26th February

We won it eight times
2012 – We secured the League Cup for a record eighth time, eventually defeating Cardiff City 3-2 at Wembley on penalties. Joe Mason scored for the Welsh side after Glen Johnson had struck the crossbar, with Martin Škrtel equalising after an hour. Substitute Dirk Kuyt put us ahead in extra time, before clearing off the line. However, Ben Turner then bagged a very late leveller. Steven Gerrard and Charlie Adam both failed to convert from twelve yards, but Kuyt, man-of-the-match Stewart Downing and Glen Johnson all converted before Steven’s cousin Anthony Gerrard missed the decisive spot-kick to hand us the cup.

Larry off the mark
1972 - Larry Lloyd grabbed his first reds goal in a 3-0 League defeat of Manchester City. Kevin Keegan also struck at Anfield with Bobby Graham netting his 42nd goal in his 137th and final reds game.
2006 - We also entertained City, with Joey Barton seeing red for the visitors and Harry Kewell grabbing the only goal of the game.

This is your life, Crazy Horse
We have lost twice to Wolverhampton Wanderers on this day, both times 1-0 in top-flight encounters.
1938 - The first occasion was at Anfield.
1980 - We lost by the same score at Molineux thanks to a John Richards goal in the second half, one of his five past us, with ex-red Emlyn Hughes on the winning side. Despite suffering the disappointment of just a second League defeat in 21 games, the reds players remained in the Midlands that evening to honour their former skipper who was the subject of ITV’s ‘This Is Your Life’.

Feliz aniversário
1993 – Young Portuguese centre-half Tiago Ilori was born in London. He signed from Sporting Clube de Portugal for £7m in September 2013, making just three senior appearances, and sitting on the bench on five other occasions before being sold to Reading for a reported £3.75m in January 2017.

Welcome to hell, my a***
2002 - Emile Heskey scored as we held Galatasaray to a 1-1 draw in our Champions League second group stage game in the intimidating Ali Sami Yen Stadium. Chris Kirkland had an inspired game, in just his fourth reds appearance.
2015 – We returned to Turkey, losing 1-0 to Beşiktaş JK at the Atatürk Olimpiyat Stadi in the second leg of our UEFA Europa League Round of 32 tie, with the game going to extra time as we had won the home game by the same score. Unfortunately, we lost a shoot-out 5-4, with Dejan Lovren having his decisive penalty saved. Javier Manquillo made his nineteenth and last appearance for the reds from the bench.

FA Cup memories
1962 - Future red Peter Thompson scored the only goal of the game as Preston North End dumped us out of the FA Cup in a Fifth Round second replay at a snowy Old Trafford, with keeper Bert Slater making his 111th and final reds appearance.
1983 - We returned there when Kenny Dalglish netted in a 1-1 top-flight draw with Manchester United.

Since then, we have had two more FA Cup ties on this day, both at Anfield - and on both occasions we won on our way to reaching Wembley.
1977 - We beat Oldham Athletic 3-1 in the Fifth Round, with Kevin Keegan and Jimmy Case adding to a Phil Neal penalty as Phil Thompson played his 200th reds game.
1992 - We overcame Ipswich Town 3-2 in a Fifth Round replay after extra time, with Ray Houghton grabbing his 38th and last reds goal, with Jan Mølby and Steve McManaman also on target, after we had fallen behind 2-1 in the added on period. Ex-red John Wark featured, saying that “the fans gave me a standing ovation. They gave me one of best feelings I have ever known in football. I was almost in tears.”

Not such a Saint
1966 - Ian St. John was dismissed late on at Fulham for allegedly punching Mark Pearson. We lost the match 2-0, with both goals coming from Steve Earle, although one was scored with the help of a hand. This result sparked Fulham into surviving relegation that season.

International beginnings and ends
1920 - Reds keeper Ken Campbell made his Scotland debut as they held Wales 1-1 in the British International Championships at Ninian Park in their first game after the First World War.
1921 - He won his fifth cap in Scotland’s 2-0 defeat by Northern Ireland in Belfast, although by now he was a Partick Thistle player. This was the province’s first international as the new Northern Ireland. Ex-red Tom Miller also appeared for the Scots that day, winning his first cap as a Manchester United player, while Billy Lacey and Elisha Scott played for the home side.

1927 - Left-half David McMullan won his third and final cap for Northern Ireland, playing alongside reds custodian Elisha Scott in their 2-0 defeat by Scotland in a British International Championships game in Belfast.

Red milestones
1994 – Ian Rush netted the only goal of Coventry City’s visit to Anfield after just two minutes as Mark Walters reached a century of reds outings.
2004 - Milan Baroš played his fiftieth reds game as we beat Levski Sofia in the first leg of our UEFA Cup Third Round tie at Anfield 2-0, with Steven Gerrard and Harry Kewell on the scoresheet.

Beating the Blues
1916 - Arthur Metcalf grabbed the only goal of our Wartime League match at Goodison Park.

Beaten by the Geordies
We have twice lost to Newcastle United on this day in history.
1913 – We went down 1-0 in an FA Cup Third Round replay at St. James’ Park.
1927 - We lost 2-1 at Anfield in a First Division fixture, with Tommy Reid bagging our consolation and Stan Seymour bagging a brace for the visitors.

International reds on target in friendlies
1985 - Ian Rush netted for Wales in their 1-1 draw with Norway in Wrexham. Ex-red Joey Jones also played.
1997 - Patrik Berger was on the scoresheet as the Czech Republic beat Belarus 4-1 in Podebrady, with future reds clubmate Vladimír Šmicer also in action.

Gelukkige verjaardag
1988 – Dutch reserves forward Jordy Brouwer was born in Den Haag. He arrived from Ajax in January 2007, becoming a regular in our second string. He moved on to his hometown club ADO Den Haag, having failed to make the break-through at Anfield.
1989 – Post Match & Elite Player Development Analyst Daniel Spearritt was born in Runcorn. He joined the Academy as Performance Management Application Super User in August 2014, becoming Academy Performance Analyst in January 2017 and then taking on his current role during 2020/21.

Ronnie for Israel
Ronnie Rosenthal twice played for his country on this day in history.
1986 - He was on the losing side when England won a friendly 2-1 in Tel-Aviv. Ex-red Avi Cohen and future reds John Barnes and Peter Beardsley all also featured.
1997 - He won his 52nd cap as Germany won 1-0 in the same city, with future reds Markus Babbel and Christian Ziege in their line-up.

Ex-reds on the move
1993 - Jimmy Case joined Third Division Wrexham from Halifax Town on a free transfer. He only played four times in eight months at the Racecourse Ground before moving on to Darlington.
1998 - Don Hutchison joined Everton from Sheffield United for £1m. He went on to net eleven goals in 89 games for the Toffees, before joining Sunderland for £2.5m in July 2000.
2019 – Brendan Rodgers was appointed Manager of Leicester City, moving back south of the border having been in charge of Celtic since May 2016. On the same day, centre-half Rhys Williams signed pro terms with the reds.

Ablett to Grimsby
2002 - Gary Ablett joined First Division Grimsby Town on trial. He had been plying his trade across the Atlantic with Long Island Riders, following a brief spell with Blackpool.

Other reds games
1974 – Phil Boersma was on target late on as we beat Southampton 1-0 in L4.
1921 – We thumped Huddersfield Town 4-1 in a home League fixture, with Harry Chambers bagging a brace and Walter Wadsworth and Dick Forshaw also on the scoresheet.

1920 – We lost 1-0 at Notts County.
1910 – Arthur Goddard scored the only goal of Bradford City’s visit to Anfield from the spot after Jimmy Stewart had seen a previous penalty saved by Harry Maskrey.
1898 – We drew an FA Cup Third Round tie 1-1 at Derby County with Harry Bradshaw on target. Unfortunately, we were thumped 5-1 in the replay.

Other youngsters in international action
1995 – Future red Haukur Igni Gudnason featured for Iceland Under-17’s as they lost 1-0 to Norwat in the Portugal Tournament.
2014 – Future red Joe Gomez captained England Under-17’s beat the Netherlands 2-0 in the Algarve Tournament, with Sheyi Ojo also in action.