Liverpool have played Accrington Stanley just once before in their history, but there is a strange bond between the clubs all because of one 1989 television advert for milk.
There have been no great fixtures between the teams, no great goals scored or even players who have figured for both clubs.
But when Liverpool drew Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup third round, there was a strange sense of occasion on the horizon.
On Saturday, the teams will meet for the first time since 1956, when a Billy Liddell brace saw the Reds beat Accrington Stanley 2-0 in another FA Cup third round tie at Anfield.
What links the two clubs isn’t that game, though. Instead, it is an advert first broadcast by the Milk Marketing Board in 1989.
This won’t come as news to those over a certain age, but for younger fans, they may be unaware of the connection and subsequent catchphrase that was no doubt uttered in households across Merseyside when the draw was made.
The advert in question depicts two young Liverpudlians in kits going to the fridge.
One boy asks for lemonade while the other 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,” before adding: “He said, ‘If I don’t drink lots of milk, when I grow up I’ll only be good enough to play for Accrington Stanley’.”
With a strong Scouse accent, his friend then utters the famous line, “Accrington Stanley, who are they?” to which the milk drinker replies, “Exactly!”
It is this tongue-in-cheek question that in some ways put Accrington Stanley on the map for the country’s wider population.
Of course, the club are now a fourth-division side and have been a constant in the Football League since 2006.
However, during the 1980s, the Lancashire club lingered in the North West Counties League, what is now the ninth tier of English football.
The advert was so popular that it was shown for nearly six years and has since had several parodic remakes.
Perhaps the best re-creation was produced in 2014, when Rush, Robbie Fowler and Steve McManaman came together to replicate (almost) the advert for Sport Relief.
There have been other re-makes including this one featuring Rush, produced by Studio who sponsored the family stand at the Crown Ground.
There was also one featuring the two original children as grown-ups, advertising Black Cow Vodka instead of milk. However, this wasn’t allowed to air due to concerns it promoted being socially irresponsible.
While you might expect Accrington Stanley to be annoyed by the teasing, the club and its fans have actually tended to embrace the advert’s legacy.
Carl Rice, the milk-drinking young fan who went on to become an actor and stand-up comic, was even invited to the Crown Ground as a guest of honour in the 2005/06 season when they were promoted to League Two.
The club’s then chief executive, Robert Heys, said (h/t MEN): “To this day it has brought us worldwide fame and thousands in merchandise sales to countries as far away as Australia, Canada and America.
“People take pictures of the ground. This time we want to be famous for all the right reasons.”
Rice then added: “That ad took me from a schoolboy in Liverpool to a star around the world.
“I never got any royalties, because I was a child when it was made and I was paid in rainbow drops, but if I had I would be able to retire now.”
He also revealed how the plan had actually been for the team mentioned in jest to be Tottenham!
“I’ve done TV and I’m a writer but the advert is all people want to talk about,” he continued.
“The original script should have read Tottenham Hotspur but they objected so The National Dairy Council picked another team.”
Unfortunately, Kevin Spaine, the other child actor, didn’t follow a similar path. He was jailed for life with a minimum of 18 years after being convicted of murdering Learoy Venner in July 2022.
The court was told the former child actor’s life descended into crime and using drugs, reported the Guardian.
Liverpool vs. Accrington Stanley kicks off at 12.15pm (GMT) on Saturday and is being shown on ITV 1.
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