Macclesfield FC: John Rooney savours FA Cup heroics and wants another Premier League side in fourth round draw

Macclesfield, who play in the National League North, works part-time and defender Sam Heathcote is one of the few players with jobs outside football.

The 28-year-old went from competing against the likes of Brennan Johnson and Yeremy Pino on Saturday to returning to his day job as a PE teacher at Stamford Park Primary School in Altrincham on Monday.

“Let’s get back to reality this morning,” the centre-back told BBC Breakfast. “I’m looking forward to seeing the kids.

“Last week I was going to the school and saying, ‘We’ll be happy if we accept less than 10’ and they were all laughing.

“Last time we played against Slough in the second round a few people watched that game and the first thing one of them said to me was ‘you gave away a penalty’. They might talk about my yellow card instead of the win. A few of them will be excited, bless them, especially the older ones who are really into football.”

Heathcote joined the Silkmen in the summer of 2023, combining his teaching job with training two days a week.

He teaches kids ages 3 to 11 and hopes beating the Eagles will inspire his students.

“This will show that you can be the underdog in every story, you can achieve what you want, and things that seem completely impossible can become reality because that’s exactly what happened on Saturday,” he said.

“I never thought I would get back into this situation by winning that game on Monday. “I still can’t get over it now, which is great.

“I’m so happy for everyone involved in creating this history. We’ll try to milk it as much as we can, but I know what this master is like and we’ll be right back at it tomorrow night.”