20th December

Ablett’s able start
1986 - Gary Ablett made his reds bow, replacing the injured Alan Hansen as we held Charlton Athletic to a goalless draw at Selhurst Park. He went on to net just once in 147 games for the reds. Centre-forward Alan Irvine also made the first of his four senior reds appearances in this game.
1924 – Full-back James Garner played the first of his five senior reds games in our goalless Anfield top-flight encounter with Bolton Wanderers.

Bienvenue Nicolas
2001 - Nicolas Anelka signed on loan from Paris Saint-Germain. He netted five times in 22 reds games, but was not taken on permanently at the end of the season.

Red departures
1922 – David Ashworth resigned as reds boss. He had moved to Anfield from Stockport County in December 1919, remaining in charge for three years. He led us to our third League championship in 1922, but left in the middle of the following campaign when we retained the title to return to Oldham Athletic for family reasons.
1934 – Scottish inside-left Archie McPherson left the reds to sign for Sheffield United. He had signed from Rangers in November 1929, bagging nineteen goals in 133 reds games as we endured a barren spell. He appeared for the Blades in the FA Cup Final as they lost to Arsenal at Wembley in 1936.

Rob starts out
1988 - Rob Jones signed as a professional for Crewe Alexandra. He made ninety appearances for the Alex, and even managed to bag two goals, something he never managed at Anfield.

Luis banned
2011 - Luis Suárez was banned for eight matches and fined £40,000 after being found guilty of racially abusing Manchester United’s Patrice Evra two months earlier. On the same day, young forward Jordon Ibe signed from Wycombe Wanderers for a reported £750,000.
2013 - Suárez signed a new contract. However, he moved on to Barcelona the following July for a club record £75m.

Most recently
2015 – We lost 3-0 at Watford. Left-back Nathan Aké struck early on after stand-in keeper Ádám Bogdán dropped the ball at a corner, with Odion Ighalo adding a brace.
1997 - Michael Owen netted the only goal of the game as we beat Coventry City at Anfield.
1977 - We also faced the Sky Blues, with Jimmy Case and Kenny Dalglish on target as we won a League Cup Fourth Round replay 2-0 at Highfield Road.

Births and deaths
2001 – Dutch centre-half Sepp van den Berg was born in Zwolle. He signed from PEC Zwolle for an initial £1.3m in June 2019, so far making four senior appearances, all in cup competitions.
2002 – Brazilian keeper Marcelo Pitaluga was born in Niterói. He joined the reds in October 2020 from Fluminense. He has so far sat on the first-team bench on four occasions.
1972 - Ex-reserves midfielder Kevin Lampkin was born in Liverpool. He signed professional terms at Anfield in May 1991 but failed to break into the first team. He went on to play League football with Huddersfield Town and Mansfield Town.

1911 – Forward John Parkinson died. He arrived from his hometown club Blackpool in May 1899, but only played once before returning to the Seasiders in May 1900.
1984 - Outside-right Cyril Oxley died. He signed from Chesterfield for £2,000 in October 1925 and bagged six goals in 34 games before moving to Southend United in September 1928.

Double stalemate with PNE
We twice drew with Preston North End in First Division meetings on this day soon after the Second World War.
1947 - Bill Jones, Billy Liddell and Albert Stubbins netted in our 3-3 draw at Deepdale. Willie McIntosh struck two of his four goals against the reds, with Andy McLaren also scoring as left-back Barney Ramsden played his 62nd and final game for the club.
1952 - Our next senior game on this day saw the Lilywhites hold us 2-2 at Anfield, with Liddell and Kevin Baron on target. Angus Morrison struck the last of his four goals past us, with Jimmy Baxter also on target.

Derby stalemate
1919 - We held he Blues to a goalless draw at Goodison, with Everton keeper Tom Fern in fine form. This was David Ashworth’s first game as reds boss.

Tommy’s century
1958 – We won a Second Division fixture 3-2 at Grimsby Town. We were two down before Fred Morris pulled a goal back before the break. Louis Bimpson and Alan A’Court scored in the second half as keeper Tommy Younger reached a century of League outings for the reds.

Golden boy Raheem
2014 - Raheem Sterling won the Golden Boy award for 2014, voted for by journalists from across Europe as the outstanding top-flight player aged under 21 across the continent.

Up against the Blues
1983 - Graeme Souness was on the scoresheet with his fiftieth gioal for the club as we drew our League Cup Fourth Round tie at Birmingham City, with Mick Harford equalising with one of his six strikes against the reds.
1930 - We also visited St. Andrews, when we lost a First Division match 2-0, with George Briggs scoring two of his ten goals past us.

Roy’s quit
2001 - Roy Evans resigned as Second Division Swindon Town’s boss after just four months in charge. They had only lost six of his 26 games.
2005 - Roy Hodgson resigned as Manager of Norwegian side Viking F.K. Stavanger, having already taken charge of the Finland national team.

Reds in Sudan
1982 - Kenny Dalglish was on target as we held a Khartoum XI to a 1-1 draw in a friendly in Sudan, with rolling substitutions permitted in the heat. The game was played just two days after our most recent League fixture and was arranged after persistent requests from the Sudanese President. Graeme Souness announced to the rest of the squad on the flight over that he had agreed a new three-year contract, with the players ‘celebrating’ by sticking Sammy Lee into one of the plane’s overhead lockers!

Other reds games
1980 – Ray Kennedy netted the only goal of Wolverhampton Wanderers’ visit to Anfield.
1975 – We beat Queens Park Rangers 2-0 in L4. John Toshack scored with Phil Neal converting a penalty.

1913 – Ken Campbell saved a penalty from Joe Kitchen with Tom Miller on target as we won 1-0 at Sheffield United.
1902 – Arthur Goddard and Jack Cox struck as we beat Nottingham Forest 2-1 at Anfield before Grenville Morris bagged the first of his six goals against the reds. Forest defender George Henderson had to go off with a dislocated elbow after twenty minutes, returning briefly but failed to reappear after the break.

Loaned out
1996 - Nigel Clough joined Nottingham Forest on loan from Manchester City. He struck once in thirteen games in this second spell at the City Ground, before returning to Maine Road.
2000 - Robbie Keane joined Leeds United on loan from Internazionale. He notched nine times in twenty games before signing on permanently in May 2001.

Titi on target
1992 – Future red Titi Camara bagged a brace as Guinea beat Kenya 4-0 in a World Cup qualifier in Conakry.

Stone rolled on
1984 - Reserves forward Paul Jewell was sold to Wigan Athletic for £15,000, going on to bag 47 goals in 171 games for the Latics.

In international action
1967 – Emlyn Hughes and Tommy Smith both played as England Under-23’s beat Italy 1-0 at the City Ground in Nottingham.
1989 – Future reds goalkeeping coach Cláudio Taffarel featured as Brazil beat the Netherlands 1-0 in Rotterdam.