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 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.”
