Wayne Rooney fights tears as brother John’s Macclesfield stun Crystal Palace in FA Cup upset
Manchester United and England legend Wayne Rooney was spotted fighting back tears of pride and joy as he watched his brother, John, steer Macclesfield to an epic FA Cup triumph.
The National League North team pulled off one of the greatest FA Cup shocks in history by defeating reigning champions Crystal Palace 2-1 at Silk Mill. Goals from Paul Dawson and Isaac Buckley-Ricketts sent the Silkmen into seventh heaven, before a last-minute goal from Yeremy Pino ramped up the tension.
However, Macclesfield held their nerve, defending valiantly to secure a spot in the fourth round of the FA Cup, extending their fairy-tale run in the tournament. And afterwards, former striker turned pundit Wayne could not hide his emotion.
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
The ex-Everton striker said on BBC One: “It’s incredible to see my younger brother achieve this, he has not long been the manager. I am so proud of him.”
Reflecting on the victory, John said: “I can’t believe it, we never thought we would be in this position. We were incredible from the first minute. I thought we were deserved winners. I couldn’t be any prouder of the lads.
“I couldn’t have asked any more of them and you can see the joy in them.”
(Image: Martin Rickett/PA Wire.)
Macclesfield had previously beaten AFC Totton and Slough Town to reach the third round, but beating Palace – 117 places above them in the football pyramid – is the biggest FA Cup upset of all time in terms of the number of places between the teams.
John praised man of the match Dawson, adding: “Dawson is one of them, he is unbelievable in the air. He scores goals from the field and can play centre half, he puts his head where his goals are.
“He has that passion and sometimes we have to rein him in a bit but he was incredible today. He is a class clown. I didn’t think it was possible but there is that little bit of hope that anything can happen on the day.”
(Image: Ryan Browne/Shutterstock)
Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner told BBC Sport: “We give congratulations to Macclesfield for winning. We had no kind of quality today and I saw no one who could win a dribble. Then conceding set goals and timing in the header.
“If you can’t create clear chances, it is a lack of quality that we have shown today. We deserved to lose.”
Ex-England goalkeeper Paul Robinson told BBC Radio 5 Live “The greatest cup competition in the world provides another piece of incredible history in front of our eyes.
“Macclesfield fans young and old have been waiting years for this. Every single one of these players put in a special performance today.
“The current FA Cup holders have gone out to Macclesfield, a team that trains twice a week. You cannot underplay the enormity of this giant killing.”
