Macclesfield Town

Macclesfield Town Football Club was a professional association football club in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England, which was wound-up after a High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially known as Macclesfield F.C., the club was formed in 1874 and from 1891 played home games at Moss Rose. It competed in the short-lived Combination league in the 1890–91 season, reforming in the Manchester League at the end of the century. The club won the Manchester League title twice, before becoming inaugural members of the Cheshire County League at the start of the 1919–20 season, ultimately winning the League six times. Renamed Macclesfield Town in 1946, the club were founder members of the Northern Premier League in 1968, winning the league in its first two years, as well as the FA Trophy in 1970. They were promoted to the Conference after they won their third Northern Premier League title in 1986–87. Manager Sammy McIlroy led Macclesfield Town to the top of the Conference in 1993–94, but they were not promoted as Moss Rose did not meet Football League requirements. They won the FA Trophy for a second time in 1996. They again won the Conference title in 1996–97 and this time were promoted, winning promotion in their inaugural Football League campaign with a second-place finish in the Third Division in 1997–98. However they were immediately relegated from the Second Division. The club stayed in the fourth tier of the Football League from 1999 to 2012, losing a play-off semi-final in 2005, before being relegated back into the Conference. Despite financial constraints, manager John Askey led the club back into the Football League as champions of the National League in 2017–18. In 2018–19, the club avoided relegation back to the National League, but financial issues continued to affect it. After a points deduction activated on 11 August 2020, the club was relegated to the National League, the 5th tier of English football, for the 2020–21 season. On 14 September 2020, Macclesfield Town played their final fixture, a friendly against Witton Albion of the Northern Premier League. Following the winding-up order, the club was initially suspended and then expelled from the National League with effect from 12 October 2020. In October 2020, local businessman Robert Smethurst purchased the assets of Macclesfield Town, and established Macclesfield F.C., entering it into the North West Counties Football League in the 2021–22 season.