resources. However, tragedy struck when he died suddenly on the 3rd March 2010. He had suffered a brain aneurysm in 2003, but all seemed well at the time of his death after returning home from an away fixture at Notts County.

His assistant Gary Simpson took over as manager as the club suffered further awful news as midfielder Richard Butcher died in his sleep in January 2011, aged only twenty-nine. The club retired the number 21 shirt in his honour.

News on a possible new stadium made a large move forward in November 2011, when news that leading regeneration experts St Modwen had signed up to lead the process. The stadium would also accommodate sporting and leisure facilities for the whole community if given the go ahead.

 

Simpson's side struggled in the 2011-12 season, which saw him depart around New Year to be replaced by the returning Horton. Unfortunately, the experienced boss could not keep Macc up, as a terrible run of form saw them demoted back to the Conference.

Steve King came in as manager and led the side to the fourth round of the FA Cup for the first time in the club’s history after defeating Cardiff City in the third round. After The Silkmen failed to reach the play offs King was sacked.

Club stalwart John Askey was appointed with the club in a perilous financial state. Askey led the side to two mid table finishes before they finished just outside the play off zone in the 2014-15 campaign. The team put in two mid table finishes under boss Askey in 2015-16 and 2016-17 as the Conference changed title to the National League.

 

The 2016-17 saw further progression as Macclesfield reached the final of the FA Trophy where they were defeated 3-2 at Wembley by York City. In 2017-18 the team won the National League title to regain their status as a Football League club.

Askey departed to take the manager’s job at Shrewsbury Town while Mark Yates was named as his successor. The appointment didn’t work out as former England star Sol Campbell replaced him, with the club once again fighting financial woes.

Players went unpaid and court orders were issued. Campbell departed after doing an excellent job under the circumstances, being replaced by Daryl McMahon. Protests from fans against the owners followed when Macc had to field six youth team players and five loanees to fulfill their FA Cup fixture at home to Kingstonian after the senior players went on strike.

The match was an embarrassment for the club, ending in a 4-0 home defeat against third-tier non-league opposition. Points were deducted for not playing a league match, while another home fixture was postponed as Moss Rose had a ground safety issue.

Mark Kennedy came in as head coach to replace McMahon who resigned. In April 2020 the players were not paid for a fifth occasion while all staff were placed on furlough owing to the coronavirus pandemic. It affected a sale to a potential new buyer, while after an appeal the EFL deducted the points that relegated the club to the National league.

Kennedy resigned, while owner Amar Alkadhi, a London-based Iraqi telecoms entrepreneur, continued to make promises that the debts would be paid, which included one of £188,721.09 to HMRC. The club's final match was a 2–1 victory in a friendly match at Cheshire neighbours Witton Albion on 15 September 2020. 

The supporters trust tried their utmost to save the club, but they were expelled from the National League after the postponement of their opening three fixtures.

Local businessman Robert Smethurst, the owner of tenth tier club Stockport Town bought the assets and set up a new club Macclesfield FC which would enter the North West Counties League for the 2021-22 season at a refurbished Moss Rose.

My visit

Macclesfield Town 3 Scarborough 1 (Saturday 7th February 1998) Football League Division Three

Both Macc and Boro were in the race for automatic promotion so when I heard of a spare seat with my pals in the Filey John's people's carrier I grabbed the chance of a ride. I was working on a casual basis at Greaves' Print at the time, so I had a few spare quid at the time. I went out with some friends on the Friday evening and ended up not getting home.

I rung Bunner the next morning so I could be collected on the way out of town. I felt ordinary to be honest and not really dressed for an afternoon on an open away end close to the Pennines. We collected Carl Ellis at Norton, and he thoughtfully gave me the loan of a fleecy jacket. We stopped at a cafe in Micklefield the lads knew about for a lifesaving bacon sarnie.

Carl said he knew a quicker route to Macclesfield, but it meant going down the M1 and cutting over Snake Pass to cut out Manchester on the south of the city. We went past the mining town of Dodworth, when I happened to mention that this was where King Arthur hailed from. 

I was trying to get a bite from my political sparring partner, hence my reference to former leader of the National Union of Miners, Arthur Scargill. Bunner, bang on the ball as ever said, "Who. The tattooist"? For youngsters or non-Scarborough folk, King Arthurs was a tattoo shop in the town.

We ended up following Macc centre back Effe Sodje for a few miles towards the ground. By the outskirts Bunner was doubled up in the back needing to find the nearest loo. We had fun galore mentioning all kinds of water references, as well as telling John to look out for Leek Road where the stadium was located. We eventually found it and parked up, much to our hero's relief!

We went into the pub located on the corner of the ground near to the away end for a few drinks. I slowly started coming to life as the pub started filling. The locals were getting served a lot easier than us, much to Carl's annoyance. He also noted that the juke box was the worst he'd ever seen. He reckoned every artist on it was dead!

We went inside Moss Rose to stand on the decent sized away open terraced away end. There was a reasonable turn out of Seadogs, numbering over two hundred. To our left was a few rows of open terracing with the Main Stand stood behind it in the centre. The far Star Lane End had been covered for a few years. 

In an unusual arrangement it had seats added in front of the terrace, so the ground met its required amount of seating. To our right there was a covered enclosure for standing spectators with a mixture of roofing. Macc were too quick and powerful for what was a very decent Boro team and were three up by the break, with all the goals going in the net in front of us to extend the agony. 

Thankfully, the away end had a decent catering stand so I could eat and buy warm drinks as I was very cold. We got a consolation for our devotion when Gareth 'Gripper' Williams netted towards the end. Despite a bit of pressure, it was too little too late to salvage anything.

We went home over the hills through Buxton and the southern outskirts of Sheffield before joining the motorway and then A64 back to the coast. I had a couple of pints at the Gas Club and contemplated going downtown again, but common sense prevailed, and I headed home for a much-needed rest.


The latest pictures that are used on this page were taken at the FA Cup replay against Chelmsford City in December 2011 by fellow hopper and Scarborough Athletic fan, Ian Anderson. Many thanks mate.