Macclesfield FC (H) – Match Preview

For an FA Cup fixture at this stage, opponents do not get much bigger than this

Macclesfield’s last two FA Cup opponents were Crystal Palace and Brentford.

We are their next one.

147 teams separated us from Crystal Palace at the end of last season, and 153 were between us and Brentford, and yet, with the magic of the FA Cup, here we are, set to have all played the same team in this competition (albeit a season apart)

Macclesfield’s league form has been fairly solid too, as after their founding in 2020, following the liquidation of Macclesfield Town, the side rose through the leagues fairly quickly, with their peak coming this season (and last season), as the side are 9 games into their second National League North stint.

A recent blip in form has meant the Silkmen haven’t won since the end of last month, losing to Merthyr Town, as well as drawing with Scarborough Athletic and Spennymoor Town.

The Silkmen are littered with high-profile names too, with their manager being John Rooney, former Manchester United defender Cameron Borthwick-Jackson playing for the side, and Robbie Savage formerly managing them between 2024 and 2025.

Outside of those names, one of their biggest threats is striker Danny Elliott, who has scored 46 goals for the side in 62 matches

Overall though, they’re doing well, currently 3rd in the National League North, behind just Oxford City and Hereford, and they will probably be hoping for another magical cup run.

Hopefully, for us though, we can go on our own one this time around

We are doing well, though, with Adam Boyes’ hat-trick on Saturday propelling him to the top scorer in the entire NPL bracket, joint with Newcastle Town’s Luca Whitney, with the pair on 9 goals.

Unlike last season, though, Bosh is alone on that chart, with no other Steelman having scored 4 or more, with Andrei being the next closest, with the summer signing sat on three league strikes as things stand.

Last season’s FA Cup run for your Steelmen was, bluntly put, bad, with our attempt stopped by a Pickering Town side who put 5 past us.

That would be the most we conceded in a fixture that season too, with Runcorn Linnets then stopping Pickering in the next round.

Ironically, we do face Pickering this season, as we welcome the side to ours at some point this year in the first round of the County Cup. But that is probably a long way away, so plenty of time to wait.

Our only other cup match will see us travel to Guisborough later this month for our first FA Trophy match of the season.

As for a Wembley run, that tournament will probably be our most likely, unless we produce a massive miracle in the FA Cup.

The only other bit of info to note for us is that, as of last Sunday, we have gone an entire year unbeaten at Green Lane!

Several close calls did spring up in that run, including a nervy 3-3 draw to Dunston UTS, but with some solid performances at our place, we do now have that accolade confirmed

(I was also incredibly nervous after we went 2-0 down to Leek Town on Saturday)

But that is about it for this preview. See you all tomorrow in what is a massive game for the Steelmen and the Silkmen.

Gates open at 12 pm, as we will be showing Redcar Town’s FA Cup match in our FanZone, and we hope to see you all there for both matches!