It would take a lot to leave Macclesfield - Savage

Robbie Savage began his association with Macclesfield after the downfall of Macclesfield Town

Macclesfield FC boss Robbie Savage says it would need a 'really special' job offer to prise him away from his title-winning team.

The Silkmen wrapped up the Northern Premier League Premier Division title with six games to spare on Saturday in Savage's first season as manager.

Club owner Robert Smethurst had said they would be lucky to hold on to him, but the former Wales international said he had already turned one job offer down from a higher level.

"It's my club and it's not very often you can manage your club, the one you've built from the first brick with your best friend, so it would take an awful lot for me to leave," Savage told BBC Radio Manchester.

"There's League One and League Two clubs I wouldn't go to if they offered me the job now because I can't see the journey or the project.

"It's not about money for me. I'm probably the only unpaid manager in the league. It's not for money, it's for the journey."

Macclesfield FC have won three promotions in four seasons

'A lot of people wanted me to fail'

The former Premier League captain and media pundit helped Smethurst relaunch a new club in the Cheshire town after Macclesfield Town was wound up in 2020.

But after losing at the play-off stage last season, the former Leicester City, Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers and Derby County midfielder admits he was ready to walk away if they missed out for a second successive campaign.

"In the non-league circuit, a lot of people wanted me to fail, no doubt about that," he said.

"If we had failed I would have left the football club and given up my shareholding because I couldn't have come back, so everything was on the line."

Savage believes it will be "difficult" to keep his team together, but has already set high targets for their first season in National League North, the second tier of the non-league ladder.

"If I can keep this group together we're not going to the league above and just settle for mid-table," he said.

"We want to win it, or minimum the play-offs. That's the benchmark."