The Silkmen won four trophies between 1951 and 1954, including the Cheshire League's title. A 7-2 thrashing at the hands of Southport eliminated them in their first ever trip to the FA Cup's 1st Round and the club won the Cheshire League again in 1961. A 13 point gap win of the Cheshire League in 1964 equalled a record before the club made it to the FA Cup Third Round in 1968. A spirited showing against top flight Fulham saw a credible 4-2 defeat. Macclesfield's Keith Goalen became the first ever non-league played to be named Footballer of the Month by the Evening Standard newspaper due to his performance against Fulham.
Macc were one of the founder members of the Northern Premier League in 1968 and they won the first two seasons of this division, finishing twelve points clear in 1968/9 and by goal average in 1969/70. It was also during this time that Macc recorded their highest ever attendance at Moss Rose, 7,002 vs Spennymoor United.
More than 28,000 fans saw Macclesfield defeat Telford United at Wembley in the first ever FA Trophy. Macclesfield slowly started declining before a successful 1984/5 season saw them finish as the runners-up. Two years later and Macclesfield won the division, winning promotion to the Conference.
The Silkmen finished midtable in the first Conference season and they reached the FA Trophy final for the second time in 1989. Their opponents were Telford United again, but they couldn't repeat the previous result against the club, losing 1-0 at Wembley.
Macclesfield fought against relegation in 1992/3 and Peter Wragg was sacked as manager, replaced by Sammy McIlroy. Despite finishing top of the Vauxhall Conference in 1994/5, Macc weren't promoted to Division 3 due to their ground not being up to the required standards to play in the Football League. However, they were promoted two seasons later, replacing Hereford United.
The club turned profressional in 1997 and a successful season saw Macclesfield promoted to Division Two at the first attempt, remaining unbeaten at home for the entire season. 12 months later and Macclesfield were back in the Third Division, finishing bottom of Division 2 and McIlroy left to become the coach of Northern Ireland.
Several managers and several relegation battles later, Brian Horton took charge and immediately saved the club from relegation in 2003/4. That was also due to the arrival of Jon Parkin from Macclesfield Town. The following season was a success, Macclesfield making the Playoffs after challenging for automatic promotion for most of the season. However, they met Keith Alexander's Lincoln City and went out 2-1 on aggregate.
The following season showed how much of an impact Parkin had on the Silkmen, his absence from the side through injury saw Macc struggle against the drop. He was linked with a move away from Macclesfield when the side hit financial troubles.
Irregularities over the building of part of their ground meant that they had to pay the Football League an extremely large fine and that put the club's entire future at stake. The sale of Parkin to Hull City helped ease those worries, as well as the generosity of several other clubs around the country, especially from the Imps.
Macclesfield safely avoided relegation that season but the following season was far from joyful. The Silkmen didn't win until their 20th match and they started to pull away from the drop zone. However, all those that credit Paul Ince with being the only person responsible for Macc escaping relegation that season seem to forget that he also guided the Silkmen on a run that saw them return to the relegation battle, only avoiding the drop on the final day.
2007/8 was a mediocre season for the Silkmen, never being in with a shout of promotion but never really being involved in the relegation battle.
Macclesfield have recently announced that they are in the initial stages of moving to a new stadium. This is still in the planning stage but that new ground is proposed to be built in a new development area of the town.
DID YOU KNOW : Albert Valentine scored 83 goals for Macclesfield Town in 1933/4.
DID YOU KNOW : Macclesfield Town have featured in 31 Cheshire Senior Cup finals, 20 of those being wins.
DID YOU KNOW : Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is a "supporter" of Macclesfield Town FC. On an addition of Soccer AM during the 2007/8 season, Johnson asked who he should support and drew Macclesfield Town out at random.
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