9th August

Wembley win
1980 - A Terry McDermott goal gave us the FA Charity Shield against FA Cup holders West Ham United at Wembley in the traditional curtain-raiser to the season. This was our fifth outright Shield win, retaining it after also having won it the previous season, while the goal was our 6,000th in all competitions.

Bruce makes his bow
1981 - Bruce Grobbelaar made his first reds appearance in our 3-0 win at Zürich. Kenny Dalglish and Ray Kennedy netted, with Phil Neal converting a penalty. The game was due to be played the day before, but torrential rain had made the pitch unplayable.

Management debuts
1947 – Former reds boss Roy Hodgson was born in Croydon. He arrived from Fulham in July 2010, only leading us to thirteen victories in his 31 games matches in charge, leaving “by mutual consent” six months later.
2010 – Ex-reds midfielder Kevin MacDonald was appointed Caretaker Manager of Aston Villa after Martin O’Neill’s sudden departure. He took charge of them for seven games until Gérard Houllier’s arrival.
2023 – Former reds Under-23’s Assistant Coach Gary O’Neil was appointed Manager of Wolverhampton Wanderers, leading them to seventeen wins in 45 games in charge in his first campaign.

Ton up
2019 – Divock Origi played his hundredth reds game as we beat Norwich City 4-1 at Anfield in our opening League fixture of a triumphant campaign. All our goals came before the break, with Grant Hanley turning an Origi cross into his own net before Mohamed Salah struck. Virgil van Dijk and Origi then both headed in either side of an injury sustained by Alisson Becker that brought the debut of Adrián. Teemu Pukki bagged a second-half consolation for the visitors.

Quick off the mark
2006 - Craig Bellamy and Mark González both scored on their reds debuts as we came from behind to beat Maccabi Haifa 2-1 in the first leg of our Champions League qualifier at Anfield. This was the first time a pair of debutants had scored since a 3-0 defeat of Bury in August 1928, with Jermaine Pennant also making his official reds bow as Sami Hyypiä played his fiftieth game in the competitions for the reds.

Fabio starts out
2012 - Fabio Borini struck his first reds goal as we beat Belarusian side Gomel 3-0 in our UEFA Europa League Third Qualifying Round second leg encounter at Anfield. Steven Gerrard scored his 150th goal for the club, with Glen Johnson also netting.

Multiple debutants
2015 – Centre-forward Christian Benteke, right-back Nathaniel Clyne, forward Roberto Firmino, defender Joe Gomez and midfielder James Milner all made their reds bows as a late Philippe Coutinho strike earned us a 1-0 victory at Stoke City in the opening game of the season, just eleven weeks after our 6-1 humiliation at the same venue.
1997 – Paul Ince and Danny Murphy made their first-class reds debuts in our 1-1 draw with Wimbledon at Selhurst Park. Karl-Heinz Riedle also made his reds bow, aged 31 years and 328 days, a then club record for our oldest debutant. Michael Owen scored from the spot.

Heading off
1982 – Forward David Johnson re-joined Everton for £100,000 after 78 times in 213 reds games. He had arrived at Anfield from Ipswich Town in August 1976 for a record £200,000 fee, and went on to win three League titles, European Cup, UEFA Super Cup and two FA Charity Shields, as well as becoming the first player to score for both sides in the Merseyside derby.
2013 – Midfielder Jay Spearing joined Bolton Wanderers, having spent a successful season on loan with the Trotters. He had graduated to Melwood in the summer of 2007 after captaining the reds as they retained the FA Youth Cup that May. He made 55 senior reds appearances without finding the back of the net.
2018 – Danny Ings joined Southampton on loan for the season, making the move permanent for an initial £18m fee in July 2019. He had only struck four times in 25 games since signing from Burnley in July 2015 as he suffered two serious injuries.

Backing Michael
2005 - Rafael Benítez backed Michael Shields, ahead of our game against CSKA Sofia in Bulgaria, saying, “We support Michael Shields’ family and we also support the family of Martin Georgiev. It is up to the court to decide what to do with Michael, but we hope to see him back in England soon.” He was eventually pardoned and released in September 2009.

Benítez against Houllier
2003 - Rafael Benítez’s Valencia left Anfield with the Ladbroke.com Cup, having beaten the reds 2-0, with the goals coming from Vicente Rodríguez and Xisco Muñoz.

Testimonials
1996 - Our most recent testimonial fixture on this day was held in honour of Jan Mølby in front of a crowd of just 8,316. PSV Eindhoven provided the opposition, leaving Anfield having won 3-2 with Mølby playing just under an hour. Stan Collymore was on target with Stig Inge Bjørnebye also heading a goal after we had gone three goals behind, while the eventual winning goal came from second half substitute Bolo Zenden. Robbie Fowler had to be substituted on the referee’s advice after an ugly confrontation with PSV’s Bjorn van der Doelen.

1993 - A testimonial for Ronnie Whelan was played at Anfield with Newcastle United providing the opposition. Neil Ruddock scored the only goal of the game, his first for the reds. He also broke ex-red Peter Beardsley’s cheekbone in a collision.
1987 - We travelled north of the border to face Celtic in a match in aid of their legendary player Tommy Burns, with the reds running out 1-0 winners thanks to a goal from Ronnie Whelan.

Chelsea at Anfield
1969 - We kicked off our season with a 4-1 defeat of Chelsea at Anfield in what was Bill Shankly’s 400th League game in charge of the reds. Ian St. John bagged a brace, with our other goals being scored by Chris Lawler and Geoff Strong.

A right Charlie
2007 - Keeper Charles Itandje signed from Racing Club de Lens. He made seven appearances in the cups in his first season, but failed to impress, conceding ten goals and only keeping one clean sheet, eventually departing for Greek side P.A.E. A.P.S. Atromitos Athens in January 2011.

Red strikers going free
1979 - A young Peter Beardsley signed for Carlisle United having been released by Newcastle United. He scored 29 times in 126 appearances for the Cumbrians before being sold to Vancouver Whitecaps in April 1982 for £275,000.
2002 - Former reserves forward Paul Dalglish joined Blackpool from Norwich City on a free transfer. He could only score twice in thirty games for the Seasiders, before moving on again, this time to Linfield.

Happy birthdays
1884 – Full-back Sam Speakman was born in Huyton. He signed from amateur side Colne in 1912 but could only play 26 first-team games without scoring before joining South Liverpool in 1920.
2002 – Left-back Owen Beck was born in Wrexham. He joined the Academy from Stoke City at Under-13’s level, signing his first professional contract in June 2020.

Another friendly
2021 – Takumi Minamino scored before Roberto Firmino bagged a brace as we beat Club Atlético Osasuna 3-1 in an Anfield friendly in front of a 75% capacity crowd, post-COVID.

Christian off the mark
2011 – Future red Christian Benteke bagged a brace as Belgium Under-21’s lost 3-2 to Turkey in a friendly, his first goals at this level.

Also on the move
2019 – Centre-half Martin Škrtel signed for Atalanta from Fenerbahçe Spor Kulübü, but his contract was terminated by mutual consent after just three weeks, moving back to Turkey to join İstanbul Başakşehir.
2007 - Luis Suárez joined Ajax from Groningen for €7.5m, having bagged fifteen goals in 37 games since arriving in the Netherlands the previous summer.
2002 - Academy starlet Neil Prince joined Torquay United on a free transfer, after failing to break into the first team at Anfield.

Also in international action
1996 – Future red John Arne Riise played for Norway Under-15’s as they drew 1-1 with the Republic of Ireland.
2000 – Future red Fábio Aurélio featured for Brazil as they won a friendly 5-3 in Chile.
2015 – Kamil Grabara won his fifth and last cap for Poland Under-16’s as they lost 1-0 in Sweden, although the match is also credited as being at Under-17’s level.