We all spend a lot of time lamenting the cynical side of the modern game, but if there’s an antidote, it’s the weekend ahead of us. The FA Cup Third Round Proper is one for the romantics: the smallest clubs in the land can share a pitch with the biggest, and both sides can live a different football life for a day.

Moss Rose was built in 1891 for Macclesfield Town, which was would-up in 2020 amid financial troubles. A phoenix club was born in the ashes and has risen from the ninth tier of the English football pyramid (the North West Counties Football League) to the sixth (the National League North) in next-to-no time. Now they’ve got their biggest match of the year on Saturday, as FA Cup holders and Premier League stalwarts Crystal Palace will come to a small ground south of Manchester to battle the Silkmen.

In fact, says this week’s guest, it’s one of the biggest days in the combined history of Macclesfield Town and Macclesfield F.C. That guest is James Walker of The Silkmen News, a podcast and newsletter, and he also explained how new owner Robert Smethurst righted the ship with the help of his friend Robbie Savage after buying up the assets in an online liquidation sale. We also touched on how Wayne Rooney’s brother, John, is doing this season having replaced Savage as manager having helped the club win promotion how non-league football is thriving these days, and how Macclesfield got their nickname.

Check out The Silkmen News on Spotify and Substack, and get more sharp coverage of the world's game at TheFootballWeekend.com ↗️

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