1st August

Mixed fortunes for Mark
1963 - Mark Wright was born in Dorchester. He was Graeme Souness’ first signing as Manager, arriving from Derby County for £2.2m in July 1991, and notched nine times in 210 reds appearances, the most memorable coming when he lifted the FA Cup at Wembley in 1992.
1998 - A sadder milestone for Mark, as his contract with the reds came to end and he was forced to retire from football due to injury.

New boss
1895 – Director John McKenna was appointed as the club’s Secretary, taking charge of 36 games as we claimed the Second Division title. He then confined himself to board duties until July 1921, having two lengthy spells as the club’s Chairman. He was later Chairman of the Football League for two decades.

Happy birthday Jameo
1970 – Keeper David James was born in Welwyn Garden City. He signed from Watford for £1m in July 1992, making 277 appearances before being sold to Aston Villa for £1.7m in June 1999, having helped us to claim the League Cup in 1995 and reach the FA Cup Final the following year.
1973 – Former reserves coach Antonio Gómez Pérez was born in Madrid. He joined the reds from Albacete Balompié in June 2009 to work with John McMahon, leaving for Real Valladolid a year later.

Feliz Cumpleaños Iago
1987 – Spanish forward Iago Aspas was born in Moaña in Galicia. He signed from Real Club Celta de Vigo for £7.7m in June 2013, notching just once in fifteen senior outings. He returned to his former club for €5m in June 2015, having spent the previous season on loan at Sevilla.

Quasi off the mark
1987 - Peter Beardsley scored his first reds goal as we beat Danish side Vejle 3-0 in a pre-season friendly. He had arrived from Newcastle United for a record £1.9m just a week earlier. Craig Johnston and John Aldridge scored our other goals.

We have also beaten four other Nordic sides in pre-season friendlies on this day.
1986 - We defeated Swedes IS Halmia 3-0 thanks to goals from Craig Johnston, Ronnie Whelan and Kevin MacDonald.
1989 - Ian Rush and Swede Glenn Hysén netted as we won 2-1 at Malmö FF.
1991 - We beat Rosenborg BK 3-2 in the Norway Cup in the Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo, with Dean Saunders adding a brace to a Jan Mølby penalty.
2015 – We beat HJK Helsinki 2-0 in the Olympiastadion, with our goals coming from Divock Origi and Philippe Coutinho.

Red debutants
2016 – Keeper Alex Manninger played his first reds game as we lost 2-1 to Roma in an International Champions Cup game in St. Louis, Missouri. Lucas was sent off while remaining on the bench! Sheyi Ojo struck the equaliser after Edin Džeko gave the Italians the lead, with future red Mohamed Salah bagging the winning goal.
2010 – Joe Cole and youngsters Raheem Sterling, Suso and Danny Wilson all played their first reds games as we lost 1-0 in a friendly at Borussia Mönchengladbach’s Borussia-Park.
1979 - We beat the same opposition 4-2 at their old Bökelbergstadion, thanks to goals from Terry McDermott, Kenny Dalglish, Ray Kennedy and Graeme Souness.

2011 – Centre-half Stephen Sama played his first reds game as we drew a friendly 3-3 with Vålerenga in Oslo. Andy Carroll was on target with Daniel Agger bagging a brace, while this was the fifth consecutive match that pre-season in which we conceded three goals. On the same day, Michael Ngoo won his first England Under-20’s cap as they held Argentina to a goalless draw in their World Championship Finals group game in Colombia.

Starting out
1974 - John Wark signed on as a professional for Ipswich Town. He went on to bag an impressive 181 goals in 678 games in three spells with the Tractor boys.
1997 - Full-back Stephen Wright officially signed for the reds as a professional.
1998 - Forward Jon Newby signed pro terms at Anfield.
2001 - Glen Johnson signed professional terms for West Ham United.
2022 –Tommy Pilling turned pro with the reds. On the same day, fellow midfielder Tyler Morton joined Blackburn Rovers on loan. He made 46 senior appearances in his season at Ewood Park, without notching.

Leaving Anfield
2018 – Ben Woodburn moved to Sheffield United for the season, although he returned to Anfield early after only eight senior appearances for the Blades.
2013 – Left-back Jack Robinson joined Blackpool on loan, playing 36 times in his season with the Tangerines.
2004 - Young French centre-back Carl Medjani joined Lorient on loan. He played 25 League games for them before returning to Anfield, but later signed for them permanently.

1998 - Michael Thomas left Anfield, signing for SL Benfica on a free transfer after twelve goals in 163 reds games. He played just five League games in Portugal in his two years there before returning to England to join Wimbledon.
1965 - Scottish full-back Bobby Thomson moved on to Luton Town. He had signed from Partick Thistle for £7,000, but only made eight first-team appearances.
1930 – Forward Harry Race was sold to Manchester City for £3,000. He had signed from Raby United in February 1928, scoring eighteen times in 43 reds games.

Claiming the cup
1998 - Goals from Patrik Berger and Michael Owen saw off Leeds United in the Final of the Carlsberg Trophy at Lansdowne Road in Dublin as we won 2-0.

Reaching another final
2017 – Sadio Mané, Mohamed Salah and Daniel Sturridge netted as we beat Bayern München 3-0 in the Audi Cup Semi-final at their Allianz Arena.

Friendly disappointments
2006 - We lost 2-0 to Grasshopper-Club Zürich in Hardturm.
2003 - We held Ajax to a goalless draw in The Sony Amsterdam Tournament 2003 at the Amsterdam ArenA.
1980 – We lost 4-3 at Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht, with David Fairclough bagging a brace and Terry McDermott also on target.

Rushie off the mark
1987 - Ian Rush scored in his first game for Juventus, as they won a friendly 2-0 at Lucerne.

Reds in Olympian opposition
2012 – Future red Daniel Sturridge netted the only goal as Great Britain beat Uruguay in an Olympics Finals group game at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. The two sides were both skippered by reds, Craig Bellamy and Luis Suárez, with Sebastián Coates and future reds Joe Allen and Steven Caulker also in action. On the same day, future red Sadio Mané featured as Senegal drew 1-1 with United Arab Emirates in Coventry as they joined Great Britain in the knock-out stages. Meanwhile, future red Mohamed Salah struck in his third consecutive group game as Egypt beat Belarus 3-1 at Hampden Park.

Boss moves
2002 - Former reserves centre-back Dave Watson was sacked as Manager of Tranmere Rovers after fourteen months in charge. They had finished in mid-table in the Second Division in his one full season as boss.
2020 – Harry Kewell was appointed Manager of Oldham Athletic, but was sacked the following March after leading them to seventeen wins in 41 games in charge.

Transfers galore
A host of future reds have switched clubs on this day over the years.
1990 - Stan Collymore signed for Stafford Rangers from Wolverhampton Wanderers.
1995 - Patrik Berger left SK Slavia Praha for Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e.V. Dortmund.
1997 - Christian Ziege signed for AC Milan from Bayern München.
1999 - Jari Litmanen joined Barcelona from Ajax, having turned down the opportunity to come to Anfield.
2007 – Hungarian keeper Ádám Bogdán joined Bolton Wanderers from hometown club Vasas.

2017 – Keeper Shamal George signed a new contract with the reds, joining Carlisle United on loan on the same day, making seven senior appearances that campaign, but was released by the reds in the summer of 2020. Meanwhile, forward Taiwo Awoniyi joined Royal Excelsior Mouscron on loan, scoring ten times in 31 outings.
1906 – Scottish inside-left Bill McPherson signed from St. Mirren, bagging seventeen goals in 55 outings including one on his debut against Woolwich Arsenal, before returning north of the border to join Rangers in May 1908.

Ex-reds on the move
1998 - Legendary reds striker Ian Rush signed for Wrexham as Player/Coach, having left Newcastle United earlier that year. He failed to score in 24 appearances for them, a disappointing end to a glittering career. On the same day, Mike Marsh joined Conference side Barrow, having left Southend United the previous December.

1997 - Ex-loanee keeper Mark Prudhoe joined Bradford City from Stoke City for £70,000.
2002 – Former reserves defender Neil Murphy left Blackpool for Altrincham on a free transfer.
2006 - Ex-reserves keeper Paul Harrison joined Hereford United from Chester City on non-contract terms.