{"id":22242,"date":"2026-02-16T07:35:24","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T07:35:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=22242"},"modified":"2026-02-16T07:35:24","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T07:35:24","slug":"luke-matheson-macclesfield-defender-who-cost-1m-as-a-teenager-on-old-trafford-heroics-and-fa-cup-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=22242","title":{"rendered":"Luke Matheson: Macclesfield defender, who cost \u00a31m as a teenager, on Old Trafford heroics and FA Cup dream"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\"><b class=\"ssrcss-1xjjfut-BoldText e5tfeyi3\">Remember the 16-year-old who scored for Rochdale against Manchester United in the Carabao Cup?<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">In September 2019, defender Luke Matheson <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sport\/football\/49736850\" class=\"ssrcss-18834jl-InlineLink e1kn3p7n0\">netted a famous equaliser<\/a> at Old Trafford to force a 1-1 draw in a third-round tie that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer&#8217;s side eventually won 5-3 on penalties.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The next day he was back to school studying for his A-Levels.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Fast forward to 2026 and Matheson is part of a Macclesfield squad riding the crest of a wave in the FA Cup and preparing to face Brentford in the fourth round on Monday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The Silkmen have been catapulted into the public eye since <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sport\/football\/live\/czr43x12xnrt\" class=\"ssrcss-18834jl-InlineLink e1kn3p7n0\">beating Crystal Palace<\/a> in the third round for one of the biggest shocks in the competition&#8217;s history &#8211; but the 23-year-old is no stranger to the spotlight.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;I was on the bus on the way to school the next morning with my mates,&#8221; Matheson recalled after his Old Trafford heroics. &#8220;Refreshing Instagram, there was a thousand [likes] here, another thousand there. It was one of the most surreal things I have ever been through.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;I remember the actual moment of the goal, I can picture it and tell you exactly what happened. It was more the aftermath I don&#8217;t really remember. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;Even being on that pitch and travelling to that game was enough for me. Then to score took it to another level. It&#8217;s definitely one of the best days of my life.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Brentford will be the fourth Premier League opponent for Matheson, who also featured for Rochdale in a 1-1 home draw against Newcastle in the FA Cup in 2020, before his side lost the third-round replay 4-1 at St James&#8217; Park.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">He said being remembered as the teenager who scored against Manchester United is something he is proud of, not ashamed by.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;I love people coming up to me saying, &#8216;are you the kid that scored against United?&#8217; They always recognise me because of my hair,&#8221; said the Manchester-born full-back.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;If that is the pinnacle of my career, it is the pinnacle of my career. Some players will dream about moments like that and I&#8217;m lucky that I got one at such a young age.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;I was a kid then and have a little bit more experience now. I&#8217;ve been around different clubs, different experiences, different managers, different changing rooms.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>#Luke #Matheson #Macclesfield #defender #cost #teenager #Trafford #heroics #Cup #dream<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Remember the 16-year-old who s&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22243,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[242],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22242"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22242\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}