All you need to know for the Town's game with the Silkmen
The Town are back in Skrill Premier action at Kenilworth Road on Saturday when Macclesfield Town are the visitors
WHO? Macclesfield Town, aka the Silkmen. Founded in 1874, the Cheshire club play their home games at Moss Rose and this season will be their second back in the Conference following relegation from the Football League in April 2012.
LAST TIME HERE. The Silkmen were last at Kenilworth Road in September 2012 but left pointless following a 4-1 defeat. Jake Howells netted in the first minute to put the Town 1-0 to the good, before Andre Gray doubled the lead. Nat Brown pulled one goal back for Macc early in the second half but two goals in the final eight minutes, from Scott Rendell and Stuart Fleetwood, sealed a comfortable victory.
HEAD-2-HEAD. Macclesfield enjoy a marginal advantage over the Town in the games played between the two sides. The Silkmen have won three of the eight meetings, including one at Kenilworth Road back in 1999 when goals from Neil Sorvel and Simon Davies secured a 2-1 win. Gary Doherty scored the Town goal.
KNOWING ME, KNOWING YOU. There are two former Hatters in the Macclesfield squad. Creative former Everton trainee John Paul Kissock continues to pull the strings in the Macc midfield, whilst 40-year-old Efe Sodje – who played just nine league games for the Town in the 1999/00 season – re-signed for the Silkmen for a second time this summer in the role of player/assistant manager.
IN CHARGE. Following Steve King’s exit from the hotseat at the end of last season, the Macc board appointed legendary former striker John Askey in June. The 48-year-old scored 168 goals in 698 games in a 19-year career at Moss Rose.
GIVE US A GAME. Over the summer the Silkmen made the headlines when they revealed plans to raise £20,000 by offering one person the chance to play for the club. The plans outlined that the successful applicant would be able to play 10 minutes for Macc in a league or cup game this season. However, the club pulled the plug on the idea only days later. "We now recognise that it creates a possibility of altering the outcome of a competitive fixture and clearly crosses an important line with respect to the integrity of the game," a statement said.
OPENING TIME. Like the Town, Macclesfield lost their opening fixture of the season last weekend. The Silkmen went down 1-0 at home to Nuneaton Town at Moss Rose with Louis Moult scoring the winner for the Boro. The Silkmen then lost for the second time this season on Tuesday night when losing 1-0 at Lincoln. Macc are one of four sides in the Skrill Premier not to have scored yet this season.
DID YOU KNOW? The 2011/12 season, which saw Macc eventually relegated, was the club’s 13th consecutive campaign in League 2 – which made them the then longest-serving members of the division.
IN MEMORANDUM. You’ll notice on the back of Saturday’s programme that the Silkmen will not have a squad number 21. The number was retired by the club following the death of midfielder Richard Butcher who died aged 29 whilst with the club in 2011.
CONFERENCE WINNERS. The Silkmen have an extensive honours list, including 20 Cheshire Senior Cup titles, but the club have twice lifted the Football Conference, winning the championship in 1995 and 1997 – the latter of which earned promotion to the Football League.
THE SATURDAYS. Kenilworth Road will be hosting its first Saturday home fixture since 23rd March. Since that goalless draw with Tamworth – which was only played after volunteers cleared snow off of the pitch – the Hatters have played six matches at Kenilworth Road, but none have fallen on a Saturday.
PAY ON THE DAY. Over 4,500 season tickets sold, but if you fancy coming along to see the Town in action, tickets are available on the day from the Luton Town ticket office and, if you're running late, on the turnstile.
WHO WANTS A BET? The Town are the strong favourites to beat the Silkmen on Saturday with all the major high street bookmakers. Odds are short though, so we like the look of Andre Gray – who scored in both games last season against Macc – at 9/2.
LIVE AND DIRECT. The official website will have all the action on Saturday. A report, photographs and all the reaction post-match will be launched after the game whilst Hatters Player offers live audio commentary and all the post-match videos from John Still and the players. And, if that wasn’t enough, our social media streams Twitter and Facebook will have live text commentary, photographs and all sorts of behind the scenes snippets throughout the day.
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