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“And that is the last kick of the match. One of the greatest FA Cup giantkillings has happened here in the sunshine at the Moss Rose. The holders, Crystal Palace, have been knocked out. What a turnaround of fortunes for Crystal Palace: winners at Wembley in May, losers in Macclesfield in January.” John Murray, speaking on BBC radio, provided the epitaph to Palace’s dismal, desperate defeat by a mid-table team from the National League North.
As everyone now knows, the gap of 117 places in the football pyramid is the largest ever to be overcome by a lower-placed club in 155 years of the oldest competition in the football world. The fact that the last kick was propelled into the sky by the Silkmen’s captain Paul Dawson was apposite. Dawson had set the tone from the outset. Within 10 seconds of kick-off he had put in the first of countless robust challenges, which ended up with him and Palace centre-back Jaydee Canvot requiring treatment after an accidental clash of heads.
The 19-year-old Frenchman looked dazed and confused, a harbinger for Palace’s muddled performance. By contrast, after being bandaged up, Dawson was bloodied but unbowed, leading from the front as he exhorted his side to their famous victory. His bandaged head gave him the look of a warrior. In a lovely little moment, one of his teammates had to repair the dressing just before the freshly patched-up Dawson headed in the opening goal.
The difference in the attitude of the two sides was as wide as the relative standings of the clubs. The Macclesfield players bristled with energy and commitment; Palace’s team were listless and lethargic. As a result, pretty much every 50/50 challenge was won by the home side. It seemed odd that, after the greatest achievement in the club’s history, there was such a lack of passion and pride from the visitors. Just three of the starters on Saturday had begun the final against Manchester City – captain Marc Guéhi, Adam Wharton and Chris Richards – but surely the players had the motivation to defend the trophy? Sadly, that motivation never materialised.
Oliver Glasner acknowledged that Macclesfield fully deserved their victory. No excuses were offered for such a limp display. The Palace players are not accustomed to playing on artificial turf but most of them looked as if they were playing on sheet ice rather than a 4G surface. There were some grumbles from Palace fans that every borderline decision went to the home side but that was more down to the rub of the green – or the astro. Like all the Manchester City fans who I spoke to after the final in May, my first instinct was to congratulate the victorious team and most of our supporters will have done the same.
A Macclesfield fan texted me from the home end after the match, saying: “The Palace fans we saw were very gracious, classy bunch.” Considering the trials both clubs have faced, albeit at different levels, that is the very least I would expect and, despite the disappointment of being dumped out of the FA Cup at the first hurdle, it was good to see the away fans applauding the Macclesfield players after the match.
Macclesfield’s rise over the last five years should strike a chord with Palace supporters. After being expelled from the National League in 2020, Macclesfield Town went into receivership and the club was resurrected by Rob Smethurst as Macclesfield FC. Like most phoenix clubs, the emphasis has very much been on serving the community, with facilities – such as the 4G pitch – being open to use by local people. With three promotions in the space of four years under former boss Robbie Savage, the club has clearly been on the up, climbing the league ladder from the base of the North West Counties League, the ninth tier of English league football.
Palace fans are no strangers to the perils of financial implosion, having suffered two administrations in the space of just over a decade. The club were looking over the precipice of bankruptcy and potential dissolution as recently as 2010, before being rescued by Steve Parish and the CPFC 2010 consortium.
The first steps to becoming a Premier League club of more than a dozen years’ standing, gilded by that FA Cup triumph, were taken when the very existence of the club hung in the balance. So, there may be 117 places between the two clubs, but their respective renaissances should offer hope to any club that is facing financial difficulties. However bleak prospects are, clubs can survive and thrive.
It is important to keep a perspective on even the most bitter of disappointments. During the afterglow of the FA Cup final, which came in the middle of an unprecedented 19-match unbeaten run, I was conscious of enjoying that moment in the sun as it would not last and that came to pass on Saturday.
Everyone involved with Macclesfield should savour their own moment in the sun, particularly after the travails of the last few years. Maybe a few of their fans will follow the lead of the Palace supporter Lewis Carey, who had the post-match commentary tattooed on to his leg as a permanent reminder of the FA Cup final win. The Artmageddon Tattoo Studio in Macclesfield might be busy this week.
In an article about last season’s FA Cup final, I mentioned the people who were not there and especially my brother Stephen who died more than 20 years ago. The same thought struck me after the Macclesfield game in light of the tragic death of 21-year-old player Ethan McLeod last month on his way back from a match. The manager John Rooney rightly dedicated the win to him.
I will be following Macclesfield’s progress in the Cup with interest and wish them all the best for their future. Later today I will be taking my newly born granddaughter to register her birth. Named after the great uncle she never met, the cycle of life and death, joy and despair continues with the arrival of Stevie Foster.
This is an article by Richard Foster, the writer behind The Football Mine and host of the podcast It Started With A Kick.
