Macclesfield FC: FA Cup heroes in talks with ‘huge’ foreign investors
FA Cup giant-killers Macclesfield are in talks with two wealthy foreign groups over a transformative investment in the non-league club’s bid to continue their rapid rise.
The sixth-tier team pulled off one of the biggest shocks in FA Cup history by beating holders Crystal Palace last month and are back in the spotlight on Monday when they face more Premier League opposition in Brentford in the fourth round.
Under accidental chairman and co-owner Rob Smethurst, the phoenix club have already achieved three promotions since being formed from the ashes of the wound-up Macclesfield Town in 2020.
Their FA Cup heroics have already earned them close to £1m in extra income but Smethurst insists they will need much wealthier investors to realise their dream of reaching – and competing in – the English Football League.
“We’re in talks very recently. I can’t disclose that yet, but we’ve got the potential of a very, very big opportunity that we’re now looking at. The next 30 days, fingers crossed, if that does come off, then we’ll be in an unbelievable position,” Smethurst told City AM.
“They’re huge organisations. They could buy Premier League clubs. We’re in talks with two. They’re actually foreign investors. But that’s all I can say.
“When we hit the Football League I’ve probably taken the club as far as I can financially. You really then need to have huge pockets, because your wage bill can be anywhere between £3m-£6m and £8m-£10m. There’s only so many pies and beers you can sell.
“The right investors need to not only have lots of money that they’re quite willing to spend on a dream, but they need to have the same mindset of what this club means to a community.”
How Macclesfield will spend £1m FA Cup cash
Macclesfield and Smethurst’s story has already become part of FA Cup folklore, the former car dealer having resurrected the Cheshire town’s football team after buying their stadium on property platform Rightmove during a four-day party marathon in Ibiza.
He has since brought in other local businessmen, including French Connection owner Ama Singh, whose 41 per cent stake is the biggest. Smethurst is relaxed about diluting his stake in the event of further outside investment or even a takeover.
“As long as I can control the operations then I’m happy with that,” he added. “The club is generating just short of £1m in profit, but all that money goes into the first team.
“We’re pretty much now maxed out, and it will be down to each individual shareholder how much they’re willing to throw in of their own cash to progress up the football pyramid.
“Even though they’re all very wealthy individuals, they’re also businessmen and they don’t particularly like throwing money into the football club when it’s running at a loss.
“I’m driving to the Football League. That was always my ambition. Once we get into the National League then it’s going to be even more serious.
“This year, hopefully we can hit the playoffs. And if we do the unthinkable, which is go up again, then it comes down to finances and the investment we can bring into the football club from maybe third parties.”
Smethurst: Football clubs a toy not a business
The visit of Brentford to the Leasing.com Stadium means another televised tie, bumper crowd and elevated sponsors interest – including an opportunistic partnership with Rightmove which has seen Smethurst appointed the company’s “Chief Belief Officer”.
Even if, as expected, Macclesfield’s FA Cup run ends against the Bees it will have been worth £800,000, almost doubling their annual budget. That surplus is to be pumped back into the squad as they strive for two more promotions.
“The amount of money that has brought in progresses us to the next stage of taking the football club up the pyramid system,” Smethurst said.
“It’ll go on players. We’ve got a three-year, four-year plan to get back into the [Football] League. With football clubs, the more successful you go, the worse it gets financially.
“In some ways they’re not a business. It’s probably a toy – a great fun toy, but it needs that much money to compete at the highest levels. This money will help us.”
Rob Smethurst has signed as Chief Belief Officer at Rightmove. For more information, please visit www.rightmove.co.uk