Danny Whitaker: Our Magic Man Returns

Macclesfield Town are thrilled to announce that Silkmen legend Danny Whitaker has come out of retirement, in order to sign a one-year playing contract with The Silkmen.

Our "Magic Man" initially hung up his boots in the summer of 2020, but now he is back to play his part in the 2020/21 campaign.

Our infamous 23 needs no introduction to the Silkmen faithful - he is universally respected and much of this is due to the fact that he is undoubtedly one of our own.

Danny was born in Wilmslow on 14th November 1980 and came through the ranks at Manchester United's Academy.

After a brief spell at Bradford City and local side Wilmslow Albion, Danny was spotted by former Manager Gil Prescott and joined The Silkmen initially as part of John Askey's youth set-up.

Shortly after, Danny made his professional debut - when on a bitterly cold Tuesday February evening back on 2002, he came off the bench to score against Exeter City.

Danny went on to not only cement himself as a First Team regular, but also as a fan's favourite.

Seven months after making his debut for the Club, Danny's breathtaking extra time hat-trick against Barnsley in the League Cup captured the hearts and minds of the Moss Rose faithful in a manner which will never be forgotten.

Playing a pivotal role in our League Two Play-Off season back in 2004/05, Danny made his 150th appearance for the Club in the second leg clash against Keith Alexander's Lincoln City.

Danny went on to star in memorable victories against Nottingham Forest, Stockport County and Wycombe Wanderers during the 2005/06 season and after making sure that our Football League status was secure with a 4 - 3 final day victory at Bristol Rovers, departed for Port Vale the following summer.

In a move which undoubtedly pulled at his heartstrings, Danny would spend two years at Vale Park as he more than held his own at League One level. From there, a move to Oldham Athletic followed, before he rejoined John Sheridan at Chesterfield in the summer of 2010.

It proved to be a lucrative move for the midfielder, as Danny claimed a League Two winners medal, as well as earning a place in the EFL Team of the Year.

The Derbyshire outfit would make an immediate return to League Two twelve months later, yet in August 2013 Danny came home.

Danny brought pride, passion and more than all of that, belief to the Silkmen side and was central to our FA Trophy run back in 2017.

The following October, Danny would make his 400th appearance for the Club away at Guiseley and not only did we ascend to the National League summit courtesy of a 2 - 1 victory that evening, our Magic Man marked the milestone in style by opening the scoring.

Danny went on to be named in the National League Team of the Season for 2017/18, as his contribution to our fairytale achievement was rightly recognised.

The following summer, Danny was named as Joint Assistant Manager at the Club and would take caretaker charge before the arrival of Sol Campbell.

Danny would go on to make 26 appearances during the 2018/19 season (scoring four goals), before he announced his retirement from the playing side of the game.

Standing fourth in the Macclesfield All-Time Player Appearances with 457 appearances, only John Askey (679), John Collins (578) and Graham Tobin (471) have made more appearances in all competitions for the Club.

After holding down the role of Assistant Head Coach under both Daryl McMahon and Mark Kennedy, Danny was named as Tim Flowers' Assistant Manager alongside Gary Whild last month.

Danny will now combine his playing role with supporting the new Manager and we wish him every success for the season ahead.