20th February

Many happy returns all round
1951 - Phil Neal was born in Irchester, Northamptonshire. He signed from Northampton Town for £66,000 in October 1974 and struck 59 times in 650 reds appearances, becoming our most decorated player of all time, with his medal haul including four European Cups, eight League titles, the UEFA Cup, UEFA Super Cup, four League Cups and four FA Charity Shields.
1971 - Jari Litmanen was born in Lahti. He struck nine goals in 43 reds games after arriving for free from Barcelona in January 2001, before returning to his spiritual home with Ajax in Amsterdam on another free in August 2002.

1960 - David Speedie was born in Glenrothes, Fife. Kenny Dalglish signed him from Coventry City for £700,000 in January 1991. He netted eight times in fourteen reds games before moving to Blackburn Rovers seven months later.
1917 - Scottish inside-left Willie Fagan was born in Musselburgh, Midlothian. He arrived from Preston North End in October 1937 for £8,000, a record deal for a teenager, and netted 57 goals in 182 reds games, helping to fire us to the League title in 1947 and the FA Cup Final three years later. He finally left Anfield in January 1952 to join Belfast Distillery.
2001 – Academy forward Paul Glatzel was born in Liverpool. He failed to break through to the first team, moving on to Swindon Town in January 2024.

The FA Cup and King Kenny’s departure
1991 - One of the most amazing games in our history took place, an FA Cup Fifth Round replay with Everton at Goodison Park, in what was to be Kenny Dalglish’s last match in charge. We led four times, and four times we were pegged back, with the match ending 3-3 after ninety minutes and 4-4 after extra time, before we lost 1-0 at the same venue in the last ever second replay in the competition. Future Blue Peter Beardsley netted a brace, his final reds goals, with Ian Rush and John Barnes also scoring. Graeme Sharp struck the last two of his seven goals past us with Tony Cottee netting two of his eight. Meanwhile, Bruce Grobbelaar was making his 107th consecutive reds appearance, but missed our next game, a 3-1 League defeat at Luton Town.

1971 - Our top-flight meeting at Goodison also ended all square, with neither side scoring.
1946 – We thumped Everton 4-0 in Lancashire Senior Cup First Round second replay, thanks to goals from Billy Liddell, Willie Fagan, Jack Balmer and Phil Taylor.

International first
1897 - Forward Harry Bradshaw became the first reds player to win international honours, winning his only cap while playing for England in their 6-0 thumping of Ireland at Trent Bridge in the British International Championships.

Red treble
1985 - John Wark scored a hat-trick in our 7-0 trouncing of York City at Anfield in the FA Cup Fifth Round. Ronnie Whelan added a brace, with birthday boy Phil Neal and Paul Walsh also on the scoresheet. We went on to reach the Semi-final that year, where we fell to eventual winners Manchester United.

Bitter defeat
2021 – Everton won 2-0 behind closed doors at Anfield, their first victory across the park since September 1999. Richarlison opened the scoring early on, with Gylfi Sigurðsson converting a late, harshly-awarded spot-kick, the most recent of his five goals against the reds. Divock Origi reached a century of League outings for the reds as a late substitute.

Javier on his way
2007 - Javier Mascherano’s loan signing was approved by the Premier League. He settled into the red engine room with impressive speed, turning out on 139 occasions, finding the back of the net just twice before moving to Barcelona for €22m in August 2010.
1967 – Outside-right Dave Wilson signed from Preston North End for £20,000, having played in the FA Cup Final in 1964. However, he only made one senior appearance in his fifteen months at Anfield before returning to Deepdale.

La première victoire
2003 - Djimi Traoré played his fiftieth reds game, while Jerzy Dudek was making his fiftieth European club appearance. Our 1-0 defeat of Auxerre at their Stade de l’Abbé-Deschamps in the Fourth Round of the UEFA Cup, courtesy of a Sami Hyypiä strike, was our first competitive win in France over French opposition.

Zico off target
1983 – Birthday boy Phil Neal missed a penalty in front of the Kop, as a Jimmy Case-inspired Brighton & Hove Albion won 2-1 at Anfield in an FA Cup Fifth Round tie, with Jimmy himself and Gerry Ryan on target. Craig Johnston netted our consolation in Bob Paisley’s final FA Cup game, which was the first ever Sunday game at Anfield and first home cup defeat since November 1974, after 63 unbeaten ties. In order to comply with the law, all supporters had to pay £1.90 for a team-sheet which they then got free entry to the ground with! Brighton were managed by former reds favourite Jimmy Melia, while Case had his named chanted by reds fans at the end of the game.

On our way to Wembley
1965 – A late Ian Callaghan header handed us victory at Bolton Wanderers as we reached the Sixth Round of the FA Cup, en route to winning the trophy for the first time. The wooden railing behind the goal collapsed under the pressure of a crowd surge after our goal, but play was not stopped.

Ironed out
1999 - We were held to a 2-2 draw at Anfield by West Ham United, with Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen bagging our goals as we were twice pegged back. Frank Lampard struck the first of his eight goals against the reds, with Marc Keller also netting.
1932 - We lost our previous meeting with the Hammers on this day 1-0 at Upton Park, when centre-forward Les Bruton made the first of his eight reds appearances and Jimmy Ruffell bagged the last of his four goals past us.

Nice one Cyril, again
1943 - Cyril Done scored in his third consecutive game as we beat Manchester City 4-2 in a Wartime League game at Anfield. Michael Hulligan nabbed a brace with Cyril Done and Maurice Edelston also on the scoresheet.

Four again and again
We have struck four goals on another three occasions on this day in history, all at Anfield against opposition from various corners of Great Britain.
1954 - Billy Liddell netted twice with Alan A’Court and Alun Evans also grabbing goals as we beat St. Mirren 4-2 in a friendly.
1960 - Dave Hickson and Roger Hunt both struck braces as we beat Swansea Town 4-1 in a Second Division fixture, with Brayley Reynolds scoring one of his seven goals against the reds.
1982 - Coventry City left L4 on the wrong end of a 4-0 scoreline after our top-flight encounter, with Graeme Souness, Sammy Lee and Ian Rush all on target, with a Terry McDermott penalty completing the scoring.

Three against
1909 - Albert Beney scored a hat-trick for Woolwich Arsenal as we were thumped 5-0 in a First Division game at their Manor Ground. Charlie Lewis missed a penalty and scored, with ex-red Charles Satterthwaite converting a spot-kick. Defender Ernest Peake made his reds bow.

Also in Europe
2002 - We were held to a goalless draw at Anfield by Galatasaray in our Champions League second group stage match.

Young Stevie on target
1996 - Steven Gerrard scored his first goal for England Under-16’s while winning his second cap in their 2-1 defeat of the Republic of Ireland at Lilleshall.
2017 – Bobby Duncan bagged a brace, including one from the spot, with Curtis Jones also on target as England Under-16’s beat Italy 3-1 at St. George’s Park.

Other reds games
1993 – Ipswich Town held us to a goalless draw in L4.
1935 – Sheffield Wednesday won 2-1 at Anfield, despite Alf Hanson giving us the lead. Harry Burgess struck one of his nine goals against the reds with Ronnie Starling netting the winner.
1926 – We drew 1-1 at Leeds United, with Thomas Jennings nabbing one of his seven goals past us before Dick Forshaw equalised.

All Wright now
2001 - Young right-back Stephen Wright signed a new three-year deal. However, he was on his way to Sunderland only six months later, for whom he played 105 first-team games before joining Coventry City on a free transfer in August 2008.

On the move
2015 - Kevin MacDonald was appointed Assistant Manager of Aston Villa, later taking charge of the Under-21’s before taking charge of the club on a temporary basis for the second time after Tim Sherwood was sacked.

Also in international action
1994 – Future reds keeper Brad Friedel played for the USA in their 3-1 defeat by Sweden in the Joe Robbie Cup in Miami.
1998 – Future red Rigobert Song featured in Cameroon’s 1-0 defeat to DR Congo in their Africa Cup of Nations Quarter-final in Burkina Faso.