As the new Silkmen hope to make history in 2022 with their first ever promotion, we have looked back in Macclesfield footballing history of the festive period.

We recently profiled where ex-Macclesfield Town managers are now, and where their last ever competitive line-up currently is.

And today, we reveal where the title-winning side of 2017/18 right now. The promotion winning Macclesfield Town side secured the Vanarama National League title on 21 April 2018, two-a-half years before the club would cease to exist.

They played Eastleigh in a 2-0 victory, seen by 2,372 people. Here are the 16 Silkmen that won at Eastleigh two years ago, and where they are now.

Manager John Askey

Ex-player John Askey took control of 267 games in Macclesfield, and won 120 of them. Perhaps the most memorable being the victory over Eastleigh. He shed tears at the full-time whistle. From the start of his second spell as Macclesfield Town manager 2013, he took part in memorable FA Cup runs, and guided Macclesfield back to the Football League in 2017-18. Askey steered the Silkmen to 22nd in the 2018-19 League Two season, just avoiding relegation. He left the club in June. And then went for a brief spell at Shrewsbury Town, before being hired by Port Vale the following year. He remained in Staffordshire until January 2021, when he was given the sack with The Valiants languishing in 17th. Askey returned to our town's new club Macclesfield FC in August 2021, helping out his former player Danny Whitaker in management via an advisory role. However, this position was short-lived as he took the York City job in November 2021. The Askey-led National League North side is currently sitting pretty just outside the promotion play-offs. Goalkeeper Shwan Jalal

Shwan Jalal played for The Silkmen across two spells in 2015-2016 and 2017-2018, nipping to Wrexham in-between. He made 41 appearances during his second spell, where he helped secure promotion for Macc Town.

The Baghdad-born goalie then moved to Chesterfield in June 2018, after Macc's first-season back in the Football League.

Moving to Derbyshire saw Jalal drop back down in the National League for two seasons, where he made 54 appearances before retiring. Jalal, now 38, is back in Cheshire coaching at Stockport County in the National League.

He actually used to play for Eastleigh, and had previously been promoted with them. You can follow the Iraqi-Englishman on social media

Right Back Jared Hodgkiss

Jared Hodgkiss would spend two years at the Moss Rose from 2017-2019, making 41 appearances and scoring once. After Macc Town won just ten times in their first season back in the Football League, he would go on trial at Hereford in July 2019. He's been there ever since, aged 35, seeing out his career in the National League North. Macc's former number two has no social media presence. Right Centre Back David Fitzpatrick

Versatile Manchester-born defender David Fitzpatrick started his career in Cheshire with Northwich Victoria, and would later play for nearby High Peak side New Mills.

Southport beckoned before The Silkmen came calling in 2015, and he played his part in Macc Town's 2017-18 promotion campaign.

He stuck with the club to the end, and moved to Staffordshire with fellow League Two club Port Vale, who were then managed by Silkmen legend John Askey.

Fitzpatrick, now 31, is a squad player at National League side Altrincham, having joined in August 2021. Follow him here.

Left Centre Back Keith Lowe

Macclesfield Town was Keith Lowe's eleventh club when he joined in June 2017. He played every second of Macclesfield's 46 league matches during the promotion season, and Eastleigh was no exception. The Wolverhampton-born player featured less for Mark Yates and Sol Campbell's reigns, and would later become one of six Macc Town players to issue the club with a winding-up petition over unpaid wages. He has since played for Nuneaton Borough, Bradford Park Avenue, and old club Kidderminster Harriers. The father-of-three can be followed on Twitter here. Left Back George Pilkington

The oldest player on the list thus far, 40-year-old George Pilkington is the first retiree on the list. The Staffordshire lad's connections to Macclesfield Town go as far back as 2003, as he used to be managed by 2000s Silkmen manager Brian Horton.

He first came to our town in 2014, on loan from Mansfield Town. He made 16 appearances and scored two goals.

The defender then scored two more goals as a permanent player from July 2014 to June 2018, making 166 appearances before announcing his retirement. He came into the promotion campaign being named the club's Player of the Year for three consecutive seasons.

A favourite of John Askey's, Pilkington retired from playing to leave Macc with Askey as first-team coach at League One side Shrewsbury Town.

He left the club five months later following Askey's dismissal, and has been out of work since, but a career in coaching may continue. He has no Twitter or Instagram Macclesfield Nub News could find.

Right Midfielder George Marsh

George Marsh scored the first goal against Eastleigh, tapping in Fitzpatrick's low cross in the six yard box after just three minutes.

The 28-year-old has played for two other clubs since his stint at Macclesfield Town. Now playing in a more forward role than on the wings, Marsh scored more in one season with Boreham Wood than he did during two with The Silkmen. He first joined the Hertfordshire National League side in July 2019. A year later, he signed for League Two club Stevenage, before rejoining Boreham Wood in February 2021.

The Bedford-born player scored 11 goals for Macc Town in 66 appearances. He is still evidentially proud of his achievement with The Silkmen, as he has a photo of his goal celebration at the Eastleigh game as his pinned tweet.

Right Central Midfielder Nathan Blissett

Nathan Blissett made his loan deal permanent after securing promotion against Eastleigh with Macclesfield Town. He scored five goals in the National League, but struggled to score post-promotion as Macc flirted with relegation from League Two, and would leave halfway into the 2018-19 season. National League Solihull Moors was the 31-year-old's next destination. Refinding his scoring form with hitting the net 15 times in 52 games. He's now at Maidenhead United and has scored seven since 2020. Blissett qualified as a mortgage and insurance provider in Shrewsbury this year, setting himself up for a career post-football. Left Central Midfielder Mitchell Hancox

A soft back heel from Danny Whitaker in the penalty box saw Macc's second goal against Eastleigh on the hour mark, by Solihull's Mitch Hancox. He has played for a whopping five clubs since leaving the Moss Rose in June 2018, after the Silks secured promotion. He still played in League Two against his old club for Milton Keynes Dons, rejecting Macc's offer a new contract.

He then went to hometown club Soilihull Moors, reuniting with Nathan Blissett. Hancox has also played on loan for League Two's Harrogate Town, Hereford, and most recently York City, where he has reunited with Macc Town's John Askey and Steve Watson. The 28-year-old is playing as a left-back, and can be followed on Twitter here.

Left Midfielder - Callum Evans

Callum Evans has struggled since his successes with The Silkmen. The Bristol-born midfielder, who can also play as a left and right-back, first played for our club on loan from Barnsley in 2017. A second more successful loan spell called in January 2018, and he later joined Macc Town permanently in May, following the big afternoon in Eastleigh.

Sadly after Askey left, Evans was used mainly as a squad player by both Mark Yates and Sol Campbell in the 2018–19 campaign, scoring just once.

Askey signed the 28-year-old for Port Vale, but he made just five appearances, before returning to non-league football with Bath City in August 2020, where he's played only six times. Evans has no presence on social media.

Forward - Danny Whitehead

A name that needs no introduction, Danny Whitehead played for Macclesfield Town over five separate loan or permanent spells from 2015 to 2020. Trafford-born professional Danny Whitehead scored seven goals in 38 appearances for The Silkmen's promotion season. Like many of his teammates, Whitehead joined the short-lived John Askey project at Port Vale. Unlike Callum Evans or David Fitzpatrick, Whitehead is still at the Staffordshire club having played for them 15 times, but he is currently on loan at Altrincham. The 28-year-old has made six appearances in the National League with The Robins. His Twitter is inactive.

Forward - Danny Whitaker

Still playing, but of course in the dugout as player-manager with the new Silkmen - Macclesfield FC - Danny Whitaker is the best-known man on this list. The club legend made 227 appearances and 37 goals for Macclesfield Town. He netted nine goals in 45 in Macc Town's promotion season. As a gaffer, his first role was a joint caretaker manager role with Neil Howarth following Mark Yates' sacking from Macclesfield Town. The Wilmslow-born 41-year-old oversaw three caretaker periods from 2018-2020, during turbulent times for the defunct club, winning six of a possible 13 for Macclesfield Town. Whitaker was rewarded for his loyalty with the permanent job for the new phoenix club Macclesfield FC, where he currently works. As of December 20 2021, he's won 17 of Macclesfield FC's 24 league games. The club sit at the top of the North West Counties Football League Premier Division on 56 points. Macclesfield Nub News wishes current Macclesfield FC manager Danny Whitaker and the Silkmen well for the new year, as they push for promotion in the North West Counties Football League Premier Division. Substitutes

On the bench for the easy win at Eastleigh almost five years ago were the following:

Scott Wilson - unemployed since leaving Dagenham and Redbridge in October 2020, where he was coached by ex-Silkmen boss Daryl McMahon.

Sam Ramsbottom - The only player on this list not playing in England. Derbyshire called first with Alfreton Town, before moving to Scotland to turn out between the sticks for Greenock Morton, and Dumbarton.

Kieran Kennedy - The only player on this list to have played for Macclesfield FC. The defender returned to Macclesfield's new football club as one of the first outfield signings in June, but left for Stockport Town three months later in September 2020.

Diego De Girolamo - The Italian forward was the bench against Eastleigh, despite never making an appearance for Macc. Part of Buxton's FA Cup run this season, which saw them beat National League side York, Diego has kept it local playing just over the Cat and Fiddle Road in the High Peak.

Scott Burgess - Central midfielder Scott Burgess also went to Port Vale, where he remains to this day.

Which of these players was your favourite on the list? Would you like to see any of them come back to Macclesfield FC?

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