Friday night lights for Macclesfield and Wrexham

Thursday 23 Oct 2014
Macclesfield and Wrexham kick off The FA Cup weekend on Friday night

Macclesfield and Wrexham kick off the final round of FA Cup qualifying on Friday, and both sides have a notable history in the world's oldest Cup competition.

As they vie for a place in the First Round Proper, the two former Football League sides will be hoping to relive some memorable moments. 

Macclesfield famously met top-flight Fulham at Craven Cottage as a Cheshire County League outfit and much more recently, as a Conference Premier side. 

Macclesfield Town v Wrexham

FA Cup Fourth Round Qualifying
7.45pm, Friday 24 October
Moss Rose, Macclesfield
Winning team receives £12,500 from FA prize fund

Wrexham reached the Cup’s Quarter-Final stage twice in the 1970s.

They lost to Burnley in 1974, and four years later were beaten by Arsenal after ending Northern League Blyth Spartans’ romantic run before a 42,000 crowd at St James’ Park. 

But the Welshmen got their revenge against the Gunners in one of the Cup’s greatest upsets in 1992. 

Who could forget a then 37-year-old Mickey Thomas scoring to knock the Gunners out? More on that to follow.

Matthew Barnes-Homer celebrates as Macclesfield upset Cardiff in January 2013

These days the Silkmen and the Red Dragons play in the Conference Premier – with Macclesfield seventh and Wrexham 10th. 

Some more senior fans will recall the Macclesfield part-timers stepping out before a crowd of 23,000 at the Cottage in 1968 to face a Fulham team that included five internationals. 

They started the Third Round tie full of confidence and were ahead in two minutes. They led 2-1 at half-time and 7,000 Silkmen fans were in dreamland, until Fulham hit back to win 4-2.

In their 140-year history the Cheshire club have also enjoyed memorable ties against West Ham United, Chelsea and Everton. 

They had another great run in the 2012-13 season, knocking out Swindon Town and Cardiff City en route to a Fourth Round tie against eventual Cup winners Wigan Athletic before a Moss Rose full house of nearly 6,000.

Wrexham also have memorable moments to recall. In 1978-79 they were seconds away from losing their Fifth Round tie with non-League Blyth. 

Mickey Thomas scores one of the most famous goals in FA Cup history. Action Images.

With less than two minutes to go their corner from the left was safely grabbed by the Spartans’ keeper – but the referee noticed that the corner flag had blown over and ordered a retake. 

Dixie McNeil headed an equaliser, keeping up his record of scoring in every round, and the Welshmen won the replay.

Then it was their turn to be the underdogs, when Arsenal famously came to the Racecourse Ground in the Third Round. 

For a lot of people Wrexham’s 2-1 victory is their favourite giant-killing in Cup history, because the Gunners were the reigning league champions and Wrexham had finished the previous season bottom of the Fourth Division.

Alan Smith, an England centre-forward, swept Arsenal into a first-half lead and they held on until the last 10 minutes. 

Then ex-Manchester United star Mickey Thomas arrowed a free-kick past David Seaman and Steve Watkin shocked the football world by sliding home an unlikely winner.

And the rest is history...

By David Barber FA Historian