Fans braved the chilly weather, lining up for over six hours outside Macclesfield FC’s modest stadium just to secure a ticket. Yet, they would have willingly waited much longer.

Little did they know, they were about to witness not just the most momentous occasion in their club’s history, but one of the FA Cup’s most astonishing upsets.

It was a day when the football gods seemed to cast a spell over their previously unassuming Cheshire market town. Hope triumphed over logic, and the eruption of joy at the final whistle was so intense that some claimed the celebratory roar was audible all the way in Manchester, 50 miles to the north.

This shocking victory was particularly impressive given the 117 league positions separating the two teams. Just last May, Crystal Palace had lifted the FA Cup by defeating Manchester City, adding to the magnitude of the upset. Remarkably, the last time a non-league team eliminated the reigning champions was back in 1909.

For the Macclesfield players, the triumph comes with an enticing reward—a celebratory trip to Ibiza, a promise made by club owner Robert Smethurst should they win.

Everyone loves a David and Goliath story, but this was a fairytale, too. One freighted with poignancy.

For at the end, as Macclesfield’s men celebrated their 2-1 victory, hoisting captain Paul Dawson on to their shoulders, they also found time for serious reflection, dedicating their win to 21-year-old striker Ethan McLeod who died in a car accident just before Christmas.

Macclesfield’s captain Paul Dawson celebrates Macclesfield victory against Crystal Palace in the biggest upset in FA Cup history 

Ecstatic Macclesfield fans after they beat Palace yesterday. The supporters had queued in the cold outside Macclesfield FC’s tiny ground for more than six hours to buy a ticket. Yet they would have happily done so for ten times longer

How they did Ethan proud. Playing with determination and belief, no one could dispute they deserved it.

Yet only six years ago the club, half-a-million pounds in debt, was facing ruin. Then along came Mr Smethurst, 48, who bought the club on a whim while drunk having made his fortune through car selling app AutoTrader. He was a worried man when he sobered up. ‘The place had fallen apart,’ he said. ‘It was as derelict as it could possibly be: The seats were broken; the glasses were smashed; the pitch was non-existent; weeds, cracked tarmac…’

But his hard work, and £4 millon investment, saw this phoenix club rise from the ashes of bankruptcy and win three promotions in four seasons, taking them to the National League North.

John Rooney was joined at the 5,300-capacity Moss Rose ground by Wayne, who flew in from a holiday in Barbados. John said: ‘I never thought this would happen. I can’t believe it. In the first half we had chances, when we took the lead the message to the boys was to try and manage the game.

‘Scoring a second was a surprise, but I thought we were well-deserving winners. We nullified them. We were absolutely incredible.’ 

No one typified the home side’s fighting spirit more than man-of-the-match Dawson, who was injured in an aerial challenge five seconds after kick-off and then played with a bandaged head after treatment. Yet it didn’t prevent him scoring the first goal with a header just before half time. Isaac Buckley-Ricketts stunned Palace further when he added a second after the break.

The Premier League side pulled one back from a stoppage-time free kick, but Macclesfield held on to secure the famous win.

Wayne, working as a pundit for the BBC, was on the verge of tears. ‘It’s incredible, I am getting emotional to see my younger brother achieve this,’ he said. ‘He’s not been long in management and to get through to the fourth round of the FA Cup and beat Crystal Palace, I am so proud of him.’

But it was really a day for the fans. ‘I’ll never forget this day for as long as I live,’ said 19-year-old Peter Whitford. ‘Who’d have thought it? We’re in the fourth round now but who knows… we could go all the way. You have to dream, don’t you?’