Fin Shrimpton – fans’ views on Macc’s stellar signing
Chester's player-of-the-year joins the Silkmen
Macclesfield FC have completed the major signing of Fin Shrimpton following the midfielder’s surprise departure from Chester, where he was named their player of the season.
The 23-year-old has been a revelation this year, bagging eight goals in eight games to catapult Chester into the National League North play-offs. The Seals eventually succumbed 2-1 to the Silkmen in the eliminator fixture on 29 April, which saw Shrimpton withdrawn after 31 minutes due to sustaining a knock.
However Shrimpton did star in Chester’s 2-0 victory over Macc in December, producing a fine run and assist for Dylan Mottley-Henry’s opener.
After a slow start to his career at the Deva Stadium, Shrimpton finished the 2025-26 campaign with 9 goals and 2 assists from 39 league appearances (31 starts). The popular Fin thrived playing in an advanced forward role under Chester caretaker boss Connor Rawlinson, having initially struggled to impress former manager Calum McIntyre who left the club at the end of February.
Chester’s loss, Macclesfield’s gain?
The Seals have recently appointed Phil Parkinson as their new permanent manager which has culminated in Shrimpton moving on, much to the disbelief of their supporters. The midfielder was apparently unable to commit to the extended training schedule that Chester’s new management team of Parkinson and Neil Sorvel will be introducing next season.
Which begs the question, how will Shrimpton cope with Macclesfield’s own training regime which is rumoured to be increasing to a hybrid model, comprising three mornings a week (Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday)?
Firstly, the Silkmen hierarchy have yet to confirm that the club will be increasing their training patterns from two to three sessions. And secondly if they are, the round-trip from Shrimpton’s Scunthorpe base to Macclesfield is around 60 miles less in comparison to his previous journey to Chester.
Macclesfield’s midfield makeover
The arrival of Shrimpton is a major boost for Macclesfield’s midfield, which was also strengthened last week by the addition of former Fylde promotion winner, George Wilson. Comfortable playing as a defensive shield in front of the back four, or as a box-to-box midfielder with an eye for goal who can operate as a second striker, Shrimpton’s versatility and energy is something Macclesfield have been crying out for in the engine room.
Former manager Robbie Savage thought he had found those attributes when luring former Seals midfielder Elliott Whitehouse to Macclesfield two seasons ago after Whitehouse had netted nine times in 40 appearances for Chester in the previous campaign. Sadly, the 32-year-old never hit the heights expected of him, and after sustaining a bad injury against Hyde on August bank holiday Whitehouse never played for Macc again and has recently been released.
Notably, Shrimpton is nine years younger than Whitehouse with considerably fewer miles on the clock. Fin began his career at boyhood club Scunthorpe United before enjoying an impressive loan spell at Spennymoor Town during the 2024-25 which prompted Chester to swoop for him 12 months ago. In total, the tenacious Shrimpton has made 101 appearances in the National League North, registering 16 goals.
Universally acclaimed by Scunthorpe, Spennymoor and Chester supporters, manager John Rooney will be delighted to get his fourth key acquisition over the line, following the recent captures of Fylde pair George Wilson and left back Lincoln McFayden, plus keeper Christian Dibble yesterday.
Read on to learn the fans’ views on Shrimpton, which make for encouraging reading!
The view from Chester fans on Fin Shrimpton
“Absolutely gutted he is leaving. Absolutely transformed our season”
“Fair play to the next team you sign for, they’re gonna have one hell of a player. Just try not to come back next year and score against us”
“Player of the season for an obvious reason.”
“Took his chance when it eventually came. Who knows if he had got into the side earlier. We know it wasn’t his fault”
“Great player, gutted he is leaving. If only (Calum) McIntyre had given him more game time we may have finished higher up the league”
“Proper midfielder. Box-to-box and scoring goals”
“Shrimpton leaving is a big blow”
“Losing Shrimpton and keeping Peers. I fear for next season already”
“Big blow losing Shrimpton. Thank you for not losing heart when you were nearly bombed out of the club and for showing everyone what a lot of us saw early on”
“Gutted about Shrimpton. He had some goals in him and could play different positions”
“Didn’t buy it about Shrimpton being unable to commit to the (new training) model. Reality is for all the commendable effort, he just isn’t good enough technically, and you’re not going to last in a Parkinson team without that. If Parkinson really wanted Fin, it was just a case of compensating him for this extra training day. Always maintained it would be (Lewis) Leigh over Shrimpton, which for me is absolutely the right choice”
“Shrimpton is a runner and a good one, but limited technically. Doesn’t strike me as a Parkinson player and Leigh has more potential”
“Lewis Leigh has a shed load more technical ability than Shrimpton”
“(Losing) Shrimpton is disappointing, but I don’t think it’s the end of the world personally. Leigh is probably more a Parky player as others have said. I do think we need more physicality in the midfield though. If Shrimpton was a few inches taller he’d probably be perfect”
“Shrimpton hit the net for Chester 11 times last season, whereas Leigh could only hit the big top behind the Harry Mac. It was clear which one was the better player”
“Shrimpton was exactly the age profile we need. You need players with energy and he has an eye for goal. He’s way ahead of Leigh in what he offers all round. Let’s see who replaces Shrimpton, I suppose, but a big loss in my opinion”
“Jeez, the thought of Weeks and Leigh going sideways and backwards and getting run through in midfield and Tom Peers doing nothing upfront isn’t going to shift those season tickets. Thought we’d seen the last of those three at Macclesfield and the team was going to be built around the likes of Shrimpton and Mottley-Henry. How wrong I was”
“Shrimpton only looked decent because the squad was mediocre at best last season and we had no one else to score goals. Where else is he going to go to in this league? Not good enough for South Shields, so it’s Darlington or Spennymoor”
“I don’t think there was a single Chester fan saying Shrimpton should have been released… until after he got released. The comment above that he only scored goals because we had no-one else to score goals is just ridiculous. By that logic we can also release Dylan Mottley-Henry and just rely on Peers”
“Shrimpton leaving FFS. I’ll wait on renewing my season ticket after this. Has Parkinson really been watching us?”
The view from Scunthorpe fans
“This lad will run through a brick wall for you”
“Brilliant signing for Chester. Lovely lad, works hard…lots of potential”
“Passion, resilience, good looks and quality… and passion and resilience!”
“Oh dear, oh dear. A local lad who has never really been given a chance”
“Poor decision to let him go. Fin was the fight, grit and tough tackling we’ve been missing”
“Good luck Fin, quality player. I think the club will end up regretting this decision”
“Good luck to the lad. It’s more disappointing that the club extended his contract and then didn’t give him a run of games”
“Crazy decision. Deserves to be in the first team all day long”
“Makes sense (to let Shrimpton go). Squad player at best. Take the homegrown blinkers off for those wanting a moan”
“Oh no! What a waste of a local player. Give him the chance to prove himself instead of being on the bench watching!!!! Our loss is their gain”