A month-by-month review of our 2025/26 Enterprise National League North campaign. September is our next port of call!
At the beginning of September, the Silkmen were drawn to face Atherton Laburnum Rovers in the Second Qualifying Round of the Emirates FA Cup at the Leasing.com Stadium, in what proved to be the first tie of a historic run for the Club in the famous old competition.
The first fixture in September didn’t go quite as planned, also at the Leasing.com Stadium as Merthyr Town comfortably dispatched the Silkmen on their own turf despite taking the lead through Danny Elliott, only to be brought back down to earth by a Tom Handley hat-trick providing the wake-up call required for the challenge that lay ahead in what was to be the most competitive season in Macclesfield FC’s history to date.
Josh Kay was loaned in from Oldham Athletic, a trusted former team-mate of Manager John Rooney, whilst James Edmondson also returned for a second stint with the Silkmen from Championship side Blackburn Rovers.
The Silkmen responded to defeat at home to Merthyr and were buoyed by the additions of Josh and James, subsequently providing a spirited performance away at Kidderminster Harriers the following Saturday, rescuing another crucial point, deep in to injury time through in-form man in front of goal Danny Elliott having gone behind to a Luke Spokes strike ten minutes after the break.
Victory in September first came in the aforementioned Emirates FA Cup tie against Atherton LR, breezing past the North West Counties side with a three goal margin, the difference makers that afternoon were Sean Etaluku, Ethan McLeod, grabbing a goal just six minutes in to his competitive debut, and D’Mani Mellor, rounding off the contest mid-way through injury time.
The Silkmen lost the legend that is George Sievwright mid-way through the month. The Northern Premier League and FA Trophy winner with Macclesfield Town sadly passed away at the age of 88.
Nantwich Town were revealed as our Third Qualifying round opponents in the Emirates FA Cup, to be played later in the month at the Leasing.com Stadium.
A trip to Lancashire was next up for Macc as they faced Chorley at a sodden Victory Park, falling to an agonising defeat in the final seconds with the pitch in a barely playable condition. Sean Etaluku and Danny Elliott were on target in the torrid conditions, but it wasn’t to be enough.
Congleton Town were announced as our opponents in the Second Round of the Cheshire Senior Cup, also taking place at the Leasing.com Stadium, in the third of four competitions Macc would appear in during the 2025/26 season.
Victory in the Emirates FA Cup rounded off our September fixtures with Josh Kay and Danny Elliott doing the damage against Nantwich to send the Silkmen in to the hat for the Fourth Round Qualifying draw, live on TalkSPORT.
Stamford were to be the third successive visitors to the Leasing.com Stadium in the competition, with the tie taking place on Saturday 11th October, requiring our visit to Hereford to be re-arranged for .
The month concluded with an update from the Club regarding Rob Smethurst’s reduced day-to-day involvement in operations due to his various other business commitments whilst retaining his position on the Board of Directors.
Results in September:
Macclesfield FC 1-3 Merthyr Town
Kidderminster Harriers 1-1 Macclesfield FC
Macclesfield FC 3-0 Atherton LR
Chorley FC 3-2 Macclesfield FC
Macclesfield FC 2-0 Nantwich Town
Players signed:
Josh Kay (loan from Oldham Athletic)
James Edmondson (loan from Blackburn Rovers)
