The Silkmen Trivia Quiz

Answer: 1874

Macclesfield was founded in 1874 after adopting Football Association rules, although had existed beforehand, though had played to the rules of Rugby Union. Macclesfield was known by various names until 1966, including Macclesfield Football and Athletic Club and Macclesfield FC.

In 1966, Macclesfield added Town to their name and have been known as Macclesfield Town ever since, although the club has always remained the same.

Answer: 1891

The ground did not host Football League games until 1990, as Chester City played their home games at Moss Road for two seasons while they were moving grounds themselves.
Moss Rose had a capacity of 6355, of which 2600 could be seated. The ground still had a large amount of terracing.

Answer: Conference North

Macclesfield Town have played in the following divisions:
Founder members of The Combination - 1890-1911.
Joined Lancashire Comination in 1911 and left in 1915.
Founder members of Cheshire County League 1919 and left in 1968.
Founder members of Northern Premier League 1968.
Promoted to Conference in 1987.
Promoted to Football League Division Three in 1996.
Promoted to Football League Division Two in 1997-98 (relegated next season).

Answer: 13

Macclesfield Town have enjoyed moderate success since 1891, although only in non-league football.
They won their first of six Cheshire County League title in 1931-32 and won it again in 1932-33. Four more titles were added in 1952-53, 1960-61, 1963-64, and 1967-68.
Macclesfield were founder members of the Northern Premier League in 1968-69 and were the inaugural winners. They won a second title in 1969-70 and a third in 1986-87.
After promotion to the Conference, they won their first conference title in 1994-95, but were not promoted due to ground standards. They won the conference again in 1996-97 and were promoted.

Answer: 1998-99

It took 120 years for Macclesfield Town to finally become a Football League club when they won the Conference title in 1996-97. With momentum from the their title, Macclessfield gained back to back promotions with 2nd place in Division Three (later League Two) and automatic promotion in their first season in the Football League in 1997-98.
However, the third tier of football was too much too soon for the Silkmen, and in 1998-99 they were immediately relegated back to Division Three.
Between 1999-2009, Macclesfield played in Division Three / League Two, only making the playoffs once and more often than not battling relegation.

Answer: 1967-68

The Silkmen only reached the third round twice as a non-league club, seen as some as the 'Holy Grail' round for non-league Football clubs. That is the round where teams from the top two divisions joined the Cup and where non-league clubs can make lots of money and perhaps cause a massive upset.

Answer: Carlisle United

Macclesfield Town first competed in the Football League Trophy in 1997-98, where they had a bye to the Second Round and were beaten by Preston North End.
Their best run in the Trophy was in 2005-06, where they beat Chesterfield, Rotherham United, Cambridge United and Hereford United to meet Carlisle United in the two-legged Northern Area Final. After two close ties, the score finishes 4-4 with Carlisle United declared winners on the away goals rule.

Answer: 1993

Sammy McIlroy arrived at non-league Macclesfield Town in 1993 after a distinguished playing career at the likes of Manchester United and Stoke City.
The Silkmen barely avoided relegation in 1992-93 and McIlroy was brought in to rebuild and get the club into the Football League.
His first season brought a 7th place finish and a Cup win in a local competition. But the 1994-95 season was nothing but an unqualified success, as Macclesfield Town romped to the Conference title, only to be cruely denied promotion due to Moss Rose not meeting Football League requirements regarding capacity and seating.
A fourth place finish in 1995-96 was followed by another Conference title in 1996-97 and this time, after work on the Moss Rose ground, they were promoted to the football League.
Almost unbelievably, the good time continued for Macclesfield Town, as the club turned full-time professional and won promotion at the first time of asking, finishing second to Notts County and remaining unbeaten at Moss Rose in the League, with 19 wins in 23 games.
Relegation followed the season after, and McIlroy soon left the Silkmen to manage Northern Ireland, but his years of success are still fondly remembered by supporters, with a suite at Moss Rose named after him.

Answer: Paul Ince

Ince was hired after previous manager Brian Horton was sacked after a poor run of results at the start of the 2006-07 season. Ince joined with the club seven points adrift at the bottom of the Football League.
Ince lost his first game in charge and it took until December for Macclesfield Town to win their first League game. The Silkmen then went on a nine-game unbeaten run and were rewarded with a third round F.A Cup tie against Chelsea in January 2007. Ince was rewarded for his fine work with the Manager of the Month award for December. Macclesfield lost 6-1 to Chelsea, but were competitive throughout and gave Chelsea a scare when levelling the scores 1-1.
The club then stuttered through February, March and April and it took a 1-1 draw with Notts County on the final day of the season to guarantee survival. The game is also remembered for the final game of Ince's career as a professional football.
Having made his reputation at Macclesfield, Ince was quickly snapped up by MK Dons and Macclesfield hired Ian Brightwell as a replacement.

Answer: Blue and White

Macclesfield adopted the blue and white colours in 1947 and have used these in nearly every season since, except 1975-76, where they played in tangerine and black.
The club crest is based upon the crest of the town of Macclesfield itself.
Support for the club is low for a Football League club, and the club had the record of the lowest average attendance until the arrival of Accrington Stanley and Dagenham and Redbridge.
Traditional rivals are Altrincham F.C, where both sides played in the same league for decades. However, having not played in the same division for over ten years, the closest rivals are Chester City and Stockport County.