Birth of the legend
1913 - Bill Shankly was born in Glenbuck, Ayrshire. He was the ninth of ten children, and the youngest of five boys. Words cannot fully explain his importance to the history of Liverpool Football Club. However, his honours as reds boss between December 1959 and July 1974 included three League titles, two FA Cups, the UEFA Cup and the Second Division championship.
1936 - Centre-half John Nicholson was born in Liverpool. He signed as a professional in January 1957, but only made one senior appearance before joining Port Vale in August 1961, playing over 200 games for them.
Spurs stuffed
1978 - Tottenham Hotspur suffered their worst ever Anfield defeat, despite including their new World Cup winners, Osvaldo Ardiles and Ricky Villa. Kenny Dalglish and substitute David Johnson both grabbed a brace, added to by Ray Kennedy and a twice-taken Phil Neal penalty, before Terry McDermott rounded off a brilliant team move to make it 7-0.
Into the League
1893 - We played our first ever game in the Football League, winning 2-0 at Middlesbrough Ironopolis. Forward Malcolm McVean scored our first ever League goal after an hour, with centre-half Joe McQue nabbing the other. James Henderson played his only senior reds game, while forward James Stott and reds legend Matt McQueen also made their debuts in this game. This was also the first ever League game staged at the Paradise Ground.
Red ins and outs
1986 - Steve Staunton signed from Dundalk for £20,000. He bagged six goals in ninety appearances in his first spell at Anfield, joining Aston Villa for £1.1m after five years with the reds.
1994 - John Scales signed from Wimbledon for £3.5m. He struck four times in 94 games in his two years at Anfield, before joining Tottenham Hotspur for £2.6m in December 1996. On the same day, Paul Stewart joined Wolverhampton Wanderers on loan. He scored twice in ten appearances for Wolves, and later joined Burnley and Sunderland on loan, having slipped out of the first team picture at Anfield.
Nice one Cyril
1939 - Cyril Done scored the only goal of the game on his reds debut at home to Chelsea, the day after Germany invaded Poland, and the day before Britain declared war, which resulted in the cancellation of the football season. Matt Busby was playing his 125th and final reds game.
Out-gunned
We have visited Arsenal three times for top-flight matches on this day in history, without securing victory.
1905 - We lost 3-1 to Woolwich Arsenal with Robbie Robinson bagging our consolation, and Sam Raybould missing a penalty in our first game of the season. Jack Parkinson broke his wrist in this match, keeping him out of the side for six months. We finished the game with nine men after Billy Dunlop twisted his knee.
1911 - We returned to the Manor Ground for another season opener, when John McConnell and Samual Gilligan netted as we left with a 2-2 draw.
1922 - We lost 1-0 to Arsenal at Highbury.
Beating the Trotters
We have entertained Bolton Wanderers three times on this day in history, winning twice and drawing on the other occasion.
1914 - Billy Lacey, Arthur Metcalf, Jimmy Nicholl and Jackie Sheldon all struck as we won our opening First Division fixture 4-3.
1916 - Fred Pagnam, Arthur Goddard and Jack Bamber netted as we won a Wartime League match 3-1.
1931 - Dave Wright bagged a brace in a 2-2 top-flight draw.
Ton up for Jack
1950 - Jack Balmer struck his hundredth reds goal as we drew 1-1 at Aston Villa.
Debutants on the mark
1899 - Forward John ‘Sailor' Hunter scored on his reds bow, as we lost 3-2 at Stoke in our season opener, with skipper Alex Raisbeck also on target and forward Peter Kyle also making his reds bow.
1907 - Charlie Hewitt also netted on his debut, as we started another season with a 3-1 defeat at Nottingham Forest.
Double debutants
1972 - Keeper Frank Lane played his only senior reds game, unfortunately conceding an own goal as we lost 2-1 at League champions Derby County, despite John Toshack putting us in front. Midfielder Peter Cormack also made his reds bow in this match.
Ged's double century
2002 - We were held at home by Newcastle United to a 2-2 draw in the 200th match since Gérard Houllier took sole charge. Ex-United player Dietmar Hamann struck before Michael Owen converted a penalty. However, late goals from Gary Speed and Alan Shearer levelled the match.
1953 - We also faced the Geordies, leaving St. James' Park on the wrong end of a 4-0 scoreline.
Starting out with a point
1901 - We kicked off our season with a goalless draw at Small Heath, who were later to become known as Birmingham City.
Michael on the mark again
2000 - Michael Owen scored England's equaliser against World Champions France in their friendly encounter at the Stade de France, having come on as a substitute. Kevin Keegan was in charge of a side that also featured ex-red Steve McManaman, while Nick Barmby was winning his first cap as a reds player. Future red Nicolas Anelka appeared for the home side.
The same day, Sami Hyypiä won his 34th cap in Finland's 2-1 home defeat of Albania in a World Cup qualifier, with future red Jari Litmanen on the scoresheet. Don Hutchison won his first cap as a Sunderland player as Scotland won their qualifier in Latvia 1-0. Robbie Keane bagged his only goal while with Internazionale as ex-red Jason McAteer also struck in the Republic of Ireland's 2-2 draw with the Netherlands in Amsterdam, with Steve Staunton also featuring. Craig Bellamy was sent off while winning his first cap as a Coventry City player as Wales lost 2-1 in Belarus. Also in international action that day were Stéphane Henchoz, Vladimír Šmicer, future reds Igor Bišcan, Jerzy Dudek and Paul Jones, and ex-reds Øyvind Leonhardsen, Jim Magilton and Gareth Roberts.
Crouchie at the double
2006 - Peter Crouch bagged a brace with Steven Gerrard also on target as England thumped Andorra 5-0 in their Euro 2008 qualifier at Old Trafford, with future red Stewart Downing also in action. Luis García and future red Fernando Torres both netted for Spain in their 4-0 defeat of Liechtenstein, with Xabi Alonso also in the side. Future red Martin Škrtel struck his first goal for his country on the same day, as Slovakia thumped Cyprus 6-1 in another qualifier in Bratislava.
Dirk Kuyt won his first cap as a red, playing alongside future red Ryan Babel as the Netherlands won 1-0 in Luxembourg. Meanwhile, ex-red Jari Litmanen knocked a brace past Jerzy Dudek, including a penalty, as Roy Hodgson's Finland beat Poland 3-1 in what was the keeper's final international as a red. Also in international action were Craig Bellamy, Steve Finnan, Sami Hyypiä, future reds Yossi Benayoun, Philipp Degen, Robbie Keane and Sotirios Kyrgiakos, and ex-reds Paul Jones, El-Hadji Diouf and Rigobert Song. Also representing their countries that day were managers John Toshack and Steve Staunton, who was dismissed as the Republic of Ireland lost 1-0 in Germany.
More first caps
2010 - Michael Ngoo and Jonjo Shelvey both netted on their debuts for Englkand Under-19's as they beat Slovakia 2-0 in a friendly at Gresty Road, while Andre Wisdom also made his debut at this level, skippering the side for a time. Meanwhile, Yossi Benayoun won his first cap as a Chelsea player as Israel beat Malta 3-1 in a European Championships qualifier in Tel-Aviv .
Alberto in action
2002 - Future red Alberto Aquilani played for Italy Under-19's as the lost 1-0 to Turkey.
2005 - He featured for the Under-21's in their European Championships qualifier against Scotland in Motherwell that ended 2-2 with three players sent off in total. The match was forfeited by the home side and recorded as a 3-0 victory to Italy.
On the move
1955 - Future reds centre-forward Dave Hickson signed for Aston Villa from Everton for £17,500, netting just once in twelve games before moving to Huddersfield Town for £16,000 two months later.
They've still got it
2001 - The reds old boys won the Masters tournament at the London Arena.
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