The FA Cup Third Round is magic
Macclesfield F.C. will host defending champions Crystal Palace at a ground built in 1891.
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 wound 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. He 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, how non-league football is thriving these days, and how Macclesfield got their nickname:
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A few more matches worth your time this weekend…
On Friday, you’ve got WREXHAM vs NOTTINGHAM FOREST (2:30pm ET, 7:30pm UK) in a fun little test for Hollywood A.F.C. They’re starting to find their footing in the Championship, but can they handle a Premier League outfit? There’s also PORT VALE vs FLEETWOOD TOWN at the same time. Just got a feeling about that one.
30 minutes earlier, there’s a very strong AFCON matchup between CAMEROON and MOROCCO (2pm ET, 7pm UK). The Moroccan hosts were pre-tournament favorites, while Cameroon crashed out of World Cup qualifying amid a federation feud featuring Samuel Eto’o, but the Indomitable Lions have pieced it back together for this tournament.
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On Saturday, you can lead off with MACCLESFIELD vs CRYSTAL PALACE (7:15am ET, 12:15pm UK), then I’d go for BOREHAM WOOD vs BURTON ALBION (10am ET, 3pm UK) as a National League side hosts Burton in League One. There’s also SALFORD CITY vs SWINDON TOWN in the same window, a meeting of two sides pushing for promotion in League Two.
Then there’s another peach of a cup tie in GRIMSBY TOWN vs WESTON-SUPER-MARE. Ruben Amorim’s dismissal this week reminds us that Grimsby felled his Manchester United in the League Cup back at the start of the season. They’ll host Weston-super-Mare A.F.C., who are in the sixth tier of the English football pyramid in the National League South. That puts them even with Macclesfield as the lowest-ranked teams left in the competition.
Finally, you can round out your Saturday with CHARLTON ATHLETIC vs CHELSEA (3pm ET, 8pm UK). The Blues will travel across London to The Valley to face one of the Championship’s poorer sides, and yet you still feel it’s an early test for new boss Liam Rosenior.
If you’d rather go for AFCON on Saturday, the quarterfinals continue with ALGERIA vs NIGERIA (11am ET, 4pm UK), two teams that went unbeaten in the group stage. So were both contestants in EGYPT vs IVORY COAST (2pm ET, 7pm UK), though the former required extra time to get past Benin. Check out Mo Salah’s control and run after 117 and a half minutes to carry the ball up the field for his team. He followed that up by stroking the ball past the keeper on the break to make it 3-1, game over.
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On Sunday, you’ve got a Premier League encounter from yesteryear as PORTSMOUTH host ARSENAL (9am ET, 2pm UK). The team at the very top of the English pyramid will travel down to the South Coast to do battle in one of the great historic venues across the land, Fratton Park. It’s noisy, boisterous, and contains one of the few works of Archibald Leitch still standing.
We’ll round out our weekend by deviating from the FA Cup-slash-AFCON script. There’s some cup final fare out of Spain with BARCELONA vs REAL MADRID (2pm ET, 7pm UK) in the Supercopa de España, and then a Serie A title bout kicks off 45 minutes later with INTER vs NAPOLI (2:45pm ET, 7:45pm UK).