11th December

Happy birthday Chico
1961 - Steve Nicol was born in Irvine. The versatile Scot signed from Ayr United for £300,000 in October 1981 and played 468 reds games, scoring 46 times. He helped us to four League titles, three FA Cups, European Cup and an FA Charity Shield, and was named the Football Writers’ Player of the Year in 1989.

Worst ever defeat
1954 - Birmingham City trounced us 9-1 at St. Andrews in a Second Division fixture to condemn us to our worst ever defeat, with Eddie Brown netting the first three of his four goals past us. Billy Liddell grabbed our consolation. Peter Murphy and Gordon Astall each struck twice for the Blues, with Jackie Lane and Alexander Govan also getting on the scoresheet.

Another record for Stevie
2007 - Steven Gerrard converted the rebound from his own saved penalty at Olympique de Marseille to become the club’s all-time top European scorer on 23, as he struck in his seventh consecutive game. We became the first English team to win in the Stade Vélodrome as we triumphed 4-0, in the decisive final game in the group. Stevie’s goal was followed by strikes from Fernando Torres, Dirk Kuyt and Ryan Babel.

Births and death
1969 - Stig Inge Bjørnebye was born in Elverum. The Norwegian left-back spent six and a half years at Anfield, scoring four times in 184 appearances and helping us to claim the Coca-Cola Cup in 1995 after signing from Rosenborg BK for £600,000 in December 1992.
1942 - Centre-forward Alf Arrowsmith was born in Manchester. He signed from Ashton United for £1,250 in August 1960 and netted 24 goals in just 56 games in his eight years with the reds, helping us to claim the League title in 1964, before injury blighted his reds career. He moved on to Bury in December 1968.

1986 - Lee Peltier was born in Aigburth. He made his senior debut in our Carling Cup Third Round defeat of Reading in October 2006, but made just four first-team appearances in total before moving to Yeovil Town in January 2008 after a successful loan spell.
1977 - Former youth winger Stuart Quinn was born in Whiston. He failed to make a senior reds appearance, although he featured in our victorious FA Youth Cup campaign in 1996, and similarly failed to make the grade at Altrincham and Southport.
1985 - Former reserves winger Ryan Wilkie was born in Glasgow. He moved on to Gretna in 2006.

1953 – Full-back Tommy Lucas died. He signed from Alexandra Victoria in 1916 and played 366 reds games, netting three times, winning one League title and captaining England in his time at Anfield. He moved on to Clapton Orient in July 1933.

Anfield trebles
1991 - Dean Saunders bagged a treble in our 4-0 UEFA Cup Third Round win over Austrians Swarovski Tirol, with Barry Venison also on the scoresheet with a twenty-yard scorcher on a frosty night as we progressed 6-0 on aggregate. This was Deano’s second hat-trick of a European campaign that ended against Genoa at the next hurdle.
1971 - Jack Whitham nabbed a hat-trick as we beat Derby County 3-2 in a First Division fixture, with John O’Hare netting two of his six strikes against the reds.

Most recently
2016 – We were held to a 2-2 draw at Anfield by West Ham United. Adam Lallana put us ahead early on, but we fell behind to a Dimitri Payet free-kick and Michail Antonio strike, one of his six past us to date, with Divock Origi drawing us level after the break.

2018 – Mohamed Salah netted the only goal of our final UEFA Champions League group game at home to SSC Napoli, with keeper Alisson Becker making a fine injury-time save to guarantee our progress. Of course, we went on to claim the trophy in Madrid for the sixth time at the end of that season.
2021 – Salah bagged the only goal from the spot as Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa visited L4, after himself being felled in the box.
2022 – Salah had a penalty saved after Fábio Carvalho had given us the lead against Olympique Lyonnais in the Dubai Super Cup, but we lost 3-1 before also being beaten 5-3 on penalties. Midfielder Dominic Corness played his first reds game. On the same day, former Under-23’s Coach Neil Critchley was appointed Head Coach of Queens Park Rangers, but he only won one of his twelve games in charge before being sacked after just two months.
 

Sami’s milestone
2004 - Sami Hyypiä played his 200th League game as we lost 1-0 at Everton, to a Lee Carsley goal. Keeper Chris Kirkland made his 45th and final appearance for the club.

Derby honours even
1988 - The Anfield derby ended 1-1. Ray Houghton’s early goal was cancelled out by a Wayne Clarke penalty, who also had a header unfairly chalked off. However, Neville Southall was in fine form to deny the reds another goal. On the same day, future red István Kozma played as Hungary drew a World Cup qualifier 2-2 in Malta.

Zico at the double
1982 - Phil Neal converted two penalties after Ian Rush had struck our first goal as we beat Watford 3-1 in our first League encounter, with all our goals coming in the first half. Phil Thompson was injured in this game, being ruled out for the next two and a half months.

Carroll on song
2010 – Dirk Kuyt bagged our consolation as we lost 3-1 at Newcastle United, with Andy Carroll capping his fine performance with the late third. Scousers Kevin Nolan and Joey Barton scored the other goals for the home side.

Reds on the way out
2000 - Mad Dutch striker Erik Meijer signed for Hamburger SV on a free transfer after seventeen months at Anfield, in which time he had only made 27 senior appearances, netting just twice.
1998 - Former youth keeper Roy Naylor signed for Clydebank, for whom he made just one first-team appearance. He never even made our first-team squad, although he featured in both legs of our victorious FA Youth Cup Final in 1996. On the same day, second string winger John Jeffers was sold to Port Vale for £30,000. He spent seven years at Vale Park, playing more than two hundred games.

Beating the Gunners
1965 - Peter Thompson, Ian St. John, ex-Gunner Geoff Strong and Roger Hunt all netted as we beat Arsenal 4-2 at Anfield. John Radford bagged the first of his seven goals against the reds, with Tommy Baldwin also scoring.

Number one strikers
2008 – Fernando Torres came out on top in a survey of 32,000 fans carried out by Barclays to find the Premiership’s most popular player. He polled 38 per cent of the votes, to beat his club skipper Steven Gerrard and Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo.
2017 – Mohamed Salah was named BBC African Footballer of the Year.

B’s for England
1990 - Gary Ablett, David Burrows and future reds Nigel Clough and Michael Thomas all played as England B held Algeria to a goalless draw in a friendly in Algiers.

Disappointment against the Clarets
We have twice faced Burnley on this day in history, without tasting victory.
1920 - We lost a top-flight meeting at Turf Moor 1-0.
1943 – We were held to a 1-1 draw in a Wartime League fixture at Anfield. Andy Beattie was on target for the reds that day.

Other reds games
1994 – Crystal Palace held us to a goalless draw at Anfield.
1993 – John Barnes and Mark Wright netted as Swindon Town drew 2-2 in L4.
1976 – Queens Park Rangers returned home having been beaten 3-1. Peter Eastoe opened the scoring with the first of his four goals against the reds, with John Toshack equalising before the break. Kevin Keegan and Ray Kennedy struck late on to secure victory.
1948 – Cyril Done bagged a brace as we lost 3-2 at Preston North End. Angus Morrison scored the first two of his four goals past us, with Jackie Knight netting the winner.

1937 – We held Bolton Wanderers to a goalless draw at Burnden Park.
1926 – We won 2-1 at Tottenham Hotspur thanks to goals from Dick Edmed and Harry Chambers.
1909 – Middlesbrough held us to a goalless draw at Anfield.
1897 – We lost 2-1 at Wolverhampton Wanderers with Harry Bradshaw on the scoresheet.

The best site
2006 - The club’s official website, liverpoolfc.tv, was named as best sports site in the UK’s Website of the Year awards.

Prudhoe twice on the move
Future reds loanee keeper Mark Prudhoe changed clubs on this day in consecutive years.
1986 - He joined Doncaster Rovers on loan from Walsall, making five appearances.
1987 - He then switched permanently from the Saddlers to Carlisle United on a free transfer, for whom he played 34 times.

Digger reaches another final
2008 – John Barnes managed Jamaica to victory as they reached the Final of the Digicel Caribbean Championships by beating Guadeloupe 2-0 in Kingston.