In a story that transcended football and touched upon the raw spirit of the sport, the FA Cup produced one of the greatest giant-killings in its 154-year history today as sixth-tier Macclesfield FC, playing in the National League North, stunned defending champions Crystal Palace with a seismic 2-1 victory at Moss Rose.
The result, which saw the Premier League holders and a club 117 places above them in the English football pyramid eliminated, is the first time a non-league side has knocked out the reigning FA Cup champion since Palace themselves achieved the feat in 1909.
From the outset, the occasion was charged with emotion. A sell-out crowd of over 5,300 packed into the Leasing.com Stadium, a poignant atmosphere following the recent death of 21-year-old Macclesfield player Ethan McLeod, whose image was displayed on a banner.
Palace, whose first major trophy was last season’s FA Cup, contributed to the sense of occasion by donating their share of the ticket sales to their hosts. Despite fielding a team featuring several players from their Wembley triumph, including England international Marc Guéhi, the visitors were outfought and outthought by a Macclesfield side under the guidance of first-year manager John Rooney.
The match was far from a lucky escape for the home side. Macclesfield matched their illustrious opponents from the first whistle, with captain Paul Dawson embodying their fearless approach. After requiring bandaging for a head wound, Dawson rose magnificently in the 43rd minute to power home a Luke Duffy free-kick, sending the Moss Rose crowd into raptures.
The lead was doubled on the hour mark through a moment of instinctive skill from Isaac Buckley-Ricketts. In a frantic goalmouth scramble, the former Manchester City academy graduate deftly clipped the ball with the outside of his boot past goalkeeper Walter Benítez to make it 2-0.
Palace’s response was limp, their frustration summed up by a sloppy offside that earned Justin Devenny a furious rebuke from manager Oliver Glasner.
A triple substitution at half-time failed to spark a coherent reaction from the beleaguered Eagles, whose nine-game winless run across all competitions continued in dismal fashion. Their dismal afternoon was perfectly encapsulated in the final moments of stoppage time when U.S. defender Chris Richards, under no pressure, committed a foul throw to hand possession back to Macclesfield.
A late, superb free-kick from Yeremy Pino in the 90th minute set up a tense finale, but it proved only a consolation.
The final whistle triggered a joyous pitch invasion, with heroes Dawson and Duffy carried aloft by supporters as Moss Rose celebrated a historic achievement for a club only reformed in 2020 after the demise of Macclesfield Town.
For manager John Rooney, the younger brother of former England captain Wayne Rooney who was in attendance, the victory was a testament to his team’s belief. “I thought we were incredible from the first minute,” he told BBC Sport. “The message at half time was to manage the game… Then we got 2-0 up, I didn’t see that coming. We were incredible to a man.”
For Crystal Palace, the defeat marks a humiliating and abrupt end to their title defense, their grip on the famous trophy loosened by a part-time team that has written itself and the enduring magic of the FA Cup into legend.