Key events
Many of the players have also been on their own incredible journeys. Cameron Borthwick-Jackson hadn’t played for 700 days before his substitute appearance against Crystal Palace. The former Manchester United player said:
It [beating Crystal Palace in the FA Cup third round] is probably my biggest achievement with everything that has gone on and the amount of time I have spent out of the game. To come back and be part of that is probably my biggest achievement for me personally
Macclesfield’s recent success is owed in part to the chairman Robert Smethurst. He famously bought the football club on Rightmove for half a million while on a four-day bender and without any previous football experience. In just over five years he has rebuilt Macclesfield and his life after struggling with alcohol addiction. Speaking before tonight’s game he said:
We’re against all odds, that’s our motto. It’s a rise of the phoenix because we’ve come from nothing. That’s me as well. I was against all odds, never owning a club or having a business plan or any idea about football.
A game against West Ham awaits the winner of this one. Nuno Espírito Santo’s side edged past Burton Albion in a particularly dull game. Crysencio Summerville’s goal in extra time was the moment of quality that sent them through to the fifth round.
Here’s the FA Cup fifth round draw
Fulham v Southampton
Port Vale or Bristol City v Sunderland
Newcastle v Manchester City
Leeds United v Norwich City
Mansfield Town v Arsenal
Wolves v Liverpool
Wrexham v Chelsea
West Ham v Macclesfield or Brentford
Team news
Macclesfield: Dearnley, Fensome, Dawson, Buckley-Ricketts, Mellor, Duffy, Heathcote, Lacey, Osborne, Edmondson, Borthwick-Jackson
Subs: Matheson, Menayese, Griffiths, Dos Santos, Gale, Johnson, Whitehead, Pasiek, Stone.
Brentford: Valdimarsson, Kayode, Collins (c), Pinnock, Hickey, Janelt, Jensen, Yarmoliuk, Donovan, Furo, Nelson
Subs: Balcombe, Henry, Van den Berg, Ouattara, Ajer, Lewis-Potter, Bentt, Shield, Stephenson
Macclesfield’s story is a remarkable one. Macclesfield Town died in October 2020 before the latest iteration of the club was born. Read John Brewin’s piece about the story so far.
Before the match tonight, we have the small matter of the FA Cup draw for the fifth round. Who will Macclesfield or Brentford face in the next round? Niall McVeigh is providing updates.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to a historic minute-by-minute. Tonight sixth-tier Macclesfield welcome Premier League Brentford to the Leasing.com Stadium in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Macc’s 2-1 victory against Crystal Palace in the last round was the biggest that the FA Cup has seen. Against all odds, they beat the FA Cup holders, a team 117 places ahead of them at the time. Macclesfield defender Luke Matheson, best known for his equaliser for Rochdale against Manchester United in 2019, summed up what tonight’s game means. He said: “It’s not necessarily [about saying] ‘we can do this’, it’s ‘we’ve done this’, so we want to go out there and prove it to ourselves again.”
Unlike Crystal Palace, Brentford are flying. Keith Andrews has guided Brentford to seventh in the Premier League after a 1-1 draw with league leaders Arsenal. A win for the away side tonight would also have huge significance as it would only be the third time the club has progressed to the fifth round since their quarter-final finish in 1989.
Kick off is at 7.30pm GMT. Join me for the next few hours.
