The Rooneys, Peak Palace and an FA Cup upset for the ages
NEWS | 13 January 2026
SMOOTH AS SILKMEN Between them, Wayne and Brent Gretzky hold the record for most points scored (2,861) by a pair of brothers in National Hockey League history. The more senior of the two, Wayne notched up 2,857 of them while his little brother’s contribution to the tally was just four. Of course, Brent isn’t the only professional sportsman to have tried to make his name in the shadow of an iconic older brother named Wayne and while John Rooney enjoyed a perfectly decent career as a journeyman midfielder playing in the lower leagues, going through life best known for being the less talented and more unsuccessful younger brother of one of the most famous England players in recent memory can’t have been easy. On Saturday afternoon, however, it was Wayne who could be seen blubbing tears of pride at Moss Rose, having just watched his sibling mastermind a thoroughly deserved victory for the semi-professionals of the phoenix club Macclesfield over Crystal Palace in what was unquestionably the biggest FA Cup upset of all time. View image in fullscreen John Rooney and Wayne Rooney at Moss Rose. Photograph: Ryan Browne/Shutterstock With the teams separated by 117 places on the league ladder, some statto quickly figured out it had been the exact same number of years since the holders had been knocked out of the tournament by non-league opposition. On that occasion it was Wolves who had suffered the kind of embarrassment that makes their shortcomings this season look comparatively heroic, while it was Palace fans who would have been waving their homemade replica FA Cups in jubilation if it wasn’t for the fact that the modern kitchen staple that is tin foil wouldn’t be invented until a year later in 1910. “I still can’t get me head around it, if I’m honest with you but I thought we were well deserved winners,” whooped Rooney the younger, as Macc fans – led from the front by their club’s owner Rob Smethurst – pointedly ignored audible pleas issued at the Moss Rose not to invade the pitch. In stark contrast, Oliver Glasner could scarcely have looked more angry having watched his team achieve Peak Palace by exiting the FA Cup in dismal fashion to a team of part-timers at the first time of asking, after winning it for the first time in their history back in May. During his post-match media duties, an embarrassed Glasner had the good grace to congratulate Macclesfield while offering up nothing in the way of excuses, and travelling Palace fans magnanimously applauded the team who’d just subjected theirs to a humiliation they will never be let to forget. View image in fullscreen Macc celebrate with Palace fans in the refreshments queue. Photograph: Alex Livesey/Danehouse/Getty Images In moving dressing-room scenes, the parents of Ethan McLeod, the 21-year-old Macclesfield player who lost his life in a car accident less than a month ago, took turns embracing their son’s former friends and teammates one by one. “I was thinking about it when the final whistle went, Ethan was here,” said Isaac Buckley-Ricketts, scorer of the decisive goal, where the ball took what seemed like 30 seconds to eventually trundle over the line. “He was an absolute diamond of a kid – he was the life and soul in the changing room,” added Rooney. “He always had a smile on his face.” On a night when players, staff and fans are reported to have celebrated long into the night in the clubhouse bar, one suspects more than a few glasses will have been raised in loving memory of a young son and Silkman tragically lost. LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE Join Mark Dobson from 6.35pm GMT for hot FA Cup fourth-round draw updates, before Michael Butler steps into the hot seat with minute-by-minute coverage of Liverpool 4-0 Barnsley. QUOTE OF THE DAY “I’ve never celebrated a goal at 9-0 down in my life” – Exeter City boss Gary Caldwell speaks to his players after their 10 [TEN – Football Daily Vidiprinter]-1 shellacking at Manchester City, where we were granted inside access to their big day. View image in fullscreen Gary Caldwell and Exeter’s players, post-match. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian As a Crystal Palace supporter (of some 60 years standing) can I say how proud I am that we have contributed yet another fairytale to magic of the Cup. Eagles!” – Ralph Ward. Re: Gary O’Neil’s move to Strasbourg (Friday’s Football Daily). I assume the ‘harsh sacking’ plum you just pulled out of somewhere refers to the ‘thanks but no thanks’ from Bournemouth, a club obviously still regretting that decision? The O’Neil I saw from his time at Wolves would have made Uriah Heep blush. A dreadful manager who encouraged cliques so as to be part of them, while gladly throwing other players under the bus to avoid responsibility. I’m not interested in the letter o’ the day malarkey, but I do want to challenge your assumptions about him being the manager you describe. Wolves were already on a ‘stable footing’ when he was recruited, at least in terms of the squad and the pre-season work done by Julen Lopetegui before he gave up the ghost. O’Neil has contributed greatly to the current malaise at Wolves – yet was still on the payroll when Jeff Shi almost gave him his job back before Rob Edwards took over. Rant over” – John Davies. Random thought: I’d be curious to see the All or Nothing version of Football Daily. It could be the best place to work (except dealing with the letters), or the cynicism and sarcasm are at such an elite level (being generous with that one) it’s essentially the most hostile work environment (after working for Big Sir Jim). Any sneak peeks?” – Luke Laverty [refers reader to This is How we Work episodes of yore – Football Daily Ed]. If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s winner of our prizeless letter o’ the day is … Rollover. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we have them, are here.
Author: Barry Glendenning.
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