23rd January

Birth of a reds great
1919 - Bob Paisley was born in Hetton-le-Hole in County Durham. He made 277 reds appearances, netting twelve times and helping us to the League title in 1947 before joining the coaching staff in 1954. He took over as Manager twenty years later and remains the most successful English boss of all time, leading us to three European Cups, six League titles, the UEFA Cup, UEFA Super Cup, four League Cups and five FA Charity Shields.

Happy birthdays
1986 – Spanish left-back José Enrique was born in Valencia. He signed from Newcastle United for £5.5m in August 2011, notching twice in 99 reds appearances before being released in May 2016. He moved on to Real Zaragoza four months later.
1983 – Pepijn Lijnders was born in Broekhuizen in the Netherlands. He joined the reds as First-team Development Coach in 2014, leaving the club in January 2018 to take over as N.E.C. boss. However, he was sacked just four months later, returning to Melwood in June 2018 as Assistant Manager.
1883 – Keeper Peter Platt was born in Rishton. He signed from Blackburn Rovers in May 1902, playing 44 times before moving on to Luton Town in 1904. He sadly died aged just 39 in a mini-flu epidemic in Nuneaton in January 1922.

Four for Harold
1932 - Centre-forward Harold Barton scored all four reds goals as we beat Chesterfield 4-2 at their Recreation Ground in a Fourth Round FA Cup tie. Unfortunately, we were knocked out by Chelsea in the Sixth Round that season.

Beating the Blues
1937 - We won the Anfield derby 3-2 with Fred Howe, Phil Taylor and Jack Balmer on target, and Alex Stevenson bagging a brace for the Blues.

Most recently
2022 – We won 3-1 at Crystal Palace with Virgil van Dijk and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on target before the break, with Fabinho converting a late spot kick.
2020 – We won 2-1 at Wolverhampton Wanderers, extending our lead at the top of the table to sixteen points with a game in hand. Jordan Henderson headed us in front early on, but Raúl Jiménez equalised after the break as we conceded our first League goal for more than twelve hours. Roberto Firmino struck the winner.

Cup wins
We have twice won FA Cup Fourth Round ties 3-0 on this day in history.
1971 - John Toshack, Ian St. John and Chris Lawler netted as we beat Swansea City at Anfield on our way to the Final. This was the Saint’s 425th and final game for the club.
1982 - We won at Sunderland with Kenny Dalglish grabbing a brace and Ian Rush also on the scoresheet. Unfortunately, we lost at Chelsea at the very next hurdle.

Tons up
1954 – Centre-half Laurie Hughes played his 200th reds game as Tottenham Hotspur held us to a 2-2 top-flight draw at Anfield. Billy Liddell and John Evans scored with full-back Frank Lock putting through his own net and Sonny Walters nabbing the last of his four strikes past us.
1915 – We lost 2-1 to The Wednesday at Hillsborough with left-back Bob Pursell reaching a century of reds games. Fred Pagnam scored our goal, while David McLean struck one of his eight goals past us with Sam Kirkman bagging the last of his four.

A crazy win
2016 – We won by the odd goal in nine at Norwich City, thanks to a stoppage-time Adam Lallana winner that led to a mass celebration on the touchline with boss Jürgen Klopp having his glasses broken. Roberto Firmino put us in front, but we found ourselves 3-1 down. We completed a turnaround to lead 4-3 thanks to goals from Jordan Henderson, a second from Firmino and James Milner. We were still ahead at the ninety-minute mark but Sébastien Bassong bagged a late leveller before the final dénouement.

Off the mark
1904 – Forward John Carlin struck the first of his eight reds goals as we drew 2-2 at West Bromwich Albion, with half-back John ‘Geezer’ Hughes also on target with his second and last strike for the club.

Carra going free
2006 - Jamie Carragher was awarded the Freedom of Sefton, an honour that thrilled the Bootle-born defender, which he won for his local charity work and the good example he sets young people. He became only the second person to be handed such an accolade.

Other births and deaths
2013 – Right-winger Jimmy Payne died. He notched 43 times in 243 appearances for the reds, including the 1950 FA Cup Final, before moving across Stanley Park in April 1956, where he was dogged by injury before retiring to become a newsagent.
1911 – Inside-right Jock Smith committed suicide two days after the death of one of his children. He signed from Sunderland in May 1892, bagging five goals in eleven outings, moving on to The Wednesday in August 1893.
1907 – Scottish inside-forward Willie Walker died in the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. He joined the reds from Leith Athletic in May 1897, netting three times in twelve reds games before he returned to his former club for free in August 1898.

1868 – Forward Fred Geary was born in Hyson Green, Nottingham. He signed from Everton for £60 in May 1895, having top scored as they won the League in 1891 and won three England caps. He bagged fourteen goals in 45 reds games, helping us to claim the Second Division title in his first season.
1904 - Left-half Jimmy McDougall was born in Port Glasgow. He signed from Partick Thistle in April 1928 and went on to be nominated into the club’s official Hall of Fame for the 1930’s, having struck twelve times in 356 games for the reds. He moved on to South Liverpool in May 1938 and later set up a successful chandlery business in Liverpool.
1961 – Former Academy Technical Manager Pep Segura was born in A Coruña, Spain. He joined the reds in June 2009 having led Olympiacos to the League and Cup double, moving on in September 2012.
1974 - One-time winger Bernard Diomède was born in Saint-Doulchard, France. He only made five first-team appearances after signing from Auxerre for £3m in June 2000.

Stéph’s debut
1993 - Future red Stéphane Henchoz made his full international debut as Roy Hodgson’s Switzerland drew 1-1 with Japan B in a Carlsberg Cup game in Hong Kong, going on to win 5-3 in a penalty shoot-out.

Bad boys
2006 - Abel Xavier was sacked by Middlesbrough after being found guilty of breaching UEFA’s anti-doping regulations. He served a ban and subsequently returned to the Riverside, playing 27 times for Boro in total.
2005 – Future red Daniel Agger was sent off for Denmark Under-21’s in an unofficial international against a Panama ‘A’ side, with the game ending 2-2.

Four for Milan again
2003 - Milan Baroš scored four for the reserves as they trounced Bradford City 5-0 at the Deva Stadium in Chester. This was the second time that he had knocked four past the Bantams, following a similar performance the previous August. Dietmar Hamann made his comeback from injury in the same game.

On the move
2021 – Midfielder Kevin Stewart signed for Blackpool, playing sixteen times in his first campaign with the Tangerines.
2020 – Victor Moses joined Internazionale on loan from Chelsea, failing to score in twenty games in Italy.
2019 – Ex-reds forward Mario Balotelli signed for Olympique de Marseille, scoring eight times in fifteen games for the French side. On the same day, full-back Ryan McLaughlin joined Rochdale from Blackpool, after eleven games for the Seasiders. Meanwhile, full-back Calum Woods joined Bradford City on a free transfer from Preston North End.

2018 – Forward David N’Gog signed for Ross County, netting once in ten outings. On the same day, left-winger Albert Riera announced his retirement from playing.
2017 – Winger Lazar Marković joined Hull City on loan, scoring twice in fourteen outings.
2009 - Emile Heskey joined Aston Villa from Wigan Athletic for £3.5m, after sixteen goals in 88 outings for the Latics.
2007 - Dominic Matteo joined Stoke City on a free transfer from Blackburn Rovers. He struck once in 25 outings for the Potters, often operating as a midfielder.

2003 - Charlie Adam signed for Rangers. He struck eighteen times in 86 games before moving to Blackpool in August 2009 for a club record £500,000, after several loan spells away from Ibrox.
2002 - Reserves defender Alan Navarro was sold to Tranmere Rovers for £225,000, playing 48 times before joining Accrington Stanley in September 2005.
1996 - Reserves forward Lee Jones re-joined Wrexham on loan. He struck nine times in 26 games while on loan at the Racecourse Ground.

Reds skippers
2008 - Ex-red El-Hadji Diouf captained Senegal as they drew 2-2 with Tunisia in an Africa Cup of Nations group game in Ghana.
2006 – Diouf also featured as Senegal beat Zimbabwe 2-0 in a group game in Egypt.
2009 – Emiliano Insúa skippered Argentina as they beat Peru 2-1 in a Sudamericano Sub-20 “Juventud de América” group game in Venezuela.

2013 – Oussama Assaidi featured for Morocco as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Cape Verde in their Africa Cup of Nations Finals group game in South Africa.
2015 – Ex-red Carl Medjani played for Algeria as they lost 1-0 to Ghana in another group game in Equatorial Guinea. Future red Sadio Mané also featured that day as Senegal drew 1-1 with South Africa.
2012 – Future red Assaidi played as Morocco lost 2-1 to Tunisia in Gabon.

2000 – Future red Fábio Aurélio played for Brazil as they beat Ecuador 2-0 in an Olympics qualifier. On the same day, Alberto Aquilani featured as Italy Under-15’s lost 3-1 to Brazil.
2016 – Future red Ozan Kabak played for Turkey Under-16’s in their 3-1 friendly defeat of the USA.

Other reds games
1988 – Peter Beardsley and John Barnes scored as we beat Charlton Athletic 2-0 at Selhurst Park
1960 – We drew a Second Division fixture 3-3 at Middlesbrough, with Brian Clough nabbing two of his ten goals past us. Kenny Thomson put through his own net with Dave Hickson and Roger Hunt also on target to hand us a 3-1 half-time lead. Bill Harris equalised through a late spot-kick.
1926 – We beat Arsenal 3-0 at Anfield with Dick Forshaw netting twice and Cyril Oxley also scoring, while Elisha Scott saved an Alf Baker penalty. Forshaw’s second came with just fifteen seconds left, with the referee momentarily dazed so Tom Bromilow blew the final whistle!
1909 – Joe Hewitt and Ronald Orr struck as we won 2-0 at Bradford City.

Bruno le père
2007 – Ex-reds midfielder Bruno Cheyrou and his wife Constance welcomed a son, Nino, in France. On the same day, Shane O’Connor played for the Irish Under-17’s, while future red Lucas captained Brazil as they beat Uruguay 3-1 in a Sudamericano Sub-20 "Juventud de América" game in Paraguay.