By Glenn Price
The Emirates FA Cup third round match between Liverpool and Accrington Stanley this weekend will be the first meeting between the clubs in 69 years.
Indeed, the last and only time the Reds faced the Lancashire team was in 1956, in the same competition, at the same stadium and at the same venue.
Perhaps the main takeaway from Liverpool’s 2-0 win at Anfield almost 70 years ago is that the hosts didn’t wear red.
Instead, Don Welsh’s team sported yellow shirts with white shorts and their usual red and white socks.
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At the time, FA rules stipulated that both teams had to change color in the event of a clash between teams. Although Stanley accepted that Liverpool could wear red, authorities said there were no exceptions.
Stanley, then of the Third Division North and a league behind Liverpool, did not arrive at Anfield with the expected approach of an outsider.
“The Anfield crowd, expecting lots of kicking and rushing, must have been in for the surprise of their lives,” reads David Prole’s match report in the Liverpool Echo. “Most of Accrington’s football was played to an excellent standard. »
They would ultimately be undone by Billy Liddell’s brilliance as a goalscorer, but not without giving a good boost.
As he did so often, Liddell took the game away from the opposition, scoring two goals less than a minute after the half-hour mark, to delight most of the 48,385 spectators.
The visitors were apparently good in all areas except the last.
“The fact remains that Liverpool were lucky to catch Stanley’s attackers when nothing was going their way,” Prole wrote.
The Reds’ attack, apart from Liddell, was also struggling at this point, although finishing the game to seal progression in the competition was of no concern.
The Echo report ends: “There is no reason to fear this Liverpool defense. It’s a different story when it comes to offense. »
The Welsh side would not be promoted to the First Division that season and Manchester City ended their FA Cup run in the fifth round.
Liverpool expected success in the world’s oldest football competition, but the arrival of Bill Shankly a few years later would help change that.
Published 9 hours ago
This article has been machine translated and, while every reasonable effort has been made to ensure its accuracy, some translation errors are possible. Please refer to the original English version of the article for the official version.
