On The Road
THe dressing room of a national league team is an unlikely portal into the age of 19th century french romanticism.
Yet scrawled above the entrance, the message of inspiration from victor Hugo reads: ‘nothing in the world is so powerful as an idea whose time has come.’
and for macclesfield town, there is a growing sense their time is coming once more. this victory over second-placed Sutton — which featured a penalty, a red card and a touchline brawl that culminated in a police callout — extended the Silkmen’s lead at the top of the national league to six points and automatic promotion is now on the horizon for John askey’s side.
It is a remarkable achievement and askey’s performance as manager is among the finest in english football this season. a macclesfield legend, he played nearly 700 times for the club and has steered the ship as manager since 2013.
‘It’s a surprise to everybody,’ askey says. ‘We had three players last summer left over from the previous season. We didn’t have one of the lowest budgets — we have the lowest budget. maybe only Halifax are the same. But our players have real quality.’
macclesfield’s resurgence, therefore, appears to be a triumph of coaching endeavour rather than boardroom design. ‘off the pitch, it is probably the worst it has ever been,’ askew concedes.
macclesfield have struggled financially since relegation from the football league in 2012. the club was bought in 2003 by Bashar and amar al Khadi, two Iraqi-Kurd telecoms entrepreneurs whose family settled in the UK in the late 1970s. Yet investment has dried up and at times macclesfield have embarrassed themselves in pursuit of funds. In 2013, their integrity was compromised when they offered the public a chance to appear ‘for at least ten minutes’ in a first-team game — if they paid £20,000 to the club.
the gimmicks have stopped and amar al Khadi was present here, although appearances are rare.
Back in october, Sir alex ferguson dropped in to watch the victory over ebbsfleet. He spent time with askey before talking to the academy boys.
But, mostly, this is a modest affair. one family from South Shields were on the way to Bamber Bridge when news filtered through that the game was called off, so they decided to come and support macclesfield for the day instead. the Sutton manager paul Doswell mingled in the social bar with home fans before the game.
then the referee’s whistle blew and hostilities were renewed. macclesfield scored the only goal through a Danny Whitaker first-half penalty but Sutton were aggrieved by the award and tensions mounted.
macclesfield goalkeeper Shwan Jalal was sent off for a dangerous lunge and as the game entered added time, emotions reached boiling point. first the home fans in the pen behind the dugouts began to make a play towards the pitch.
Stewards held back the fans but on the final whistle supporters appeared to hurl insults at the Sutton managerial team.
other witnesses said members of Sutton’s staff returned verbal volleys. the Sutton kitman Clive Baxter was then allegedly struck by a supporter and after the game, Doswell remonstrated with safety officers, demanding the police be called. the fa will deal with the fallout.
as for macclesfield, it was only delight.
Back in the dressing room, another quote read: ‘Impossible is nothing.’ for askew and his side, it felt fitting.