Macclesfield’s ‘against all odds’ run rewards owner’s drunken impulse buy

“You would have to be off your head to buy a football club,” says Macclesfield owner Rob Smethurst.

That was the case for the businessman when he found the club’s Moss Rose home listed on property website Rightmove for £500,000 in 2020 after the old Macclesfield Town had been liquidated.

Smethurst was struggling with addiction after selling his successful car trading company. Though Macclesfield-born, he could not claim to have been a fan of the Silkmen and knew nothing about owning a football club, but even in the drunken haze of a four-day bender he knew he had found something.

“I wish I’d bought a kebab at the time!” he said. “But now I’ve got it, what it has done and especially the cup run we’ve been on, it’s just been something so special.”

Smethurst says buying the club has “saved my life”, adding: “You realise it doesn’t matter how much money you’ve got, it’s about bringing a community together and a town together.”

It has saved Macclesfield too. Three promotions in four seasons have the Silkmen rising rapidly back up the pyramid, reaching the National League North.

Nothing prepared them for last month’s FA Cup third-round tie against holders Crystal Palace as they produced arguably the biggest shock in the competition’s history, beating a side 117 league places above them 2-1.

“It was absolutely insane,” Smethurst said. “I genuinely thought it was going to be six, seven, eight, even 10-nil. When these (Palace) players arrive, the amount of money they’re on and the quality, you’re expecting laser beams to come out of their feet.”

Now Macclesfield will welcome another Premier League club to town for a fourth-round tie against Brentford on Monday night. As Smethurst sees it, Macclesfield cannot lose.

“We had our World Cup final against Crystal Palace,” he said. “This is just an extra bonus now.”

More important to Smethurst is what it can do for Macclesfield’s future. Potential investors have been in touch since the Palace match, a day Smethurst estimates was worth £400,000, and another pay day is pending.

Smethurst might not have known much about running a football club when he bought Macclesfield but his decision to install a 3G pitch at Moss Rose has been a game-changer, and not just because Palace did not enjoy it.

With no concerns about wearing out the grass, the pitch is used by a thriving academy, the Smethurst Foundation, and rented out at all hours to provide vital revenue and keep the club’s bar busy every day. It keeps the club at the heart of a community.

“You get all these people coming here, generations of people,” he said. “There are people who have been supporting this club forever. There are a lot of mental health issues, a lot of people that struggle in life and this is a real escape… it just gives people belief.

“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.

“It’s taking it all the way and seeing where it goes for the people of Macclesfield.”

:: Rob Smethurst has signed as Chief Belief Officer at Rightmove. For more information, please visit www.rightmove.co.uk