19th August

Case closed
1981 - Jimmy Case joined Brighton & Hove Albion for £350,000 after seven years at Anfield during which time he bagged 46 goals in 269 reds games, helping us to claim three European Cups, four League titles, the UEFA Cup, UEFA Super Cup, League Cup and three FA Charity Shields. He had four seasons in this first spell at the Goldstone Ground, netting fifteen goals in 151 games, helping to knock the reds out of the FA Cup at Anfield in February 1983. On the very same day, Mark Lawrenson made his reds bow in our 2-1 friendly defeat at Club Atlético de Madrid, with Ray Kennedy bagging our goal.

Off the mark
2007 - Fernando Torres bagged his first reds goal as we were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Chelsea, thanks to a Frank Lampard penalty that was ludicrously awarded by referee Rob Styles against Steve Finnan, one of his eight strikes past us. Peter Crouch was playing his hundredth game for the club.
2009 – Right-back Glen Johnson struck for the first time as we thumped Stoke City 4-0 at Anfield. Jamie Carragher played his 400th League game as we became the first club to reach 5,000 points in the top flight. Fernando Torres, Dirk Kuyt and David N’Gog all also netted.

Most recent debutants
2023 – Japanese midfielder Wataru Endō made his reds bow as we beat Bournemouth 3-1 at Anfield, despite Alexis Mac Allister being sent off, although his dismissal was later rescinded. Antoine Semenyo opened the scoring for the Cherries after just three minutes but Luis Díaz struck before Mohamed Salah put us in front by converting his own saved penalty before the break. Diogo Jota also netted, after we had gone down to ten men.
2017 – Left-back Andy Robertson debuted as Sadio Mané bagged the only goal of Crystal Palace’s League visit to Anfield.

2010 – Christian Poulsen had a goal disallowed on his debut as we faced Turkish side Trabzonspor in the first leg of our UEFA Europa League Play-off at Anfield. Joe Cole had a penalty saved in the second half, while Jamie Carragher skippered the side for the fiftieth time as Ryan Babel bagged the only goal of the game in first-half injury time.
2000 - Gary McAllister became our oldest post-war debutant, aged 35 years and 237 days, in our season opener against Bradford City. Markus Babbel and Nick Barmby also made their first-class reds bows, as Emile Heskey scored the only goal of the game, his first at Anfield.

Sixties debutants
1961 - Ian St. John and Ron Yeats both debuted as we kicked off our Second Division championship winning season with a 2-0 win at Bristol Rovers, thanks to a strike from winger Kevin Lewis and a John Hills own goal.
1967 - New record signing Tony Hateley made his official debut as we started another season with a goalless draw at Manchester City. Tony Book missed a penalty for the home side.
1989 – We hosted City when a John Barnes penalty put us ahead before a deflected Andy Hinchcliffe free-kick levelled the scores. Second-half goals from Peter Beardsley and Steve Nicol handed us a 3-1 victory.

1990’s debutants
1995 - Stan Collymore scored the only goal of the game on his official reds debut against Sheffield Wednesday at Anfield, our first fixture of the season.
1996 - David Thompson made his reds bow from the bench in our 2-0 home defeat of Arsenal, with Steve McManaman netting a brace.

Tosh’s bow
1901 – Forward Tosh Johnson was born in Dalton-in-Furness, Lancashire. He crossed the park in March 1934, having claimed the First and Second Division titles and FA Cup with the Blues, and netted eight times in 38 reds games before joining Darwen in August 1936.

Steve’s farewell
1980 – Keeper Steve Ogrizovic played his fifth and last reds game in our goalless draw at Coventry City. He later made a club record 601 appearances for the Sky Blues.

Firsts and lasts against the Blades
2006 - Jan Kromkamp played his eighteenth and final reds game as a Robbie Fowler penalty rescued a point at Sheffield United in our opening League match of the season. This brought our fourteen-game winning streak to an end. Jamie Carragher and John Arne Riise both had to go off injured at Bramall Lane.
1992 - We recorded our first win in the newly-renamed FA Premier League by beating Sheffield United 2-1 at Anfield, with goals from Mark Walters and Paul Stewart’s first reds strike after Brian Deane had given the visitors the lead with one of his eight goals against us. This was also Ged Poynton’s first match in charge of the stadium and operations.

A rare strike
1978 - Kenny Dalglish opened the scoring before Queens Park Rangers’ Paul McGee scored one of only four opposition goals in the League at Anfield that season, although we still won the game 2-1, with Steve Heighway netting late on. Left-back Alan Kennedy made his reds bow while Emlyn Hughes and Ray Clemence had paraded the European Cup prior to kick off, with Bob Paisley being presented with his Manager of the Month award for the previous April.

Signing on
1894 – Inside-right Jimmy Ross signed from Preston North End for a club record £75. He had won the League twice with their ‘invincibles’ side, scoring 39 times in 85 reds games as well as becoming club captain. He left for Burnley in March 1897, sadly dying in June 1902 aged just 36.
1983 - Centre-back Mark Seagraves signed for the reds as a professional. He only made two senior appearances before joining Manchester City in September 1987.

2001 – Northern Irish keeper Liam Hughes was born in Craigavon. He joined the reds from Celtic in January 2021, making it to the first-team bench on two occasions before being released at the end of the 2022/23 season.
2022 – Academy Director Alex Inglethorpe signed a new contract. He had been heading the Academy up since 2014, having been promoted from Reserve Team Head Coach.

Off on loan
2019 – Ex-reds midfielder Philippe Coutinho joined Bayern München on loan from Barcelona, for a loan fee of €8.5m. He struck nine times in 34 outings for the Bavarians.
2018 – Midfielder Marko Grujić signed a new contract, joining Hertha BSC Berlin on loan on the same day, netting nine times in 54 games in two seasons there.
2004 - El-Hadji Diouf joined Bolton Wanderers on loan after six goals in eighty reds games following his £10m signing from Racing Club de Lens in June 2002. He bagged nine goals in 32 games while on loan at the Reebok Stadium, before signing permanently for the Trotters in June 2005.

Red legends on the move again
1982 - Kevin Keegan joined Second Division Newcastle United from Southampton for £100,000, after just two years at The Dell. He had struck 42 times in eighty games for the Saints.
1998 - Bruce Grobbelaar signed for Chesham United from Oldham Athletic on a free transfer. He stayed there for less than three weeks, before joining First Division Bury.

An unlucky break
1972 - Ex-reds left-back Peter Wall broke his leg while playing for Crystal Palace as they held us to a 1-1 draw at Selhurst Park. Emlyn Hughes grabbed our equaliser while Ray Clemence played his hundredth League game for the reds.

Other opening games
1950 - We started our top-flight campaign with a 2-0 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers, going on to end the season in ninth place. Roy Swinbourne netted one of his five goals past us, with Billy Crook also scoring.
1953 - We beat Portsmouth 3-1 at Anfield in another season opener, with Bill Jones netting twice and Billy Liddell also on the scoresheet. Unfortunately, this was our only win in the first nine games of the season and we were relegated at the end of that season, having finished rock bottom of the table.

Beating the blues at Anfield
1944 - Cyril Done scored four goals as we thumped the Blues 5-2 in a friendly, with Malam also on target.
1939 - We beat Everton 2-1 in another friendly, with Harold Taylor and Jack Balmer on the scoresheet. The game was played in aid of the Jubilee Fund.

A divine apology
2001 - Robbie Fowler finally apologised after his training ground bust-up with Phil Thompson, having sat out the FA Charity Shield and the home League win over West Ham United.

Pennant off
2003 - Future red Jermaine Pennant was dismissed for England Under-21’s as they lost 3-0 to Croatia in a friendly at Upton Park, with Glen Johnson winning his third cap, and first since moving to Chelsea, and future red Paul Konchesky also playing.

Olympian feats
2008 – Javier Mascherano’s Argentina beat Brazil 3-0 in the Semi-final of the Olympics Finals in Beijing, with Lucas one of two Brazilians dismissed. On the same day, Krisztián Németh played as Hungary Under-21’s thumped San Marino 5-0 in a European Championships qualifier.
1987 - The reds beat an Irish Olympic XI 5-0 at Lansdowne Road in Dublin, with our goals coming from a Paul Walsh brace, Peter Beardsley, Ronnie Whelan and a John Aldridge penalty. Nigel Spackman played at right-back.

First strike
1997 – John Arne Riise bagged his first two goals for Norway Under-16’s as they beat Sweden 5-4 in a friendly. On the same day, fellow future red Vegard Heggem played for the Under-21’s in their goalless European Championships qualifier in Finland.

First and last caps
2008 – James Milner won his last cap for England Under-21’s while with Newcastle United in their 2-1 friendly defeat of Slovenia in Hull.
2003 - Steve Finnan won his 23rd cap, and first as a red, as the Republic of Ireland beat Australia 2-1 in a friendly at Lansdowne Road, with future red Robbie Keane also playing.
1998 - Vegard Heggem won his second cap, and first as a red, in Norway’s goalless draw with Romania in Oslo. His team-mates included fellow reds Stig Inge Bjørnebye and Øyvind Leonhardsen. Meanwhile, Abel Xavier won his first cap while with PSV Eindhoven, and sixth to date, as Portugal beat Mozambique 2-1 in another friendly in the Azores. Also in friendly action that day were future reds Sami Hyypiä, Jari Litmanen and Vladimír Šmicer.

New contracts
2009 – Hungarian reserves Péter Gulácsi and Krisztián Németh signed new contracts to keep them at Anfield until 2013 and 2012, respectively. Both have since left the club, while keeper Gulácsi making it as far as the bench on 51 occasions.
2008 – Former Academy coach Iain Brunskill was appointed Reserve Team Manager of Blackburn Rovers under Paul Ince. He is now working for the Chinese FA.

Another game
1975 – West Ham United held us to a 2-2 draw at Anfield, with Ian Callaghan and John Toshack netting.

Also in international action
1999 – Future red Milan Baroš featured for Czech Republic Under-18’s as they beat Poland 1-0 in a friendly.
2007 – Future red Mamadou Sakho played as France Under-17’s lost a World Championships Finals group game 2-1 to Nigeria in South Korea.