7th December

Redders off the mark
1991 - Jamie Redknapp scored his first reds goal as we held Southampton to a 1-1 League draw at The Dell. Alan Shearer had put the home side ahead with the first of his eight goals against the reds.

In comes Igor
2000 - Igor Bišcan signed from Dinamo Zagreb for £5.5m. The big Croat helped us to the Worthington Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FA Charity Shield in 2001, and the Worthington Cup again two years later, as well as playing a key role in our Champions League triumph in 2005. He left for Panathinaikos in July 2005 after three goals in 118 reds games.

1897 – Right-back General Stevenson signed from Padiham, playing 22 times without scoring before joining Barnsley in June 1900.
1936 – South African keeper Dirk Kemp signed from Transvaal, although he only played thirty senior and ten Wartime games for the reds.
1905 – Scottish left-back David Murray was sold to Leeds City for £130. He had arrived from Everton on a free transfer in August 1904, helping us to clinch the Second Division title, playing fifteen senior games.

Buchan-eering
1912 - Charlie Buchan scored five goals for Sunderland as they thrashed us 7-0 in a top-flight fixture at Roker Park, his first strikes past us. Three of his goals came in the final ten minutes when left-back Donald McKinlay had gone off injured and dusk had fallen. This remains the most ever scored by one player in a match against the reds. He in fact scored a total of eighteen times against the reds in his Sunderland career, as well as another three when with Arsenal, and bagged a treble in the reverse fixture later that season. Jackie Mordue netted one of his six goals past us, with Harry Martin also netting.

The perfect group
2021 – We became the first English side to win all six UEFA Champions League group games in a season by winning 2-1 at AC Milan, despite falling behind to a Fikayo Tomori goal. Mohamed Salah and Divock Origi struck either side of half time as Sadio Mané played his fiftieth game in the competition for the reds, with forward Max Woltman debuting as a late substitute. We progressed all the way to the Final in Paris that campaign.

Centre-backs at each end
2013 – We beat West Ham United 4-1 at Anfield, going ahead through a Guy Demel own goal just before the break. Mamadou Sakho bagged his first reds goal before Martin Škrtel put through his own net. However, Luis Suárez struck twice to secure the victory. Glen Johnson took over the captain’s armband when Steven Gerrard was substituted early in the second half, while Kevin Nolan was sent off for the visitors late on.

Humbled by the Dutch
1966 - We suffered our record European defeat, losing 5-1 to a Johann Cruyff-inspired Ajax in a European Cup Second Round first leg tie at the fog-bound Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam, with Chris Lawler grabbing our last-minute consolation. In fact, the pitch was so foggy that Shanks was even able to wander on to give instructions to half-back Willie Stevenson without the officials noticing him! He famously decreed that the reds would turn things around in the second leg, but it was not to be, as we only drew 2-2. Cruyff was amongst the scorers, with Klaas Nuninga bagging a brace and Cornelis De Wolf and Hendrik Groot also on the scoresheet.

Also recently
2019 – We won 3-0 at Bournemouth to move eleven points clear at the top of the table. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keïta struck before the break, with Mohamed Salah on target in the second half.

Centurions
1963 - Ian Callaghan was on target in his hundredth reds game as we drew 1-1 at Arsenal. Joe Baker equalised with the first of his four goals against the reds.
1974 – Ray Clemence played his 200th League game for us as we were held to a 2-2 draw by Derby County at Anfield. Ray Kennedy and Steve Heighway bagged our goals inside the first quarter of the match. Substitute Roger Davies netted one of his five goals past us, with Jeff Bourne also scoring.

Wolves win again
1946 - Wolverhampton Wanderers won for the third consecutive League season at Anfield, interrupted by the war, going home with a 5-1 victory in this clash of the top two in the League. Wallasey-born Dennis Westcott scored four first-half goals for Wolves and had another strike wrongly ruled out for offside, with Jack Balmer nabbing our consolation from the spot. Remarkably, Westcott also grabbed four goals in his next game, against Bolton Wanderers. These were the last of his nine strikes past us.

Nicol the winner
1996 - Steve Nicol was on the winning side for Sheffield Wednesday at Anfield, when Guy Whittingham struck the only goal of the game. Nicol got a nasty elbow in the face from Neil Ruddock during this game.

Happy birthdays
1949 – Former reserve team boss John McMahon, Steve’s brother, was born in Manchester. He played more than 250 League games for Preston North End, also playing for Wigan Athletic and Tranmere Rovers before moving into coaching with Rovers and then Shrewsbury Town. He was in charge of the reserves between June 2009 and March 2011.
1972 - Sean Dundee was born in Durban. He arrived at Anfield for £1.8m in June 1998, but only made five appearances off the bench before leaving for VfB Stuttgart for £1m a year later.

Off the mark quickly
1935 - Bob Glassey scored five minutes into his reds bow as we beat Preston North End 2-1 at Anfield. Jack Balmer nabbed our other goal, also his first reds strike. Bud Maxwell netted one of his seven goals against us.

A lowly record
1895 - We recorded our lowest ever League attendance at Anfield, with just 1,000 turning up to see Frank Becton net the only goal of our Second Division encounter with Loughborough Town.

Scottish reds
1965 - Ron Yeats won his second and final cap for Scotland as they beat Italy 3-0 in a World Cup qualifier in Naples.
1938 - Preston North End’s Bill Shankly won his fourth cap as the Scots beat Hungary 3-1 in a friendly at Ibrox. Full-back Andy Beattie, who guested for the reds during the war and later joined our backroom staff, won his seventh and final official cap for the Scots in the same game.

Against the Irons
We have twice entertained West Ham United at Anfield on this day.
1957 - Billy Liddell netted in our 1-1 Second Division draw.
1968 - We won 2-0 in the top flight, thanks to goals from Emlyn Hughes and Peter Thompson.

Thumping the Villa
1985 - Jan Mølby, Paul Walsh and Craig Johnston all netted as we beat Aston Villa 3-0 at Anfield.
1907 - We beat them even more comprehensively in another First Division meeting, with Robert Robinson and Jack Parkinson both netting twice and Arthur Goddard also on the scoresheet in a 5-0 victory. Forward Joe Hewitt reached a century of reds games that day.

Derby despair
1992 - We lost 2-1 at Goodison Park in front of the Sky cameras, with Mark Wright opening the scoring. Mo Johnston equalised almost immediately, before ex-red Peter Beardsley struck the winner after being played in by fellow ex-red Gary Ablett to become only the second player to score for both sides in this fixture.

Also in Europe
2000 - Emile Heskey and Nick Barmby struck as we beat Olympiacos 2-0 at Anfield to reach the Fourth Round of the UEFA Cup, 4-2 on aggregate.

Irish English
1932 – Future reds forward Sam English netted his only goal for Northern Ireland while winning his second and final cap as they lost 4-1 to Wales in the British International Championships in Wrexham, with reds keeper Elisha Scott also on the losing side. Future red Ernie Blenkinsop played for England as they beat Austria 4-3 in a friendly at Stamford Bridge on the same day.
2011 – Future red Mohamed Salah scored for Egypt Under-23’s in their 3-2 defeat by Morocco in the Africa Cup of Nations Semi-final in Marrakesh.

Another big win
1918 - We thumped Oldham Athletic 5-1 at Anfield in a Wartime League fixture at Anfield, thanks to two apiece from Donald McKinlay and Thomas Green, and a goal from Harold Wadsworth.

Other reds games
2002 – We lost 2-0 to Charlton Athletic at The Valley thanks to goals from Jason Euell and future red Paul Konchesky.
1929 – Gordon Hodgson opened the scoring but Burnley beat us 3-1 at Anfield. George Beel netted the last two of his eight goals against the reds, with Louis Page bagging one of his seven past us.
1901 – Sam Raybould struck as we were beaten 2-1 at Sheffield United. Alf Common scored the first of his five goals against us, with Walter Bennett scoring one of his four.

Young reds in opposition
2000 - John Welsh and Mark Peers played for England Under-16’s as they lost 2-0 to France at The Valley, with future red Anthony Le Tallec bagging one of the goals.

Management moves
1987 – It was announced that Peter Robinson had extended his contract as Club Secretary until 1995.
2005 - Steve McMahon quit as Perth Glory boss, following a combination of media speculation, poor transfer signings, the team’s indifferent form and an apparent disagreement with the board.
2008 – John Barnes managed Jamaica as they were held to a 1-1 draw in the Digicel Caribbean Championships in Trelawny by Trinidad & Tobago.
2015 - Nigel Clough was appointed Manager of Burton Albion for a second time, having been in charge originally between October 1998 and January 2009.

Missing out
2017 – Ex-red Luis Suárez was voted into thirteenth place in the Ballon d’Or, with Sadio Mané coming 23rd and Philippe Coutinho 29th as Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo won for the fifth time.