Wayne Rooney ‘so proud’ as brother John engineers FA Cup giant-killing in first since 1909 | OneFootball

Wayne Rooney has said he is “so proud” of his younger brother John, who pulled off the “incredible” feat of knocking holders Crystal Palace out of the FA Cup with non-league Macclesfield.

Not since 1909 have the FA Cup holders been knocked out by a non-league side. But Macclesfield have rewritten that record with a 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace.

The Cheshire outfit are 14th in the National League North, while Palace – playing European football this season – are 13th in the Premier League.

But it was the non-league side who consistently looked better as they met in the FA Cup, as they scored the opener at the end of the first half and doubled their lead in the second, with Palace only able to conjure up a 90th-minute consolation goal.

Macclesfield are managed by John Rooney, younger brother of Premier League legend Wayne, who detailed his pride after the match.

He said: “It’s incredible to see my younger brother achieve this, he has not long been the manager. I am so proud of him.”

The former England international was visibly emotional following the result.

After Rooney’s playing career came to an end, he took the Macclesfield job in the summer, and this is by far the biggest result of his time in charge.

The Macclesfield boss felt his side were deserving winners over Palace.

He said he “couldn’t be any prouder of the lads” and followed up by stating: “We were incredible from the first minute. I thought we were deserved winners.”

There is a sense now at Macclesfield, having beaten the side who were better than anybody else in the country last season in the FA Cup, that they could go on to beat anybody.

Scorer of the first goal, Paul Dawson, joked when being interviewed by TNT Sports “we’ll go and win it now” before suggesting that there was no fear of any other club given who Macclesfield have beaten.

He said: “What a shift from the boys, you could tell the difference there, they move the ball really quick. I thought the lads took the gaffer’s team talk exactly how we wanted it. I think we created more chances than they did. I think we’ve more than held our own.”