Stunning Giant-Killers Deliver Historic 155-Year Low to Reigning FA Cup Champions
Macclesfield made history on Saturday by becoming the first sixth-tier team in the 155-year existence of the English FA Cup to triumph over a Premier League side. Their victims were none other than Crystal Palace, the defending FA Cup holders, who suffered an unforgettable defeat that will be etched in football folklore.
Oliver Glasner rotated his squad for the journey to face a team competing in the National League North, sitting five tiers and 177 positions beneath Palace in England's football hierarchy. Despite the changes, highly-rated captain Marc Guéhi was included in the starting lineup, alongside Adam Wharton and summer acquisition Yeremy Pino, who cost £26 million ($34.9 million).
Macclesfield captain Paul Dawson would open the scoring just before the break. Climbing highest among his distinguished opponents in a packed penalty box, the skipper directed his bandaged head toward the ball, sending it bouncing past a stranded Walter Benítez.
Glasner introduced three additional first-team players at halftime, including Palace's record January acquisition Brennan Johnson, but watched Macclesfield extend their advantage through Isaac Buckley-Ricketts. The ex-Manchester City academy graduate stretched out his foot on the hour, miraculously managing to guide the ball into the far corner while facing the modest terraces filled with supporters drunk on pure amazement.
"We want three," echoed around Moss Rose, Macclesfield's 5,300-capacity ground featuring a 4G synthetic surface. Two goals would suffice, despite Pino's late consolation for the visitors in stoppage time.
The Silkmen's presence in the FA Cup third round, much less as architects of the tournament's most stunning upset, appeared impossible just five-and-a-half years earlier. This version of the club was established in October 2020 as a successor to Macclesfield Town, which ceased operations the previous month after 146 years of history.
While Palace concluded the 2021–22 campaign in their customary 12th place in the Premier League standings, Macclesfield were claiming the North West Counties Premier Division title in the ninth tier of English football. Three promotions across four seasons have elevated the club to the National League North, where they currently occupy a mid-table position but remain within reach of the playoffs.
Every Non-League Team to Ever Beat a Premier League Team in FA Cup History
Macclesfield accomplished the unthinkable, though Kidderminster Town nearly claimed that distinction in 2022, coming within moments and one Declan Rice surge of eliminating West Ham United from the sixth division.
Since the Premier League's inception in 1992, just two fifth-tier clubs have overcome top-division opponents in the FA Cup. Luton Town stunned a Norwich City team featuring a youthful Harry Kane in January 2013. Following three consecutive relegations, it marked a satisfying moment of vindication for the Hatters, who are renowned for their frequent movement between divisions.
Lincoln City advanced to the quarterfinals in 2017. Danny Cowley's squad eliminated Championship teams Ipswich Town and Brighton & Hove Albion before facing Sean Dyche's Burnley in the fifth round. A late winner in the 89th minute, Lincoln's sole shot on target, was sufficient to make the Imps the first non-league side in 103 years to reach the final eight.
Macclesfield must navigate two additional rounds to match those achievements, but they can certainly take pride in their historic moment against the current cup champions.