Liverpool have performed Accrington Stanley simply as soon as earlier than of their historical past, however there’s a unusual bond between the golf equipment all due to one 1989 tv advert for milk.
There have been no nice fixtures between the groups, no nice targets scored and even gamers who’ve figured for each golf equipment.
However when Liverpool drew Accrington Stanley within the FA Cup third spherical, there was an odd sense of event on the horizon.
On Saturday, the groups will meet for the primary time since 1956, when a Billy Liddell brace noticed the Reds beat Accrington Stanley 2-0 in one other FA Cup third spherical tie at Anfield.
What hyperlinks the 2 golf equipment isn’t that sport, although. As an alternative, it’s an advert first broadcast by the Milk Advertising and marketing Board in 1989.
This gained’t come as information to these over a sure age, however for youthful followers, they might be unaware of the connection and subsequent catchphrase that was little doubt uttered in households throughout Merseyside when the draw was made.
The advert in query depicts two younger Liverpudlians in kits going to the fridge.
One boy asks for lemonade whereas the opposite takes a swig of milk. The lemonade drinker reacts by exclaiming: “Milk?! Ugh.”
The milk-drinker then responds by saying, “It’s what Ian Rush drinks,” earlier than including: “He stated, ‘If I don’t drink numerous milk, once I develop up I’ll solely be adequate to play for Accrington Stanley’.”
With a powerful Scouse accent, his buddy then utters the well-known line, “Accrington Stanley, who’re they?” to which the milk drinker replies, “Precisely!”
It’s this tongue-in-cheek query that in some methods put Accrington Stanley on the map for the nation’s wider inhabitants.
After all, the membership are actually a fourth-division facet and have been a relentless within the Soccer League since 2006.
Nonetheless, throughout the Nineteen Eighties, the Lancashire membership lingered within the North West Counties League, what’s now the ninth tier of English soccer.
The advert was so common that it was proven for practically six years and has since had a number of parodic remakes.
Maybe the very best re-creation was produced in 2014, when Rush, Robbie Fowler and Steve McManaman got here collectively to copy (nearly) the advert for Sport Reduction.
There have been different re-makes together with this one with Ian Rush in, produced by Studio who sponsored the household stand on the Crown Floor.
There was additionally one that includes the 2 authentic kids as grown-ups, promoting Black Cow Vodka as an alternative of milk. Nonetheless, this wasn’t allowed to air attributable to issues it promoted being socially irresponsible.
When you may count on Accrington Stanley to be aggravated by the teasing, the membership and its followers have really tended to embrace the advert’s legacy.
Carl Rice, the milk-drinking younger fan who went on to grow to be an actor and stand-up comedian, was even invited to the Crown Floor as a visitor of honour within the 2005/06 season once they had been promoted to League Two.
The membership’s then chief govt, Robert Heys, stated (h/t MEN): “To at the present time it has introduced us worldwide fame and 1000’s in merchandise gross sales to international locations as distant as Australia, Canada and America.
“Individuals take footage of the bottom. This time we wish to be well-known for all the correct causes.”
Rice then added: “That advert took me from a schoolboy in Liverpool to a star around the globe.
“I by no means received any royalties, as a result of I used to be a toddler when it was made and I used to be paid in rainbow drops, but when I had I might be capable of retire now.”
He additionally revealed how the plan had really been for the staff talked about in jest to be Tottenham!
“I’ve achieved TV and I’m a author however the advert is all individuals wish to speak about,” he continued.
“The unique script ought to have learn Tottenham Hotspur however they objected so The Nationwide Dairy Council picked one other staff.”
Sadly, Kevin Spaine, the opposite baby actor, didn’t comply with the same path. He was jailed for all times with a minimal of 18 years after being convicted of murdering Learoy Venner in July 2022.
The court docket was advised the previous baby actor’s life descended into crime and utilizing medication, reported the Guardian.
Liverpool vs. Accrington Stanley kicks off at 12.15pm (GMT) on Saturday and is being proven on ITV 1.
