Amid all the goings on in the four divisions of the Football League this weekend, League Two's Macclesfield Town had more to play for than most.
At home to Carlisle, the club holding up the other 91 at the foot of English football's fourth tier were in desperate need of a win this afternoon.
For the immediate future, it would bring them three points that are desperately needed. However, in a broader sense, the club's incredibly poor run of form across two seasons had left them in the invidious place of potentially becoming the worst team England had ever seen.
Macclesfield are on the verge of making EFL history.https://t.co/M1aETaa6eF pic.twitter.com/heEBRJ2xnX
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) October 20, 2018
As was somewhat reluctantly explained on the BBC this morning, anything but a win would put Macclesfield in possession of the one record nobody wants.
"If [Macclesfield] don't win today, they will set a new record for the top 4 English divisions of 36 matches without a win. They will usurp Derby County from the record books."
While some may argue that it has not quite been as bad as it is made out (the 35 games haven't been consecutive - Macclesfield were last in the Football League during the 2011/12 season), it nevertheless placed them in fairly dangerous territory.
Going 1-0 down early into the second-half, the team without a win in the Football League since December 2011 (a 2-1 win against Port Vale) were looking all but certain to take the record off Derby's hands.
However, over the course of a four-minute spell that has Macclesfield fans reasoning there is no way but up, goals from Michael Rose and Peter Vincenti brought them the unlikeliest of wins.
35 and not-out, it was celebration time.
THAT'S IT!!!!!
— Macclesfield FC (@thesilkmen) October 20, 2018
Macclesfield Town have their first Football League win in 36 attempts! 👏
Jubilation and relief at Moss Rose this afternoon... https://t.co/HASpGD4oR2— BBC 5 Live Sport (@5liveSport) October 20, 2018
The last time Macclesfield won a football league game, the London Olympics was still seventh months away.
Well done @thesilkmen— ᗷIᒪᒪ ᖇIᑕᕮ 🎙📻 (@billrice23) October 20, 2018
Get in Macclesfield at fucking last !!!!!!!!
— Peter Smith (@petersmithy1956) October 20, 2018
Finally Macclesfield won !!! #Silkmen 🙌🏻⚽️
— Dan Indyk (@Dan240993) October 20, 2018
That being said, plenty of Carlisle fans were left wondering how they'd managed to lose to this team, of all teams.
@bbccumbriasport Let me say this 👏🏻 Macclesfield were excellent and thoroughly deserved the win and good on them, however we were/are awful. We let them win that game, no creativity going forward again, looking bleak for us and it’s nothing more than we deserve
— Ryan Graham (@RyGraham_1) October 20, 2018
I do not travel to Macclesfield to witness sh*t like that. NIXON GET THE **** OUT OF OUR CLUB!!!!!!!
— ‘problematic’ person🇬🇧 (@Ty14dca) October 20, 2018
