Earlier this week, a viral clip resurfaced from Manchester United’s visit to West Ham in 2016.
The United team coach was attacked on the way to Upton Park, for what was the final match at the stadium. The video is from Jesse Lingard’s phone camera. Some players have taken cover sitting in the aisle between the seats after a window has been smashed by a missile from outside. Lingard is shouting, while current United head coach – then still a player — Michael Carrick can be seen filming the scenes as well. Then there’s a calm and relaxed figure sitting beside him, just scrolling on his mobile.
Cameron Borthwick-Jackson is that man. Then 19, he doesn’t seem worried amid the dramatic scenes.
“It’s like, ‘What is actually going to happen?” says the former United defender, now at non-League Macclesfield. “We’re on a bus where you’ve got double-glazed windows and then you’ve got a privacy glass on top of that. The privacy glass is smashed. There’s a police officer on the bus.
“That was just me. I wasn’t really fazed by anything. It’s just, that’s me. Just cool, calm, collected.”
It was a journey to a football stadium that took a dramatic turn. Over the next 10 years, Borthwick-Jackson’s own voyage through football has taken plenty of surprising changes of direction; including falling out of love with the game and spending 18 months without a club.
But he signed for Macclesfield — in Cheshire, around 20 miles south of Manchester — at the start of January and was soon thrown into the greatest FA Cup shock in history when his team dumped holders Crystal Palace out in the third round.
Borthwick-Jackson, now 29, came on as a late substitute, making just his second appearance for the club managed by John Rooney, the younger brother of United legend Wayne. And the side from National League North, the sixth tier of English football, held off a late comeback from a team 117 places above them to win 2-1.
It sparked jubilant scenes; celebrations that went long into the night for some of the Macclesfield players and staff. The Manchester-born full-back, however, took a moment with his dad, Mark.
“I think he’d missed being at games,” says Borthwick-Jackson. “After the Palace game, you could tell he was tearing up. I feel it’s big for him, because he’s been with me every step of the way. He’s known everything that’s gone on behind the scenes. For him, it’s probably a very proud moment.”
Borthwick-Jackson’s dad will be there on Monday night when another Premier League club, Brentford, come to Macclesfield in the fourth round of the Cup.
The defender reckons his father has been at every game throughout his career, starting at Manchester United when Borthwick-Jackson was just six.
Borthwick-Jackson made his first-team debut for United in November 2015 when Louis van Gaal called him from the bench to replace Marcos Rojo in a Premier League clash against West Bromwich Albion. The Dutch manager gave 13 Carrington graduates their debut during his two seasons at United.
Cameron Borthwick-Jackson playing for Manchester United in January 2016 (Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)
“He was brilliant with me,” says Borthwick-Jackson. “(A) perfectionist, but brilliant with me. Brilliant with a few of the boys.
“He gave quite a lot of us our chance. A lot of us owe him a lot because he set up our careers, really.”
Borthwick-Jackson started six Premier League games and played almost 700 minutes that season; the same campaign in which Marcus Rashford made his senior debut.
Van Gaal, however, was dismissed at the end of the 2015-16 season despite winning the FA Cup. Jose Mourinho replaced him late in May 2016 and, three days later, both Rashford and Borthwick-Jackson signed new long-term contracts.
“A lot of it, I think, was perception,” says the left back. “Obviously, the perception of him (Mourinho) before he came in was, ‘I do not play youth, I don’t promote youth’. Stuff like that.
“So I think for the fans to see me and Marcus sign on the same day, it’s like, ‘Oh, fair enough.’”
Borthwick-Jackson picked up an injury early that pre-season and, when he was undergoing rehab, was moved out of the first-team dressing room as new signings arrived. Later in the summer, he left on loan to Wolverhampton Wanderers. Rashford continued to rise at United but Borthwick-Jackson had to navigate a different path, playing on loan at Leeds United, Scunthorpe United, Tranmere Rovers and Oldham Athletic before he was released in 2020.
The defender still looks back at his time at United with fondness and loves seeing former team-mates thriving at and away from the club, including Rashford and Scott McTominay, both of whom he stays in regular contact with.
“You can’t have regrets in football,” he says. “Things happen for a reason. Some decisions, should I have made them, shouldn’t I? It’s one of them.
“I’m probably more proud of myself now, being out of the game and coming back into it.”
Manchester United head coach Michael Carrick (left) and Cameron Borthwick-Jackson (right) in the same United team in the Champions League in December 2015 (Getty Images)
What followed were permanent stints at Oldham and Burton Albion before a move to Poland and Slask Wroclaw, which proved difficult given Borthwick-Jackson had a young family. His sons Theo, now seven, and Carter, now five, stayed in England and the defender also struggled with the breakdown of a relationship.
“Life happens,” says Borthwick-Jackson. “It was tough. I did want the kids to come out with me but it was a decision made where we didn’t want to affect their lives. Because it is a big thing. My youngest was obviously going into his second year in school. He’s got his friends. Then he’s got to go out there and be around a different culture, different language. It would have been difficult. Looking back, it’s probably the right decision to stay at home.
“For myself, it was very difficult. It was probably the toughest time in my life. First and foremost, I’m a dad. I want to be around my kids all the time. It’s difficult to perform at my best when I’m not seeing them. Being away for two months at a time, seeing them for a few days and then being gone again, breaking their hearts every time I go.
“Wroclaw is a lovely city, Poland is beautiful. The standard of football was good but as soon as the distraction of football was gone, and I’m going back to my apartment, it’s like, ‘Oof’. That’s when it would hit me.”
Borthwick-Jackson had a stint on loan at Ross County in Scotland but that didn’t make things easier — “I went from a two-hour flight to a seven-hour drive,” he says. It prompted his decision in the summer of 2024 to part ways with the Polish club just 12 months into his two-year deal and take a break from football.
“I chose to be around for my kids,” he says. “I think my love for football was kind of gone at that point. It’s given me time to reset and refresh values.”
Borthwick-Jackson thought about following his dad into the wealth management business but then he started working with a football coach to get fit before the call from Macclesfield came at the end of 2025.
Cameron Borthwick-Jackson playing for Oldham Athletic while Covid-19 restrictions were in place in April 2021 (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
“Seeing my kids start to obviously enjoy football, I thought I owe it to them to see me play,” he says.
Macclesfield Town was liquidated in 2020 but reborn under the ownership of local businessman Robert Smethurst, who bought the club’s ground for £500,000 while on a four-day drinking session, along with former Premier League star Robbie Savage, who had a stint as manager. They’ve risen from the bottom of the football ladder and are chasing promotion to the fifth tier.
The focus, for now, is on trying to create another FA Cup miracle by beating Premier League Brentford in front of a packed Leasing.com Stadium on Monday.
“It’s been a while since I enjoyed football,” says Borthwick-Jackson, who has started Macclesfield’s last two league games. “To come back in and obviously being part of a winning group helps massively.
“Feeling valued again helps massively. I think, for me, the ambition it’s just to enjoy the football first and foremost and then see where it takes me.”