Macclesfield hero heads back to school on Monday

• Sam Heathcote said he will return to his PE teacher job still “on cloud nine” after Macclesfield’s FA Cup upset
• Macclesfield beat holders Crystal Palace two-one, becoming the first non-league side to knock out the holders since 1909
• Players and staff spoke about the club’s community spirit and a tribute to late forward Ethan McLeod

Macclesfield defender Sam Heathcote said he will be back teaching PE on Monday morning after helping the Silkmen produce one of the FA Cup’s standout shocks, a two-one third round win over holders Crystal Palace.

On a remarkable afternoon at Moss Rose, Macclesfield, who play in National League North, scored through captain Paul Dawson and Isaac Buckley Ricketts. The result made them the first non-league side to eliminate the holders since Palace themselves knocked out Wolves in 1909.

Palace pulled one back late when Yeremy Pino scored a 90th-minute free kick, setting up a tense finish, but Macclesfield held on through six minutes of stoppage time.

For Heathcote, the celebrations will be followed by a return to normal life at Stamford Park Primary School in Altrincham.

“I didn’t expect to be going back in having won! It’ll be really nice, I’ll have a smile on my face for a long time,” Heathcote said.

Heathcote, who teaches children aged three to 11, said some of his older pupils had delivered blunt pre-match advice.

“They told me, ‘Don’t get sent off’, ‘Don’t give away a penalty’. There’s nothing positive!” he joked. “But a few of them will be happy on Monday for me.”

Dawson set the tone with an early, robust challenge that left him bleeding from a head wound and wearing a bandage. Heathcote said he helped him sort himself out just before Dawson headed in Luke Duffy’s free kick to put Macclesfield ahead two minutes before half-time.

“I’ll take the assist for that!” Heathcote joked. “A bit of his (bandage) ripped off, then he started shouting at me because I was taking way too long, and then he scored. We’ll take that all day.”

The win also highlighted the day-to-day reality of part-time football at Macclesfield, a club formed in 2020 after the demise of Macclesfield Town. Dawson, 27, works as a part-time coach and for a friend’s candle business, and he was helping clear snow from the Moss Rose pitch earlier in the week to ensure a league game could go ahead.

“I had a shovel until the gaffer called me!” Dawson said. “I had to pretend I was sat on a tractor but I was clearing the snow. Then I dropped all of the lads’ new tracksuits off (on Friday), I was like Postman Pat. That was after I finished work. It’s a community club and we all stick together here.”

Heathcote also spoke about the togetherness around the club following the death of forward Ethan McLeod, who was 21 when he died in a car crash on December 16 after travelling back from Macclesfield’s match at Bedford Town.

“A lot of the lads said that at the full-time whistle, when we managed to find each other, that was for him,” Heathcote said. “Every time we step on that field, we try and do our best for him.

“It’s been such a difficult time. I can’t really put into words how everyone’s felt and everyone’s come together…from his family, to the staff, to the players and the fans and everyone. It just shows how much of a special football club this is.”