22nd August

Match of the Day
1964 - Our 3-2 win over Arsenal at Anfield was the first game ever to be screened on the BBC’s new “Match Of The Day” show. Phil Chisnall was the first player to kick a ball on MOTD, knocking the kick-off to Gordon Wallace, who grabbed a brace, his final reds goals, including the winner that deflected off Don Howe past ex-reds keeper Jim Furnell. Roger Hunt headed in the first goal on the show that only garnered an audience of 75,000 as BBC2 was still unavailable in large parts of the country. Future red Geoff Strong scored for the Gunners, with Joe Baker bagging one of his four past us, while a black cat did a full lap of the pitch!

Soto departs
2011 – Greek centre-half Sotirios Kyrgiakos joined VfL Wolfsburg on a free transfer. He had arrived from A.E.K Athens for £2m two years earlier, following the summer departure of Sami Hyypiä. Soto bagged three goals in 49 largely solid performances at the back, becoming something of a cult figure for his no-nonsense style. On the same day, Steve Staunton joined Sunderland as a scout.

2015 – Full-back Tom Lowry died. He signed pro terms in April 1963 but only ever played one first-team game, when Bill Shankly fielded a team of eleven reserves in our League match at Wolverhampton Wanderers, which came only five days before the 1965 FA Cup Final. He moved on to Crewe Alexandra in June 1966, going on to set their club record of 436 League appearances that stands to this day.

Bert’s bow
1959 - Goalkeeper Bert Slater made his reds debut as we lost 3-2 at Cardiff City in our first game of the season. Cardiff in fact scored all five goals, as we benefited from two own goals from the unfortunate Danny Malloy, who had already scored an own goal against the reds two years earlier! Johnny Watkins netted the first of his four goals against us, with Graham Moore and Steve Mokone also on target.

Seventies wins
1970 - We thumped Huddersfield Town 4-0 at Anfield with John McLaughlin netting his first two reds goals as Alun Evans also grabbed a brace. Forward Bobby Graham played his hundredth reds game.
1978 - We won another top-flight fixture, this time 3-0 at FA Cup holders Ipswich Town, when Graeme Souness struck before a Kenny Dalglish double, with Ray Kennedy playing his 200th reds game.

Eight goals shared with the mancs
1953 - Centre-forward Louis Bimpson struck twice at Anfield, but it was not enough to hand us victory over Manchester United, as the game ended 4-4, with Billy Liddell and Bill Jones also on the scoresheet. Jack Rowley struck the last of his six goals past us, with Tommy Taylor nabbing the first of his four against the reds and Eddie Lewis and Roger Byrne also on target.

2022 - Mohamed Salah scored a club record tenth goal against Manchester United, in a joint club record fourth consecutive game against the Red Devils, also becoming the club’s eighth top all-time goalscorer. However, it was only a late consolation as we lost 2-1 thanks to a Jadon Sancho strike and one of Marcus Rashford’s seven goals against us.

In and out
2007 - Centre-half Mikel San José signed from Athletic de Bilbao, while keeper Péter Gulácsi arrived on loan from MTK Hungária. The young Hungarian made it into our match-day squad 51 times before moving to Red Bull Salzburg for free in June 2013, while San José did the same at Stamford Bridge in the League in February 2008, although he left for Athletic de Bilbao in May 2010.

2005 - It was a busy day at Melwood, with one arrival and two players departing on loan. Austrian midfielder Besian Idrizaj signed from LASK for £190,000, while Robbie Foy moved to Wrexham and John Welsh signed for Hull City. Welsh struck twice in 23 games before signing permanently for the Tigers in January 2006 in a swap deal for winger Paul Anderson. Foy nabbed three goals in twenty games while at the Racecourse Ground. On the same day, ex-reds loanee keeper Paul Jones joined Millwall on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers. He played four times for the struggling South London outfit.
2006 - Foy signed for Sc***horpe United on non-contract terms. He struck once in nine outings for the Iron but was released after just a season.
2009 - Idrizaj signed for Swansea City. He played four times for the Swans before tragically dying in May 2010 of a suspected heart attack at the age of just 22.

A new striker
1893 - Centre-forward James Henderson signed from Scottish side Annbank. He only ever made one first-team appearance for the reds, in our first ever Football League fixture, a 2-0 Second Division win at Middlesbrough Ironopolis.

Kenny resigns
1996 - Kenny Dalglish resigned as Director of Football at Blackburn Rovers. He had led them to the League title as team manager the year before.

St. Michael signs on
1998 - Michael Owen signed a new five-year contract ten minutes before our first home game of the season, when Arsenal held us to a goalless draw at Anfield.

Also recently
2006 - We squeezed into the group stage of the Champions League, being held to a 1-1 draw by Maccabi Haifa in Kyiv in the second leg of our Third Qualifying Round tie, to progress 3-2. Peter Crouch headed us in front, with the reds wasting numerous chances to build a convincing lead. We also suffered injuries to Momo Sissoko and Stephen Warnock, who joined Jamie Carragher and John Arne Riise on the sidelines.
1993 - Our most recent game before that came when Steve McManaman struck twice in a 5-0 thumping of Swindon Town at their County Ground. Neil Ruddock bagged his first reds goal as Ronnie Whelan bagged his 73rd and final strike for the club. Mike Marsh netted his last reds goal in his hundredth game for the club.

A win in Ireland
1981 - Terry McDermott grabbed a brace, with Ronnie Whelan, Phil Neal and Kenny Dalglish also scoring, as we thumped Ronnie’s former side Home Farm 5-0 at Tolka Park in Dublin. This game had been arranged as part of Whelan’s transfer to Anfield. However, the match was almost cancelled after a massive H was carved into the pitch the night before in support of IRA hunger strikers. Emergency re-turfing saved the game with the reds flying over in the afternoon for the evening fixture.

International reds
2007 - Young Brazilian midfielder Lucas Leiva made his senior international debut in their 2-0 friendly defeat of Algeria in Montpellier, playing alongside future reds keeper Alexander Doni. Ryan Babel, Yossi Benayoun, Fernando Torres and Andriy Voronin all won their first caps as reds players, while Luis García made his first appearance while with Club Atlético de Madrid, as Spain won 3-2 in Greece with Xabi Alonso and Pepe Reina also in action. Ukraine beat Uzbekistan 2-1, with Israel beaten 2-1 in Belarus and the Netherlands losing 2-1 in Switzerland with Dirk Kuyt on target, and future reds Philipp Degen and John Heitinga also featuring.

Future red Robbie Keane bagged a brace as the Republic of Ireland thumped Daniel Agger’s Denmark 4-0 in Copenhagen, with Steve Finnan and ex-red Darren Potter also in Steve Staunton’s line-up. David James won his first cap as a Portsmouth player as England lost 2-1 to Germany at Wembley, with Peter Crouch, future red Joe Cole and ex-red Michael Owen also playing. Javier Mascherano faced John Arne Riise with future red Maxi Rodríguez netting as Norway beat Argentina 2-1 in Oslo, while future red Ragnar Klavan was sent off as Estonia beat Andorra 2-1 in a European Championships qualifier in Tallinn. Also in international action that day were Sami Hyypiä, future reds Alberto Aquilani, Milan Jovanović, Alex Manninger, Raul Meireles, Mamadou Sakho and Kolo Touré, ex-reds Nicolas Anelka, Milan Baroš, Daniel Sjölund and Rigobert Song, with Roy Hodgson and John Toshack both on management duties.

On the move
2008 – Reserves forward Craig Lindfield joined Bournemouth on loan. He struck once in five outings for the Cherries.
2005 - Paul Dalglish signed for Livingston from Modena. He struck six times in 23 games before moving to Hibernian in January 2006.
2003 - Former reserves midfielder Phil Charnock signed for basement side Bury on a free transfer from Port Vale, although he only stayed two weeks at Gigg Lane, playing three times.

1986 - Former reserves centre-back Dave Watson made his big move, leaving Norwich City for Everton for a fee of £900,000. At the time his brother Alex was still playing in our reserves.
1997 - Future reds keeper Pegguy Arphexad signed for Leicester City from Racing Club de Lens on a free transfer. He only played 29 times for the Foxes, before switching to Anfield in July 2000.
2012 – Danish midfielder Christian Poulsen signed for Ajax, whom he helped to claim the League title in his first season in Amsterdam.
2019 – Midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain signed a new contract, having struck five times in 47 outings to date since arriving from Arsenal for £35m two years earlier.
2022 – Forward David Amoo signed for Stevenage, scoring once in thirteen outings before moving on to Crewe Alexandra after just five months.

Other reds games
1967 – We beat Arsenal 2-0 at Anfield with Roger Hunt scoring twice past ex-reds custodian Jim Furnell.
1962 – We drew 2-2 at Manchester City. Neil Young struck the first two of his four goals against the reds, after first Ronnie Moran had converted a penalty and then Roger Hunt scored.
1949 – Stoke City held us to a goalless draw at the Victoria Ground.

Billy’s day
2019 – Billy Koumetio won his second and final cap for France Under-18’s in their 1-1 friendly draw with Paraguay. Isaac Mabaya featured for England Under-16’s on the same day as they were held to a 3-3 friendly draw by the Republic of Ireland at St. George’s Park.
2020 – Koumetio played his first games for the club, as did left-back Kostas Tsimikas in our 3-0 defeat of VfB Stuttgart in a behind closed doors friendly in Austria. Roberto Firmino, Naby Keïta and Rhian Brewster all scored.

Also in international action
1990 - Stig Inge Bjørnebye, then still with Kongsvinger, won his eighth cap for Norway as they lost 2-1 at home to Sweden in a friendly, played in Stavanger.
1993 - Gérard Houllier managed France as they drew a World Cup qualifier 1-1 in Sweden. On the same day, future reds goalkeeping coach Cláudio Taffarel played for Brazil as they beat Ecuador 2-0 in a World Cup qualifier in São Paulo.
2017 – Bobby Duncan featured for England Under-17’s in their 2-1 defeat by Italy in Kidderminster, with ex-Academy Manager Steve Cooper in charge.
2023 – Future red Rio Ngumoha played for England Under-16’s as they lost a friendly 3-1 in Italy.