Macclesfield v Brentford: FA Cup fourth round – live

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Former Rochdale defender Luke Matheson actually scored against Manchester United as a 16-year-old in 2019. After playing for a number of clubs, including Wolves, Matheson finds himself at Macclesfield. Speaking before tonight’s game he said:

To give back to the fans of this town is the proudest thing you can do as a footballer. For us to be able to give them moments like the Palace game and then another against Brentford brings us such joy as players.

Many of the players have also been on their own incredible journeys. Cameron Borthwick-Jackson hadn’t played for 700 days before his substitute appearance against Crystal Palace. The former Manchester United player said:

It [beating Crystal Palace in the FA Cup third round] is probably my biggest achievement with everything that has gone on and the amount of time I have spent out of the game. To come back and be part of that is probably my biggest achievement for me personally.

Macclesfield’s recent success is owed in part to the chairman Robert Smethurst. He famously bought the football club on Rightmove for half a million while on a four-day bender and without any previous football experience. In just over five years he has rebuilt Macclesfield and his life after struggling with alcohol addiction. Speaking before tonight’s game he said:

We’re against all odds, that’s our motto. It’s a rise of the phoenix because we’ve come from nothing. That’s me as well. I was against all odds, never owning a club or having a business plan or any idea about football.

A game against West Ham awaits the winner of this one. Nuno Espírito Santo’s side edged past Burton Albion in a particularly dull game. Crysencio Summerville’s goal in extra time was the moment of quality that sent them through to the fifth round.

Crysencio Summerville celebrates breaking the deadlock during the FA Cup match between Burton Albion and West Ham United at the Pirelli Stadium. Photograph: John Mallett/ProSports/Shutterstock

Here's the FA Cup fifth round draw

• Fulham v Southampton

• Port Vale or Bristol City v Sunderland

• Newcastle v Manchester City

• Leeds United v Norwich City

• Mansfield Town v Arsenal

• Wolves v Liverpool

• Wrexham v Chelsea

• West Ham v Macclesfield or Brentford

Team news

Macclesfield: Dearnley, Fensome, Dawson, Buckley-Ricketts, Mellor, Duffy, Heathcote, Lacey, Osborne, Edmondson, Borthwick-Jackson

Subs: Matheson, Menayese, Griffiths, Dos Santos, Gale, Johnson, Whitehead, Pasiek, Stone.

Brentford: Valdimarsson, Kayode, Collins (c), Pinnock, Hickey, Janelt, Jensen, Yarmoliuk, Donovan, Furo, Nelson

Subs: Balcombe, Henry, Van den Berg, Ouattara, Ajer, Lewis-Potter, Bentt, Shield, Stephenson

Yikes!!! Young Macclesfield fans where masks of fourth round hero Paul Dawson. Photograph: Michael Regan/Getty Images

Macclesfield’s story is a remarkable one. Macclesfield Town died in October 2020 before the latest iteration of the club was born. Read John Brewin’s piece about the story so far.

Before the match tonight, we have the small matter of the FA Cup draw for the fifth round. Who will Macclesfield or Brentford face in the next round? Niall McVeigh is providing updates.

Preamble

Hello and welcome to a historic minute-by-minute. Tonight sixth-tier Macclesfield welcome Premier League Brentford to the Leasing.com Stadium in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Macc’s 2-1 victory against Crystal Palace in the last round was the biggest that the FA Cup has seen. Against all odds, they beat the FA Cup holders, a team 117 places ahead of them at the time. Macclesfield defender Luke Matheson, best known for his equaliser for Rochdale against Manchester United in 2019, summed up what tonight’s game means. He said: “It’s not necessarily [about saying] ‘we can do this’, it’s ‘we’ve done this’, so we want to go out there and prove it to ourselves again.”