MACCLESFIELD TOWN FOOTBALL CLUB - POTTED HISTORY

Early Days

From the mid-19th century until 1874 the Silkmen played under rugby rules.In 1891 they moved to the Moss Rose where they still play and finished champions of the Manchester & District League in 1906 and 1908 and by 1911 had carried off the Cheshire Senior Cup five times.

Macclesfield were founder members of the Cheshire County League in 1919 achieving the League and Cup double in 1932.They retained the title in 1933 and finished runners-up the following year when Albert Valentine achieved the club's goal scoring record of 83 goals, and added two more Senior Cup triumphs in 1930 and 1935. The post war years saw three more Senior Cup wins, a League Cup win in 1948 and championship victories in 1953, 1961 and 1964.

1968 the club reached the third round of the FA Cup losing 2 - 3 at Fulham but again finished as League champions and winners of the North West Floodlit Cup.

Northern Premier League

At the beginning of the 1968-69 season they became founder members of the Northern Premier League, topping the table 12 points clear of Wigan in their first season.The feat was repeated the following season when they also won the inaugural FA Trophy at Wembley, in addition to which they were finalists in the League Cup.There were Cheshire Senior Cup wins in 1969, 1971 and 1973.

In 1979 the club finished bottom of the Northern Premier League but returned to winning ways with the Cheshire Senior Cup in 1983 and in 1985 reached the first round of the FA Cup for the fourth successive season.

The 1986-87 season saw the Silkmen win the Northern Premier League and promotion to the Vauxhall Conference.The League Cup and the President's Cup were also won to complete a fantastic Northern League treble.

Vauxhall Conference

In their first season in the Conference the Silkmen reached the third round of the FA Cup losing to Port Vale after beating Carlisle and Rotherham.In 1988-89, they reached the FA Trophy Final at Wembley for the second time, losing 1 - 0 to Telford United in extra time.In 1991-92 they won the Cheshire Senior Cup for the 18th time.

In 1992-93 they enjoyed a good run in the FA Cup playing nine games before being knocked out by Stockport County in the second round having disposed of League side Chesterfield in a penalty shoot-out in the first round.

Sammy McIlroy

The former Manchester United and Northern Ireland international, Sammy McIlroy, was appointed manager at the start of the 1993-94.He achieved immediate success with victory in the Drinkwise Cup and another League scalp was added when the Silkmen beat Hartlepool United in the first round of the FA Cup only to be knocked out in the following round at Crewe Alexandra.

The 1994-95 season saw the Silkmen win the Vauxhall Conference heading the table from 5th November 1994 until the end of the season but were denied promotion to League status due to ground criteria, however, they had set a Conference record of ten consecutive victories.

Success under McIlroy continued when in 1995-96 the Silkmen won the FA Trophy at Wembley for a second time.However, their greatest triumph to date came at the end of the 1996-97season when they won the Vauxhall Conference by five points having trailed by 15 points at one stage.On this occasion victory was rewarded with promotion to the Football League.

Football League

There was instant success in their first year when they finished runners-up gaining automatic promotion and were the only English professional club that season to be unbeaten at home in the League.Life was difficult at the higher level, and for the first time in their history the Silkmen were relegated at the end of the 1998-99 season.

A mid-table finish was achieved the following season and the Cheshire Senior Cup was won for a record 20th time, however, the most successful time in their history came to an end when Sammy McIlroy became the manager of the Northern Ireland side.Sammy's assistant and former Manchester United team mate Peter Davenport took over but he did not have any real success and left the club when asked to work alongside Gil Prescott who was then put in charge.An injury crisis hit the club resulting in another mid-table finish.

In November 2001 former West Ham United player Kevin Keen took temporary charge until the appointment of David Moss who secured the Silkmen's League status and took them to the third round of the FA Cup where they lost 3 - 0 to West Ham at the Moss Rose in front of 4.4 million BBC television viewers.

Club legend John Askey took up the reigns early in the 2003-04 season but in the coming months results began to slip and it was left to former Manchester City manager Brian Horton to retain the Silkmen's League status in the short time from his appointment on 1st April until the end of the season.The following season Horton took the Silkmen to fifth position in the League but Lincoln City were the winners in the play-off semi-finals.

The 2005/06 season saw the team finish in 17th position but reached the Northern Area Final of the LDV Vans Trophy only to be beaten by in-form Carlisle United.However, the start of the following season was a disaster and with only four points gained by the end of September, Brian Horton was dismissed with Ian Brightwell taking charge until Paul Ince, the former England International, was appointed to his first managerial position.He was given what looked to be an impossible task with Macclesfield well adrift at the foot of the table but on the last day of the 2006/07 season the Silkmen retained their Football League status.Along the way the team enjoyed an unbeaten run of 10 matches equalling the club's record which came to an end at Stamford Bridge in the third round of the FA Cup when Chelseawon 6 -1.

At the end of June 2007 Paul Ince left to take up the manager's position at MK Dons with Ian Brightwell appointed as manager.

Geoff Knights