29th December

Michael the centurion
2001 - Michael Owen scored his hundredth reds goal after Trevor Sinclair had given West Ham United the lead, as we drew 1-1 at Upton Park. This was our 200th League goal under Gérard Houllier's sole charge.
1923 - We also faced the Hammers when Jimmy Walsh struck twice in a 2-0 win at Anfield.

Red debutants
1984 - Kevin MacDonald made his reds bow as we beat Luton Town 1-0 at home, with John Wark on target.
2013 – Aussie left-back Brad Smith came off the bench to make his debut as we lost 2-1 at Chelsea with Martin Škrtel handing us an early lead. This was the first time we had lost consecutive League games under Brendan Rodgers, with Luis Suárez denied a strong late penalty claim. Eden Hazard scored one of his seven goals past us to date, with Samuel Eto’o also on target.

Bobby again
2018 – Roberto Firmino scored his first career hat-trick as we thumped Arsenal 5-1 to secure our eighth consecutive win, and tenth in a row in the League. Ainsley Maitland-Niles put the Gunners ahead early, but Firmino quickly put us in front before Sadio Mané extended the lead. Mohamed Salah scored from the spot in first-half injury time. Firmino completed his treble by converting a penalty after the break.

Milestone games
2019 – Virgil van Dijk reached a century of reds games as we beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 at Anfield with Sadio Mané on target before the break after a lengthy VAR review for a potential handball by Adam Lallana. The visitors then had a goal ruled out for a marginal offside on the stroke of half time as we ended the year with a thirteen-point lead at the top of the table.
2009 - Fernando Torres struck the only goal of our game at Aston Villa in injury time, his fiftieth League goal, in his 72nd game, a new club record.

1934 - Berry Nieuwenhuys and Sam English were on the scoresheet as we won 2-0 at Blackburn Rovers, with keeper Arthur Riley appearing for the 200th time.
1900 - We also visited Ewood Park, with Sam Raybould netting as we lost 3-1. Jack Dewhurst netted the first two of his five goals past us, with Walter Whittaker scoring the first of his six against the reds.

Gunning for a draw
2002 - A Danny Murphy penalty gave us the lead at Highbury. However, a controversial penalty won by Francis Jeffers and converted by Thierry Henry for one of his nine goals past us enabled Arsenal to share the points.

Going top
1996 - We won 1-0 at Graeme Souness’s Southampton to go top of the League in time for the New Year. Dave Beasant attempted to prevent a corner, but his errant clearance was seized upon by John Barnes who sent it towards goal. Beasant attempted to get back to retrieve the situation but failed. Unfortunately, we ended up finishing fourth in a ‘two horse race’ that season.

Gordon’s milestone strike
1928 – The second of Gordon Hodgson’s brace in our top-flight match at Bury was our 2,000th League goal. The game ended 2-2, with outside-right Dick Edmed playing his hundredth League game for the reds. John Smith bagged the last of his seven goals against the reds, with Jack Ball also netting.

More milestone games
2010 - Pepe Reina played his 200th League game for the reds as we lost 1-0 to Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield. Stephen Ward bagged the winner with ironic chants of “Hodgson for England” ringing around the Kop during the second half.
2014 – Brendan Rodgers led us to a fiftieth League win in charge as we saw off Swansea City 4-1 at Anfield. Alberto Moreno opened the scoring with Adam Lallana bagging a brace after the break, either side of a Gylfi Sigurðsson strike for the visitors, one of his five goals past us to date. The scoring was completed when ex-red Jonjo Shelvey put through his own net, his second own goal against us to date.

Derby stalemate
1945 - We held the Blues to a 2-2 draw in a Wartime League match at Goodison. Kevin Baron and Billy Liddell were on the scoresheet.

Baron born
1901 - Fred Baron was born in Prudhoe, Northumberland. He struck seven times in twenty games after signing from Mid-Rhondda United in February 1925, moving on to Southend United in March 1927.
1991 – Short-lived centre-half Steven Caulker was born in Feltham. He joined the reds on loan from Queens Park Rangers in January 2016, having his temporary spell at Southampton cut short to accommodate the move. He made just four reds appearances.

Bert’s farewell
1971 - Bert Shelley died in Liverpool. He played 448 times for Southampton, a club record until the 1960’s. After retiring from playing, he joined George Kay’s coaching staff, following him to Anfield in August 1936. He stayed on as Trainer after Kay’s departure, working under Don Welsh and Phil Taylor until 1959 when he joined the general staff, with his duties including looking after the treatment room. He was still working for the club when he died.

Zico out of a job
1996 - Phil Neal resigned as Manager of First Division Manchester City. He had lost seven of his ten games in charge.

Other wins
In total, we have won nine of our sixteen fixtures on this day in history.
1973 – We won 1-0 at Chelsea with Peter Cormack grabbing the goal.
1979 - David Johnson struck twice without reply at West Bromwich Albion.
1897 – We won 2-1 at Sheffield United with Abe Hartley nabbing his only reds goal and Andrew McCowie also on the scoresheet.
1951 – We won by the same score at Huddersfield Town. Billy Liddell and Jimmy Payne netted at Leeds Road, with Jimmy Glazzard bagging one of his five goals against the reds.

More red endings
1894 – Defender James Cameron played his fourth and final reds game in a 3-0 top-flight defeat at Small Heath. Frank Mobley bagged a treble, the first of his four strikes against the reds.
1967 – Left-half Willie Stevenson moved on to Stoke City. He had signed from Rangers for £20,000 in October 1962 and missed just nine League games in his first four seasons, making a total of 241 appearances and netting eighteen times. He helped us to two League titles and our first FA Cup triumph in 1965.

Management endings
2008 – Paul Jewell resigned as Manager of Derby County with Reserve Team Coach Mark Seagraves also vacating his post. The Rams had won just twelve of his 58 games in charge.

Stevie nicked
2008 - Steven Gerrard was arrested following an alleged assault at a Southport bar the previous day. He was later acquitted of all charges.

Other reds games
1976 – Joe Royle netted one of his five goals against the reds as we drew 1-1 at Manchester City, thanks to a late Dave Watson own goal, keeping us two points clear at the top of the table.
1956 – We were held to a goalless draw in a Second Division encounter at Grimsby Town.

In comes Chris
1920 – Winger Chris Harrington signed from South Liverpool. He failed to score in four senior outings, before returning to his former club the following year.

Also on the move
2010 – Jermaine Pennant joined Stoke City from Real Zaragoza for an initial £1.725m, after failing to score in 26 outings for the Spanish side. Meanwhile, keeper Diego Cavalieri left Cesena to sign for Fluminense back in his native Brazil. He had played just one senior game for the Italian club.
2014 - Fernando Torres returned to Club Atlético de Madrid on loan from AC Milan, just two days after arriving from Chelsea. He made the move permanent in July 2016.
2020 – Ex-reds centre-half Lloyd Jones re-signed for Northampton Town, after a previous loan spell. He moved on to Cambridge United in June 2021 after a total of 29 appearances for the Cobblers.

Internationals in action
1976 - Future red Avi Cohen played for Israel as they were beaten 1-0 in Tel-Aviv by the West German Olympics side.
2003 – Roy Hodgson took charge of the United Arab Emirates as they beat host nation Kuwait 2-0 in a Gulf Cup of Nations game.

1995 - Haukur Ingi Guðnason scored his first goal for Iceland Under-19’s as they beat Belgium 2-1 in an Israel Tournament game.
1994 – Guðnason featured for the Under-17’s as they lost 2-0 to France in another tournament game in Israel.

Jerzy a dad again
2006 - Jerzy Dudek became a father for the third time, to Natalia.