Macclesfield chairman ‘legged it’ to be first man in FA Cup pitch invasion

Macclesfield chairman Rob Smethurst admits he was in the thick of the the pitch invasion after the the National League outfit secured historic win over Crystal Palace in the FA Cup

Macclesfield chairman Rob Smethurst has owned the fact that he “legged it” to be the first person in the pitch invasion after the historic win over Crystal Palace on Saturday.

The Silkmen upset the odds as they beat their Premier League opponents – and the defending champions – 2-1 despite being ranked a staggering 117 places below them in the football pyramid. It is statistically the biggest shock in the competition’s history in terms of difference in league position.

And the man who runs the the National League outfit wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to celebrate after claiming he felt like his side “won the FA Cup” after making the fourth round.

Paul Dawson’s header in the first-half had the home fans dreaming of an upset but that became very really when Isaac Buckley-Ricketts doubled the home side’s lead and they held on during a nervous six minutes of stoppage time.

Smethurst couldn’t wait to congratulate his players and admits he was the first one to get on the pitch at the Leasing.com Stadium. He told BBC Radio 5 Live on Sunday: “I legged it!.

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“I thought this is going to happen and I thought you know what I’m going on! I thought I need to hug my players here, I probably was first on and caused havoc.”

He added: “It was just amazing for Macclesfield. I know the lads were partying until three, four o’clock in the morning. I mean the scenes for the town and the community yesterday was just one of those experiences that I’m never going to forget. I was home early believe it or not. I got myself back and watched it all over again. Amazing scenes. For me I think we won the FA Cup yesterday.”

His emotions could not have contrasted more from Oliver Glasner, who was left to try and explain how the Eagles had been on the receiving end of such a shock. The Austrian claiming they deserved to be beaten and the club’s U21 would’ve done a better job.

“We lost and we deserved to lose,” he said. “I was looking for quality from everyone. I brought on more attacking players [at half-time], but I have no explanation for what I’ve seen today.

“You don’t need tactics in these kinds of games. You just have to show what you’re capable of and show a little bit of pride, and you’ll perform in a different way. But today we lacked everything.”

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