Macclesfield goalkeeper Max Dearnley tells the story of his side's knock-out of the FA Cup holders, Crystal Palace.
Header image: Ryan Browne/Shutterstock
On a cold mid-January evening in the Baltic north west of England, Max Dearnley sat on the sofa with his dad watching Benidorm. In between laughing at the familiar hijinx of the Garveys, Mateo, and co., he turned to his father and said “Dad, I actually can’t believe what we’ve just done.”
It was a small, domestic moment. And yet it perfectly mirrored the mindset of world football that day, as people across living rooms, pubs, public transport, and group chats were expressing the exact same sentiment: I cannot believe that just happened.
The FA Cup has always lived on the unexpected. Giant-killings are the lifeblood of the oldest cup competition in world football. But this was its biggest yet.
To hammer home the context you’ve probably already heard, but which bears repeating: sixth-tier Macclesfield knocked out Premier League Crystal Palace - the holders - in a third-round shock that cannot be overstated. No side from their level had ever eliminated a Premier League club, let alone the reigning champions.
The Silkmen train just twice a week. Most of the squad have day jobs. Their most recognisable face is Tom Clare, better known for a stint on Love Island than his work in the final third.
And behind it all, with the best seat in the house as history unfolded in front of him, was the Macclesfield goalkeeper, Max Dearnley.
We spoke to Max to understand what the greatest giant-killing of all time actually felt like, from a goalkeeper’s perspective.
“I honestly just treated it like another game,” Dearnley admits. “If anything, there was less pressure on us than in most league games. Nobody expected us to win, so we just went out there and played.”
That approach began well before the 12:15pm kick-off. The early start, unusual at this level, ended up working in Macclesfield’s favour. “We literally woke up, had breakfast, and went straight to the ground,” Dearnley says. “There was no time to sit around thinking about it. No time to stew over what was coming.”
Even the preparation in the days before had been noticeably low-key. “Training was short, sharp, and pretty normal, if I’m honest. There wasn’t this big build-up. The gaffer didn’t want us overloading our heads with information. It was just technical bits, shape work, and then off home,” Dearnley says.
There was no theatrical siege‑mentality speech, no hour‑long video sessions on stopping Premier League movement. Nothing in the days before kick-off hinted that this group of part-time footballers were walking towards something that would be replayed for years to come.
“It honestly just felt like half-day prep for a league game,” Dearnley laughs. “I think that helped us massively. It stopped it becoming bigger in our minds than it needed to be.”
As kick-off edged closer, the magnitude of the day did begin to press gently at the edges of Dearnley’s thoughts. He is human, after all. The first flicker of nerves didn’t arrive on the pitch, but in the car park.
“As soon as I saw all the cameras and media outside - and my dad being interviewed by Michail Antonio for some reason - I was a bit nervous,” he admits. But the nerves didn’t linger.
“The warm-up was fine. The tunnel was fine. And once the game kicks off, it’s just football. Ninety minutes, 11 v 11 - you’ve got a chance.” For a goalkeeper, this sense of normality is a weapon. Within minutes, the occasion had been reduced to its simplest form: keep it out of the net.
When the whistle finally blew, it didn’t feel like the start of some inevitable fairytale - at least not at first. Macclesfield did what underdogs are supposed to do and they did it well. They pressed, chased every second ball, and won territory by sheer desire. Palace looked oddly flat, almost bewildered by the intensity and relentless energy of their hosts.
Slowly, a quiet belief began to take hold at Moss Rose. It didn’t arrive with a roar but with rising murmurs and small, accumulating moments. A clearance cheered louder than usual, a 50/50 won, a spell of possession that made the home fans lean forward.
On 43 minutes, the previous night’s dreams of everyone in this provincial northern town began to sharpen into reality. Captain Paul Dawson, head bandaged from an earlier collision, peeled away and nodded Luke Duffy’s deep free-kick beyond Walter Benítez’s despairing reach. The stadium erupted. Macclesfield, 117 places below their opponents in the league pyramid, were now leading the holders of the FA Cup - and the impossible suddenly felt a little less improbable.
“It did feel surreal the whole 90 minutes,” Dearnley reflected. “But when we went in for half-time, Sam Heathcote turned to me and said, ‘It’s our house.’ We always say that before every game, but in that moment it really hit home - it felt like we could actually win.”
Into the second half, Macclesfield’s confidence only grew. On the hour mark Isaac Buckley-Ricketts capitalised on a loose scramble, bobbling the ball slowly past Benítez to double the lead, and suddenly the Silkmen were on the brink of history.
“I just turned around, because my dad was in the stands behind me, and I thought, what is going on here? We’re 2-0 up against the holders. That’s mental.”
“I thought: I haven’t really been troubled here. If we keep doing what we’re doing, there’s no way we can lose this game.
Belief, he explains, comes not just from preparation but from concrete moments on the pitch. “Confidence is massive as a goalkeeper. Once you’ve made a few saves or started the game well, that belief changes everything. You’re not worrying about mistakes; you’re thinking about doing something positive for the team.”
Even the late free-kick that brought Palace back to 2-1 didn’t shake him. “It felt like a balloon burst a little.” he says. “But I just took it minute by minute, tried to slow the game down, manage it as best I could. As a goalkeeper, you’ve got to control what you can and hope the final whistle comes soon enough.”
For the man between the posts, there’s no hiding place in a cup tie like this. Dearnley’s job was a strange blend of long stillness and sudden intensity.
“When the fans get behind you, it gives you that extra edge, even in long quiet spells,” he says. While outfield players can ride the energy by running more and tackling harder, a keeper has to store it, ready for the one moment that matters.
“I think being vocal when it’s quiet is important. It keeps your mind engaged on the game, so if you are called upon, you’re still switched on - whether it’s a save, a cross, or coming to clear something over the top.”
There’s also a pragmatism to his style that suited the day. Goalkeeper’s mistakes are different. An outfield error might be forgotten by the next attack. A keeper’s misstep usually ends in disaster.
“I try to limit the chance of something going wrong,” he says. “Nobody’s going to look back on that game and think, ‘Why didn’t he clip it down the line?’ But if you try that and they intercept it when you’re miles out of your goal, that’s what people remember.”
If the performance showed composure, the celebrations were pure emotion. Some players went straight out into town. Others stayed in the clubhouse, pulling pints, posing for pictures and soaking up the atmosphere with family and fans.
“We all just wanted to be together and savour the moment,” Dearnley says. “It didn’t really sink in as to what we’d done until a few days later.”
The win hasn’t changed how he sees himself or the team. Macclesfield remain grounded, anchored by the influence of John Rooney.
“The FA Cup is nice, but the league is our bread and butter,” Dearnley says. “We’ve just got to take it game by game. If we have an amazing cup run but don’t do well in the league, then the effort means nothing.”
What has changed is the club’s place in the wider story of the competition. It’s an upset that will be mentioned whenever people talk about what the FA Cup can be.
“It’s a special moment that everyone will look back on - showing our kids, grandkids,” Dearnley says. “Nobody had an average game. Everybody played unbelievable that day. For that result to happen, that needed to happen.”
If there’s a thread that runs through Dearnley’s story of that afternoon, it’s mindset. Belief. Composure. Refusing to let fear dictate your decisions.
“Have no fear,” he says, when asked what advice he’d give a young goalkeeper. “Fear kills your game. You’ve got to go into a game thinking, what’s the worst that can happen? You make a mistake. All goalkeepers make mistakes. That happens.”
“If you have no fear and go into a game trying to enjoy it, you’re going to play the best football that you can physically play.”
It’s the same fearlessness that helped Macclesfield stare down the FA Cup holders - and win. And if they carry that mindset into the rest of the competition, nobody will underestimate whose house they are walking into.
Macclesfield host Premier League side Brentford at home in the Fourth Round of the FA Cup on Monday 16th February at 7:30PM GMT. The match will be shown live in the UK on television: channels TNT Sports 1 and Discovery +.