15th August

Double debutants
1987 - John Barnes and new record signing Peter Beardsley both made their official reds debuts as we beat Arsenal 2-1 at Highbury, thanks to goals from John Aldridge and Steve Nicol, who scored an extraordinary header from the edge of the penalty box. This was Kenny Dalglish’s fiftieth League win as reds boss, coming in his 85th game - still the best record of any reds boss. Ronnie Whelan played his 200th League game for the reds that day.

Happy birthday Ox
1993 – Midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was born in Portsmouth. He signed from Arsenal for £35m in August 2017, netting eighteen times in 146 appearances before being released earlier this summer. He made it back from serious injury to sit on the bench as we claimed the UEFA Champions League in Madrid in June 2019 and helping us to claim the Premier League, FIFA Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup.

Clem departs
1981 – Ray Clemence was sold to Tottenham Hotspur for £300,000. He had arrived from Sc***horpe United for £18,000 in June 1967, usurping Tommy Lawrence as first choice number one after two years. He went on to make 665 reds appearances, winning five League titles, an FA Cup, three European Cups, two UEFA Cups, League Cup, UEFA Super Cup and four FA Charity Shields in his fourteen years at Anfield.

Also moving on
1974 - Centre-half Larry Lloyd was sold to Coventry City for £240,000. He is one of a rare breed to leave Anfield in his prime and go on to better things – helping Nottingham Forest to two European Cups, one League title, League Cup and FA Charity Shield. He had won League and UEFA Cup medals after joining the reds from Bristol Rovers for £50,000 in April 1969, appearing 218 times and notching five times.

1976 – Kevin Keegan confirmed that the upcoming season would be his final one at Anfield. He struck twenty times in 57 outings in this campaign, helping us to claim the European Cup and League title, and reach the FA Cup Final.
1991 – David Speedie left the reds to join Blackburn Rovers. He had struck six times in fourteen outings since signing from Coventry City for £675,000 seven months earlier.

Dismissals galore
2010 – Joe Cole was sent off for a challenge on Laurent Koscielny just before half-time in our Anfield meeting with Arsenal. David N’Gog put us in front immediately after the break, with the lead lasting until the last minute when Marouane Chamakh diverted a cross against the post and Pepe Reina spilled the rebound into his own net. Koscielny was then sent off for a second bookable offence in injury-time. This turned out to be Javier Mascherano’s 139th and final reds game.

2022 - Darwin Núñez was dismissed in our 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace at Anfield. Wilfred Zaha put the Eagles in front before the break, but the Uruguayan was sent off for headbutting Joachim Andersen. Luis Díaz bagged the equaliser,

Other birthdays
1988 – Moroccan winger Oussama Assaidi was born in Beni-Boughafar. He signed from Dutch side SC Heerenveen for £2.4m in August 2012, failing to score in twelve appearances before spending a season and a half on loan at Stoke City. He was sold to UAE Arabian Gulf League side Al Ahli for a reported £4.7m in January 2015.
1905 - Centre-forward Tommy Reid was born in Motherwell. He signed from Clydebank for £1,000 in April 1926 and bagged an impressive thirty goals in 55 games before moving to Manchester United in February 1929.

Off the mark
2017 – Trent Alexander-Arnold scored his first senior goal as we won 2-1 at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in the first leg of our UEFA Champions League qualifier. Simon Mignolet saved a penalty, with forward Dominic Solanke making his reds bow as we benefited when Havard Nordtveit inadvertently diverted a James Milner cross into his own net.
2007 - Yossi Benayoun made his reds debut as Andriy Voronin’s first reds strike proved to be the only goal of the first leg of our Champions League qualifier in Toulouse, who became our hundredth different opponents in European competition.

Happy birthday Boudewijn
1976 - Bolo Zenden was born in Maastricht in the Netherlands. He signed on a free transfer in July 2005 after his one-year contract with Middlesbrough had expired. He notched twice in 47 senior reds games, as injury hampered his career at Anfield. He helped us to claim the UEFA Super Cup and FA Community Shield, as well as reach the Champions League Final in his brief time with the reds. Bolo left the club in July 2007 to join Olympique de Marseille.
2021 – Former Director Terry Smith died at Arrowe Park Hospital in Birkenhead. He was on the board from 1992 until 2007.

Charity at first
1964 - We played in our first FA Charity Shield, only drawing 2-2 with West Ham United at Anfield. Gordon Wallace and Gerry Byrne twice gave us the lead, with John Byrne and Geoff Hurst both netting equalisers, with the latter being one of his nine strikes against the reds. The trophy was shared between the two clubs, as this was in the days before extra-time and penalty shoot-outs. Phil Chisnall made his reds bow in this game when he became the first ever substitute in senior English football, replacing Alf Arrowsmith after just a quarter of an hour, who had suffered a serious knee injury.

Red defenders on the way out
1991 - Gary Gillespie was sold to his boyhood heroes Celtic for £925,000. He had been Joe Fagan’s first signing, helping us to three League titles in his eight injury-ravaged years at Anfield, scoring sixteen times in 214 appearances.
2002 - Young full-back Stephen Wright joined Sunderland for £3m, after just 21 reds games. He netted twice in 105 games for them, with injuries blighting his time there, and was released in May 2008.

Double capture
2005 - Liverpool confirmed the signings of young centre-backs Godwin Antwi from Real Zaragoza and Miki Roqué from U.E. Lleida. Both featured in our victorious FA Youth Cup winning campaign in 2006, but only made one senior appearance between them, when Roque made a late cameo at Galatasaray in December 2006.

1996 - Patrik Berger signed from Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e.V. Dortmund for £3.25m, following an impressive Euro ’96. He scored 35 times in 196 reds games, before joining Portsmouth in June 2003.
1983 – Winger Brian Mooney signed from Home Farm for £20,000. He only ever played one senior reds game, as a substitute for Jim Beglin in a League Cup win at Fulham in October 1986, moving on to Preston North End in November 1987.

1970’s League wins
We twice played League games on this day in the 1970’s, winning them both.
1970 - We won 2-1 at Burnley, with Alun Evans and Emlyn Hughes on target.
1972 - We beat Manchester United 2-0 at Anfield, thanks to strikes from John Toshack and Steve Heighway.

Ex-reds on the move
1997 - Ian Rush signed for Newcastle United on a free transfer from Leeds United. He only made fourten appearances for the Magpies, scoring twice, including one that made him the all-time top scorer in the FA Cup, with 44 goals in the competition.
1985 - Gary McAllister joined Leicester City from Motherwell along with clubmate Ally Mauchlen for a combined £250,000. He struck 52 times in 225 appearances for the Foxes, before joining Leeds United for £1m in July 1990.
2003 - Steve Staunton joined Coventry City on a free transfer from Aston Villa. He notched four times in 75 games for the Sky Blues before joining Walsall two years later.
2011 – Robbie Keane joined LA Galaxy from Tottenham Hotspur for £3.5m, so far bagging 97 goals in 145 outings for the American outfit and becoming their captain.

Losing finalists
1982 - We lost the Final of the Málaga Tournament to the home side. We drew 1-1 after extra time, with our goal coming from Alan Kennedy, but lost the penalty shoot-out 4-2. The game started so late that the action did not come to an end until around 1:15am. Terry McDermott and Phil Neal converted their spot-kicks, with David Hodgson’s being saved and Howard Gayle sending his over the crossbar

Management moves
2005 - Roy Hodgson was appointed Manager of Finland. He narrowly failed to take them to the European Championships Finals in 2008, as they fell just one goal short of reaching their first ever major tournament. He chose not to renew his contract when it expired in November 2007, taking over at Fulham the following month.
2020 - Jürgen Klopp was named Premier League Manager of the Season for 2019-20, having led us as we romped to the Premier League title. On the same day, Chris Morgan re-joined the red as a first-team physiotherapist.

Reds in Ireland
1994 - We beat Dundalk 2-1 in a friendly at Oriel Park, with Robbie Fowler and Michael Thomas on the scoresheet.

International friendly firsts and lasts
2012 – Charlie Adam won his last cap as a reds player as Scotland beat Australia 3-1 at Easter Road, while Nuri Şahin made his final appearance for Turkey before joining the reds on loan as Turkey lost 2-0 to Austria in Vienna. Joe Allen represented Wales for the first time since moving to Anfield as they lost 2-0 to Bosnia-Herzegovina in Llanelli, with Craig Bellamy playing his first international in his second spell as a Cardiff City player. Meanwhile, Raul Meireles won his last cap as a Chelsea player in Portugal’s 2-0 victory over Panama in Faro, while Christian Benteke scored his first senior goal for Belgium, and only one as a Koninklijke Racing Club Genk player, in their 4-2 friendly defeat of the Netherlands in Brussels. Daniel Agger reached a half century of caps in Denmark’s 3-1 defeat by Martin Škrtel’s Slovakia in Odense.

On the same day, ex-red Alexander Kačaniklić made his senior bow in Sweden’s 3-0 defeat by Brazil in Solna, while Alberto Aquilani won his first cap as a Fiorentina player as Italy lost 2-1 to Roy Hodgson’s England in Bern. Xherdan Shaqiri won his last cap as a Basel player in Switzerland’s 4-2 win in Croatia, while Fulham’s John Arne Riise struck in Norway’s 3-2 loss to Greece in Oslo, with Krisztián Németh playing for Hungary for the first time while with Roda JC Kerkrade in their 1-1 draw with Israel in Budapest. Also in international action that day were Andy Carroll, Pepe Reina, future reds Mario Balotelli, Ádám Bogdán, Lazar Marković, James Milner, Mamadou Sakho, Kolo Touré and Virgil van Dijk, and ex-reds Xabi Alonso, Álvaro Arbeloa, Javier Mascherano, Nikolay Mihaylov, Daniel Sjölund, Fernando Torres.

More reds in international action
2001 - A host of reds featured in international friendlies. Patrik Berger won his 44th and final cap in the Czech Republic’s 5-0 thumping of South Korea, with future red Milan Baroš also playing. Meanwhile, Jerzy Dudek won his last cap as a Feyenoord player in Poland’s 1-1 draw in Iceland.

John Arne Riise won his first cap as a reds player as Norway drew 1-1 with Turkey in Oslo. Two reds also appeared for Finland in their 4-1 defeat of Belgium in Helsinki. Sami Hyypiä won his fortieth cap, while Jari Litmanen scored a penalty. Nick Barmby, Jamie Carragher, Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen all played in England’s 2-0 defeat by the Netherlands at White Hart Lane, with ex-red David James winning his first cap as a West Ham United player. Future red Bolo Zenden won his first cap while with Chelsea for the winning side, his 31st to date.

Dietmar Hamann played in Germany’s 5-2 win in Hungary, with Christian Ziege winning his first cap as a Tottenham Hotspur player, his sixtieth international. Igor Bišcan featured in Croatia’s 2-2 draw with the Republic of Ireland in Dublin. Mark Kennedy played his first international as a Wolverhampton Wanderers player, with future reds Steve Finnan and Robbie Keane, and ex-reds Jason McAteer and Steve Staunton also featuring. Future reds Yossi Benayoun and Alex Manninger also represented their countries that day.

Also recently for their countries
2006 - Craig Bellamy won his first cap as a reds player as John Toshack’s Wales were held to a goalless friendly draw by Bulgaria in Swansea, with ex-reds loanee Paul Jones also playing. Meanwhile, future red Yossi Benayoun was on target while winning his fiftieth cap as Israel drew 1-1 in Slovenia. Another future red, Andriy Voronin, struck in the Ukraine’s 6-0 trouncing of Azerbaijan in Kyiv, with another future red Martin Škrtel also representing his country. Also in international action that day were Pepe Reina, Luis García and future red Fernando Torres, who played as Raúl won his hundredth cap for Spain in their goalless draw in Iceland.

Scott Carson won his first Under-21’s cap while on loan at Charlton Athletic as England were held to a 2-2 draw by Moldova in a European Championships qualifier at Portman Road, while Florent Sinama-Pongolle also played for his country’s junior side.

Olympian Raul
2004 – Future red Raul Meireles played for Portugal in the Olympics Finals, featuring as they beat Morocco 2-1 in a group game in Greece.

Also on the move
2014 – Portuguese midfielder João Teixeira joined Brighton & Hove Albion on loan, being voted their Young Player of the Year after six strikes in 35 games, despite breaking his leg towards the end of the campaign. On the same day, forward Michael Ngoo left the club to sign for Kilmarnock, failing to score in seven outings in his first season at Rugby Park.

2013 – Forward Steven Gillespie re-joined Cheltenham Town on loan from Fleetwood Town, netting twice in five games in this fourth spell with the Robins.
2011 - Future reds forward Danny Ings moved to Burnley from Bournemouth for £1m, going on to bag 43 goals in 130 run-outs before moving to Anfield in July 2015.

Also in international action
1995 – Future red Vladimír Šmicer played for the Czech Republic Under-21’s as they beat Norway 4-3 in a European Championships qualifier in Stavanger.