Who is Carl Davenport? Silkmen legend who appeared at last weekend's Macclesfield FC victory
By Alex Greensmith 18th Mar 2022
On Saturday March 12, new football club Macclesfield FC were confirmed at champions of the North West Counties Football League Premier Division.
(You can read our match report of last week's victory here).
The 4-0 win over Ashton Athletic was watched by a Macclesfield footballing legend, who used to play for the now-defunct club Macclesfield Town.
Carl Davenport was just 21 when he signed for Macclesfield Town FC in 1965.
He was signed from divisional rivals Wigan Athletic.
Almost sixty years later, he still boasts one of the best goals per game ratio of any Macclesfield Town or Macclesfield FC footballer.
The centre forward netted 38 goals in 45 appearances.
On average, he would net 0.84 goals per game in his two years with The Silkmen.
Whilst at Macclesfield he ran his own tailoring business in Bolton.
He left the Moss Rose in 1967 to move to Ireland, and play for Cork Celtic, where crowds of over 18,000 would regularly watch him play.
In the season Carl left our town's old football club, the club finished fifth out of the 22 teams in the 1966-67 Cheshire County League.
Carl also played for Macclesfield's rivals Stockport County before he came to our town's former club.
In his later years, Carl would turn out for Cork Hibernians, Limerick and St Patricks Athletic.
He would end his career with a return to Cork Celtic in 1974, in a season where they qualified for the European Cup (what is now the UEFA Champions League).
However, Carl would not play for Cork Celtic in the 1974–75 European Cup, retiring not long after his 30th birthday.
Now 77, the Farnworth-born former Macc Town player recently appeared in the public eye on a BBC TV show.
He was a contestant in the 2019 series of Love in the Countryside.
Davenport now lives in Bolton, but made the 31 mile trip to the Leasing.Com Stadium last Saturday, and did a lap of honour around the pitch.
He was escorted by Macclesfield fan and Bollington resident Philip Gibbons.
"It was an honour to welcome back one of, if not the first ever, Silkmen hero I had way back from the mid 1960s", said Philip.
On Saturday, Carl was all smiles and put his hand in the air in appreciation to the Macc FC fans, and even kicked a ball around.
See Also: Macclesfield FC promoted as champions in comfy win over Ashton Athletic
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