Robbie Savage's Journey with Macclesfield FC

"If I fail this season, I have to walk away from the football club."

Robbie Savage did not fail as the head coach of Macclesfield FC.

In his inaugural managerial role, the former Welsh international successfully met the objectives set at the outset of the 2024-25 season, leading his team to promotion to the National League North with six games remaining.

The Silkmen became the first club from the top seven tiers of English football to secure promotion this season and the first team since 2017 to surpass the 100-point mark in the Northern Premier League's Premier Division.

However, just five weeks before the start of the 2025-26 season, Savage unexpectedly departed from Macclesfield to accept a position with Forest Green Rovers in the league above.

This marked the conclusion of a four-year journey with Macclesfield, alongside his best friend and club owner, Robert Smethurst, which was prominently featured in the 2021 BBC documentary, "Robbie Savage: Making Macclesfield FC."

A new follow-up documentary, "Robbie Savage: Managing Macclesfield," available on BBC iPlayer in 2025, offers an inside look at Savage's management career at the club he helped establish.

The documentary follows players, staff, and fans through the emotional highs and lows of a promotion-winning campaign. It raises the question: will Savage's close bond with Rob endure the challenges ahead, or will success come at a cost?

After Macclesfield Town faced expulsion from the National League and ended up in the High Court in September 2020, the club's assets were put up for sale and acquired a month later by local businessman Smethurst.

Macclesfield FC was subsequently formed, with Smethurst appointing his long-time friend Savage as director of football.

Starting with no players, no league affiliation, and a stadium in disrepair, Smethurst and Savage had nine months to rebuild the club from the ground up in time for the 2021-22 season, entering at the ninth tier of English football.

The duo successfully assembled a squad that achieved promotions in their first two seasons, although their momentum was halted in 2024 with a play-off final defeat to Marine.

“At that point, Robbie had to step up as the manager,” Smethurst recalls.

Following the departure of manager Michael Clegg after the loss, Savage was appointed head coach the next day.

“We’ve been through so much together. Now I’m the manager and he’s the boss,” Savage states.

“I never wanted to be a manager until we lost the play-off final. This season, I can’t fail.”

The new documentary showcases Savage's natural aptitude for management. Macclesfield remained unbeaten in their first 17 games, with Savage believing his team could finish the season without a single defeat.

His squad embraced this mindset, and several players spoke highly of Savage’s management style.

“He’s quite different from what you might think,” says star striker Danny Elliott. “He cares a lot.”

“Robbie understands us,” adds forward D’Mani Mellor.

Although the Silkmen did not achieve an 'invincible' season, they lost only three matches and secured promotion to the sixth tier with a comeback victory over Bamber Bridge.

“He’s proven himself to be an incredible manager,” Smethurst remarks. “I’m so proud of him.”

As fans celebrated on the pitch, players were filmed singing along to Adele in the dressing room, alongside Savage and Smethurst.

'I feared failure for the first time in my life'

Adele's hit song “Someone Like You” reflects themes of love, loss, and moving on, which resonated with Macclesfield as they faced a similar situation.

Savage’s success at Macclesfield attracted the attention of Forest Green, leading to an offer he could not refuse.

In addition to losing their manager, Macclesfield also saw assistant John McMahon and three players—Tre Pemberton, Neil Kengni, and club captain Laurent Mendy—follow Savage to Gloucestershire.

“I’ve always been honest and transparent with Rob,” Savage expresses in the documentary. “I called him to say I had the opportunity to speak to another club. Rob said, ‘You have my blessing, go and smash it.’ That was all I needed to hear.”

While Smethurst supports his friend’s decision, he is visibly affected by the rapidity of Savage’s departure.

“It’s like losing my left arm,” he shares. “We had just won the league. It didn’t make sense why he was leaving.”

“Sav had many opportunities to leave; I never thought it would happen. I believed we were in it together. Our dream was always to elevate this football club back to League Two.”

“Now that he’s gone, it feels very different, but no one can deny what Sav did for this club.”

At the documentary's conclusion, Smethurst visits Savage at his new club, leading to an emotional reunion where they embrace and walk around the training facilities before sitting down in Savage’s office.

“We were on such a high,” Smethurst tells him. “We were heading into the summer, having spent ages evaluating players, and we had some disagreements over budgets.”

“It happened so quickly; it felt like the heart had been ripped out. People genuinely believed you would be with us forever. It was the speed and the disappointment to the fans that made it so hard.”

Savage admits he underestimated the backlash from his departure.

“It makes me sad,” he says. “Every time I drive past, I want to stop in. That hurts because it was our club. We built it from nothing.”

“I could have kept that job for five years with you because we were together. I feared failure for the first time in my life. The stress was immense, and I felt a heavy responsibility. Here, I can focus solely on being a football manager.”

As of the latest updates, Forest Green is fourth in the National League, just one point off the top with only two defeats this season. Meanwhile, Macclesfield, under new manager John Rooney, sits 14th in the National League North but has games in hand that could propel them toward the playoffs, and they have advanced to the second round of the FA Cup.

“If you hadn’t given me the chance to manage the first team, I wouldn’t be sitting here,” Savage tells Smethurst. “So I owe you everything regarding my managerial career. That’s why Macclesfield will always be a part of me.”

Although Savage has left Macclesfield, his influence will be remembered alongside the team's achievements. In addition to reviving the local football club, Savage and Smethurst made a significant positive impact on the community.

“We’ve built a monster,” Smethurst reflects in one scene. “We have nearly 65 staff, 38 teams, 800 kids in an academy, an international program, weekend tournaments, a bar, and a gym.”

Robbie Savage's Journey with Macclesfield FC

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