When Macclesfield were drawn against Crystal Palace, few outside the town gave them a chance. Palace were not only an established Premier League side, they were the holders of the FA Cup, arriving with international players, a global fanbase and the financial muscle that separates the top flight from the rest of the pyramid. Macclesfield meanwhile sit in the middle of the seventh tier of the English football pyramid.
What unfolded was one of those rare FA Cup evenings that makes the Cup exciting. Macclesfield beat the team sitting 116 places above them, and were rewarded with another home game against another multimillion pound Premier league side in Brentford, who ended their cup run on Monday.
The impact on the town cannot be measured purely in gate receipts or bar takings, though both surged. Local pubs were packed, shop windows filled with blue and children who had drifted towards ‘superclubs’ suddenly had heroes on their doorstep. For a place that has known economic uncertainty and the collapse of its former club, the run brought new life to the community.
Positive News sent photographer Orlando Gili to meet the locals who serve the community, the volunteers who paint the stands, the staff who juggle day jobs with match day duties, and the players who train at night because they have work in the morning.
