Although tomorrow afternoon’s trip to Aggborough represents the first under the guise of Macclesfield FC, the Silkmen have made the 166.6-mile round trip on 22 previous occasions.
The first of these occurred on 2nd April 1979 – rather bizarrely, to contest a Staffordshire Senior Cup semi-final.
This was back in the days when county boundaries were secondary to filling locally-based competitions, hence the inclusion of both Macclesfield Town and Kidderminster Harriers.
Phil Staley’s Northern Premier League side had already disposed of Leek Town in the previous round, and arrived at Aggborough confident of progressing against their Southern League Division One North opponents.
It proved to be an evening to forget however, as despite Joe Fletcher finding the back of the net, the hosts ran out 4 – 1 winners thanks to strikes from Mullen, Foxwell, Curley and Griffiths.
Harriers then faced another Cheshire side, Northwich Victoria, over a two-legged final where they were beaten 7 – 5 on aggregate.
The first time the Silkmen made the trip to Aggborough to contest a league fixture was on 28th September 1987.
Kidderminster had become the first-ever side to beat Macclesfield Town in the GM Vauxhall Conference a matter of weeks earlier, yet Peter Wragg’s side made the trip down to Aggborough determined to set the record straight.
In front of 1,317 supporters, the home side proved to be too strong however, as they reigned victorious at the end of a five-goal thriller.
Graham Tobin and Mike Lake both scored for the visitors, yet strikes from O’Dowd, Davies and Casey meant that Wraggy’s side made the trip back up to Cheshire on the back of a 3 – 2 defeat.
Our first victory at Aggborough came on 10th December 1988 and was witnessed by 2,841 spectators.
John Askey proved to be the match-winner that day, as his predatory close-range strike sent the Silkmen fans home with smiles on their faces.
John Askey: Match-winner in December 1988.
Our fourth trip to Aggborough on 4th September 1989 proved to be another entertaining encounter, as the two teams shared the spoils for the very first time.
Macc came into the game on the back of three consecutive victories against Welling United, Enfield and Fisher Athletic respectively – the latter of which came just 48 hours before the trip down to Worcestershire.
John Askey was once again on the scoresheet for Wraggy’s side that evening, and his opener was added to by Phil Derbyshire shortly after.
The hosts fought back however, with Kim Casey ensuring that Harriers restored parity after Richard Forsyth had reduced the arrears.
A rather drab goalless draw followed on 3rd September 1990, before the two sides reconvened at Aggborough on 23rd September 1991.
Colin Lambert opened the scoring for the visitors that day, yet the points were to be shared for the third successive time when ex-Birmingham City midfielder Martin Weir’s ferocious strike flew past Steve Farrelly in the Macc goal.
Kidderminster then secured their third home victory against the Silkmen on 30th January 1993, as we made our seventh trip to Aggborough.
Jon Purdie and David Hadley put the hosts into a commanding lead, and despite the fact that midfielder Mark Dempsey fired an 85th-minute rocket to reduce the arrears, it proved to be nothing more than a consolation for Wraggy’s side.
The 1993/94 season proved to be a memorable one for the Worcestershire side, as they lifted the GM Vauxhall Conference trophy for the very first time.
The two sides met at Aggborough on 11th October 1993, and by this point, Sammy McIlroy had replaced Peter Wragg in the managerial hotseat.
Jon Purdie opened the scoring for the hosts that day, and despite the fact that a 27th-minute strike from Phil Power brought the two sides level, Chris Brindley would ultimately win the contest for Graham Allner’s side.
Although Kidderminster would claim the GM Vauxhall Conference championship the following spring, promotion to the Football League was not afforded to them due to archaic ground regulations in force at the time.
Therefore, they remained in the fifth tier and twelve months later, Macclesfield Town would suffer the same fate.
There has always been a great mutual respect between our great Clubs, and much of this stems back from the perceived injustices that date back to the mid-nineties.
Our ninth visit to Aggborough pretty much wrapped up the GM Vauxhall Conference title for McIlroy’s illustrious side – in actual fact, it proved to be our last victory – even though five games were left to play!
In front of 2,273 spectators, goals from skipper Neil Howarth and winger Karl Marginson proved to be enough to register a crucial 2 – 1 victory – despite the fact that Paul Davies was able to pull a goal back for the hosts.
Our tenth visit to Aggborough came on 13th January 1996, with the game still representing our biggest-ever margin of victory against the Worcestershire side.
Phil Power proved to be the hero that day – as his majestic hat-trick, coupled with a rare Mark Gardiner strike helped secure a 4 – 0 victory for McIlroy’s men.
Phil Power: Hat-trick hero back in January 1996.
A second goalless draw followed in our 1996/97 championship-winning season, before the two sides met at Aggborough for a twelfth time on 18th January 1997.
At the time, Macclesfield Town were FA Umbro Trophy holders, and we were handed a tough First Round fixture against Kidderminster to begin our defence.
On the day, the hosts were far too strong and ran out 3 – 0 winners thanks to strikes from Martin Weir, Lee Hughes and Neil Doherty.
Yet the match became iconic amongst the Silkmen faithful for two reasons.
Firstly, it saw the return of Ryan Price in goal.
Price had sustained horrific facial injuries at Southport just two months prior, and looked destined to spend the rest of the season on the sidelines at least.
There can be no doubt that Price’s inclusion in the starting eleven was greeted with both bewilderment and elation on Aggborough’s visiting terraces, and yet, another name would prove to be equally momentous.
Earlier that week, midfielder Chris Byrne had signed for the Club from Flixton and would replace Neil Mitchell after starting the game on the bench.
Slight in stature but with the heart of a whole pride of lions, Byrne went on to become one of the most naturally gifted players to wear the hallowed blue shirt.
To this day, many Silkmen fans attribute our promotion to the Football League in 1997 to Byrne and his mesmerising turn of pace.
And it all started on that cold January afternoon in Worcestershire, where we were well-beaten by the side we were gallantly chasing down in the league – Kidderminster Harriers.
Chris Byrne (centre) celebrates promotion to the Football League after making his Silkmen debut at Kidderminster in January 1997.
We actually made three trips to Aggborough during the 1996/97 season, with the final jaunt coming on 28th April 1997.
Both sides were consumed with preparations for the final day of the league campaign the following Saturday, but would meet to contest the final of the League Cup.
After a 1 – 1 draw at the Moss Rose, the match did not see any further scoring and as such, Kidderminster claimed the trophy courtesy of the away goals rule.
The following Saturday saw McIlroy’s men secure their second GM Vauxhall Conference title in three years as a result of a historic 4 – 1 victory at Kettering Town, and this meant that our 14th visit to Aggborough did not take place until 2nd December 2000.
With both sides residing in Nationwide League Division Three, Peter Davenport’s side made the trip on a barren run which had seen them record no wins from the previous seven games in all competitions.
Lee Glover’s early strike proved to be in vain that day, as a brace from Adie Smith ensured that Harriers claimed maximum points in our first-ever Football League meeting.
By the time that we made our 15th trip to Aggborough on 19th February 2002, David Moss was in the managerial hotseat and the mercurial Chris Byrne had returned to the Moss Rose after spells at Sunderland and Stockport County.
And it was Byrne who proved to be the match-winner, as his 60th-minute strike represented the only goal of the game.
Our 16th trip to face Harriers came on 12th October 2002, as David Moss retained his perfect record at Aggborough.
Goals either side of half-time from Michael Welch and David Eaton proved to be decisive that day, as Macc claimed a deserved 2 – 0 victory.
John Askey’s Silkmen squad then travelled down to Aggborough on 20th March 2004 to contest our 17th meeting, and they claimed our third consecutive victory in devastating style.
Matthew Tipton set the tone with a 5th-minute penalty, with a venomous Martin Carruthers strike adding to this just before the half-hour mark.
Paul Harsley added a third before the interval, and despite Scott Rickards pulling a goal back for the hosts, Tipton restored our three-goal cushion in the dying stages.
Sadly, Kidderminster suffered relegation from the Football League at the end of the 2004/05 season, but it wasn’t before they had secured a 1 – 0 victory over Brian Horton’s Silkmen on 18th September 2004.
Ritchie Appleby’s penalty proved to be the difference between the two sides that day, with the two sides not meeting at Aggborough again for another eight years.
This occurred on 20th September 2012, and it proved to be a day to forget for Steve King’s side.
Goals from Cheyenne Dunkley, Ryan Rowe and Marvin Johnson gave Harriers a comfortable Blue Square Premier Division victory, as Macc adjusted to life back in the fifth tier.
Harriers would resign victorious the following season too, as goals from Callum Gittings and Amari Morgan-Smith rendered Danny Whitaker’s first-half strike a mere consolation.
Our penultimate visit to Aggborough came on 17th January 2015, and two goals in three second-half minutes proved to be decisive.
Alex Grant opened the scoring in the 66th minute, yet it was Waide Fairhurst’s emphatic strike shortly after that which made the headlines.
From just inside the Kidderminster half, the former Doncaster Rovers striker hit the ball first time to double our lead and send the visiting support into raptures.
Here’s the goal in all its glory.
Our 22nd and final trip to Aggborough came on 13th February 2016, with future Silkmen Keith Lowe and Arthur Gnahoua both on the scoresheet for the hosts either side of a Harry White strike.
Kristian Dennis did pull a goal back for John Askey’s side in added time, but in reality, Kidderminster deserved their win irrespective of the fact that they would suffer relegation from the Vanarama National League at the end of the season.
All this means that our complete record at Aggborough is as follows –
Played: 22
Won: 7
Drawn: 5
Lost: 10
Goals For: 26
Goals Against: 30
How will our 23rd trip to Aggborough end?
Read all the ticket news ahead of the game HERE.
The game will also be broadcast live in Bar Twenty Seven via DAZN, ahead of England’s World Cup Qualifier against Andorra which kicks-off at 17:00.
