Macclesfield 2-1 Crystal Palace: The Silkmen, who are 117 places below the Eagles, became the first non-league team to defeat the FA Cup holders since 1909
Non-league Macclesfield produced one of the greatest FA Cup shocks of all time by knocking out holders Crystal Palace in a stunning 2-0 upset at Moss Rose.
Seven months after Palace lifted their first major trophy by defeating Manchester City at Wembley, the Premier League side became the first FA Cup holders to lose to non-league opposition since Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1909.
Macclesfield, of the sixth-tier, started the day 117 places below the Eagles in the English football league pyramid. But inspired by goals from captain Paul Dawson and Isaac Buckley-Rickett, and overseen by coach John Rooney, the younger brother of former England and Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney, they overturned the odds in a hugely emotional day for the Silkmen.
Thousands of Macclesfield supporters flooded onto the pitch as the sound of the full-time whistle. In terms of league placing, and the 117 positions between the sides, it is the biggest-ever FA Cup upset in the history of the oldest cup competition in the world.
Macclesfield were reborn as a club in 2020 after going out of business and being expelled from the Football League. The historic club Macclesfield Town, formed in 1871, were wound up in the High Court after their debts exceeded £500,000.
Macclesfield’s victory also came less than a month after young forward Ethan McLeod was killed in a car accident at the age of 21, with tributes paid to the former Wolves academy graduate before the match.
John Rooney’s side, who are 14th in National League North, took the lead when the bandaged skipper Dawson, who worked as a motorway supervisor, planted a back-post header into the far corner shortly before half-time.
Palace, who named a starting line-up that included England internationals Marc Guehi and Adam Wharton and the £26m Spain winger Yeremy Pino, were disjointed throughout on an artificial pitch and Macclesfield doubled their advantage in the 61st minute when Buckley-Rickett flicked in.
To manager Oliver Glasner’s growing frustration, Palace could not find a way back into the match until Pino curled in a free-kick in the final minute of normal time.
Macclesfield faced six minutes of stoppage time, in a nervy ending for the sold-out Moss Rose crowd, but John Rooney’s team held on to claim a memorable victory in front of his older brother Wayne, who was on punditry duties for the BBC.
“He has not long been the manager. I am so proud of him,” Wayne Rooney told the BBC at full-time.
“I can't believe it, we never thought we would be in this position,” John Rooney said. “We were incredible from the first minute. I thought we were deserved winners. I couldn't be any prouder of the lads. I couldn't have asked any more of them and you can see the joy in them.”
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