Askey still can’t believe Macclesfield are back in the League

JOHN Askey says he’ll never forget last Saturday as his Macclesfield Town side secured their promotion back to the Football League.

The Silkmen boss has had plenty of ups and down during the past few years in charge of the club, but they have managed to achieve the unthinkable by finishing as National League champions.

“It means so much to so many people,” said Askey, whose side will be in League Two next season.

“I still can’t quite believe it. I’m trying to let it sink in. You’ll never forget days like this.

“I’ve been lucky enough to be promoted four times in my life, this is the fifth.

“It shows that you can have all the money in the world, but it doesn’t matter if you’re not winning things.

“It was brilliant when I was promoted as a player, but under these circumstances to achieve what we have done, getting the team back up means so much.

“The players were fantastic. We have a small squad but we’re tightly knit.”

Askey was also delighted for his players, with some of them now set to experience playing in the Football League for the first time in their careers.

“The likes of Keith Lowe and Jared Hodgkiss were playing in the league below last year, and then you have George Pilkington and Danny Whitaker who probably thought they would be in the National League for the rest of their career,” he said.