FAMOUS soccer minnows Accrington Stanley could be set for a David and Goliath legal battle after finance giants Pearl published an advert using the club's trademark name without permission.

Fans from all over the country have bombarded the club's offices with calls to register their disgust over the recruitment advert, which shows a scruffily-dressed man and his dog next to the caption "You wouldn't expect Michael Owen to play for Accrington Stanley."

Club chairman Eric Whalley slammed the advert, which appeared in a national newspaper this week, for painting a miserable picture of the club and the town.

The club have written to Pearl, whose assets total £17billion, to ask why they were not asked permission and what steps the company will take to compensate the club.

Mr Whalley said: "Pearl or the advertising agency should have had the courtesy to get in touch with us.

"Accrington Stanley's name is patented, and no one can use it without our permission. We have spoken to our solicitors about legal action and we are waiting to hear back from them. We are also waiting to hear what the company say. "We are already bottom of the league and we don't need to be kicked in the teeth. The advert is a bit sarcastic. They are taking the mickey.

"The club is usually able to laugh at itself, and we like anything which helps keep our name alive, but we don't find this funny because no one contacted us."

The club recently spent thousands of pounds on improving access to the ground, a new club shop and offices.

"If the agency had rung us up and asked our permission then we might have agreed to this. We might even have persuaded them to make a donation to the club. Non-league teams like ours need whatever they can get," said Mr Whalley.

A Milk Marketing Board television advert in 1980s netted £8,000 for the club and made Stanley a household name.

A Pearl spokesman said: "I am not sure what permission was sought by the advertising agency. We have been told Accrington Stanley are going to be contacting us. As far as compensating the club goes, when we hear from them we will consider what they put to us, but we don't want to get people's hopes up. "We have a lot of valued customers in Accrington, Blackburn and Burnley, and we did not intend to cause any offence. We chose the club because they are world famous."

Despite their rock-bottom position in the UniBond Premier League, the club still receives fan mail from supporters all over the world.

Founder members of the Football League in 1888, Stanley made history as the first club to resign from the league when they were wound up in 1962. The new Stanley, formed 31 years ago, have so far failed to regain their former glory. Their biggest day in club's non-league history came in 1992 when 7,000 fans filled Ewood Park, Blackburn, for a second round FA Cup tie with Crewe.

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