Agony for the Silkmen as club wound up over £500,000 debt

MACCLESFIELD’S 146- year history came to an end yesterday after the club was wound up with debts totalling more than £500,000.

A judge ordered the Silkman – relegated from League Two into the National League by a points deduction last month – should be shut down.

Owner Amar Alkadhi had asked for a further eight-week adjournment to try to sell the club.

Alkadhi, who recently stood down as chairman, provided a document to the Insolvency and Companies Court, claiming he had access to £1.1million.

But judge Sebastian Prentis did not believe the club could pay its debts and g rant ed the winding-up order. He claimed he had given Alkadhi “ample opportunity” to deal with the debts – and a decision on Macclesfield’s fate has already been postponed 12 times since proceedings began in January 2019.

The court heard the Silkmen owed nearly £190,000 in tax in a case brought by HMRC.

Judge Prentis was also told during the virtual hearing two other creditors were each owed more than £170,000 each.

Macclesfield’s demise completes a rollercoaster two years which saw club legend John Askey win them promotion to the EFL in 2018. Sol Campbell kept them up in 2019 against seemingly-impossible odds and they were seven points adrift at the foot of the table when he took over in November 2018.

But the club was in a mess financially and six former players initiated a winding-up order over the non-payment of wages, which was then taken over by HMRC.

Former England defender Campbell had not been paid when he quit after nine months in August 2019.

Macclesfield were fined and docked 13 point s last season for the non-payment of wages and for failing to fulfil their League Two fixtures against Crewe and Plymouth.

They thought they had survived when the final League Two standings were decided on a points-per game basis and Stevenage finished bottom and were relegated.

But the EFL last month successfully appealed against a ruling to let them off with a two- point deduction and a £20,000 fine for failing to pay their players in March.

The Silkmen had a further four points docked, which sent them back down to the non-league.

Manager Mark Kennedy and his No.2 Danny Butterfield quit and former England and Blackburn goalkeeper Tim Flowers took over.