17th July

Happy birthdays
1946 - Midfielder Peter Cormack was born in Edinburgh. He signed from Nottingham Forest for a club record £110,000 in July 1972 and won League title and UEFA Cup winners’ medals in his first season. He scored 26 times in his 178 reds appearances before moving on to Bristol City in November 1976 for £50,000.

1922 - Left-winger Peter Kippax was born in Burnley. He left his hometown club to join the reds as an amateur in 1948, having helped Great Britain to fourth place in the Olympics football competition that summer. He made one League outing, against Birmingham City in March 1949, having already netted in a Wartime League fixture for the reds against Bolton Wanderers in August 1945, before moving on to Preston North End in 1950.
1928 - Post-war red Joe Shepherd was born. He never played a senior game for us. His two brothers, centre-forward Arthur and full-back Bill, were also Liverpool players at around the same time.

Hark! It’s Harkness
1989 - Steve Harkness signed from Carlisle United for £75,000. He went on to make 139 appearances for the reds, bagging three goals before being sold to SL Benfica by Gérard Houllier for ten times his purchase price in March 1999.

Andriy off the mark
2007 - Andriy Voronin scored his first two reds goals as we beat SV Werder Bremen 3-2 in a friendly in Switzerland. Ryan Babel, Yossi Benayoun and Fernando Torres all played their first games for the club. John Arne Riise was also on target with a 25-yard strike.

Heading off
2007 - Mark González was sold to Real Betis Balompié for £4.2m. The Chilean international winger was actually born in Durban, South Africa. He struck three times in 36 games after signing from Albacete Balompié for £1.5m in October 2005, although work permit problems delayed his arrival until the following summer.
2001 - Christian Ziege was sold to Tottenham Hotspur for £4m, only a year after his acrimonious transfer from Middlesbrough. He had notched twice in 32 appearances whilst at Anfield, including coming off the bench in Cardiff for the first leg of the treble.

Milly off the mark
2015 – James Milner struck his first goal for the club as we beat Brisbane Roar 2-1 at their Suncorp Stadium, with winger Ryan Kent making his first senior appearance. Adam Lallana scored our other goal.
2016 – Danny Ings and Ben Woodburn netted as we won 2-0 at Wigan Athletic’s DW Stadium in a pre-season friendly.

Double departure
1999 - Rob Jones signed for West Ham United on a non-contract basis. He had famously failed to score in his 243 reds appearances, but persistent back problems led to his departure from Anfield. He was unable to achieve full fitness while with the Hammers and subsequently retired from the game.

On the very same day, second string keeper Tony Warner joined Millwall on a free transfer, after nearly a decade at Anfield without making a first team appearance. He joined Cardiff City from the Lions in July 2004 after 225 games for Millwall.
2017 - Keeper Ryan Fulton signed for Hamilton Academical, playing seven senior games in his first campaign with the Accies.

Backroom changes
2007 - Ian Ayre was appointed as our new Commercial Director, although he would not actually take up the role for another month. He had previously been Chief Executive of Total Sports Asia, a brand solutions company advising international companies on rolling out Asian sports and entertainment campaigns, having also been Chief Executive and Chairman of Huddersfield Town. He said, “Being Liverpool born and bred, this is a dream job for me”. Ayre became the club’s CEO in May 2014, moving on from the reds when his contract expired three years later.

2002 - Hughie McAuley was confirmed as our new reserve team manager, leaving his position as the club’s Under-19’s boss. Academy Director Steve Heighway said, “Hughie is going down to Melwood to coach, but he will have a wide range of responsibilities and provide continuity between the Academy and Melwood. We are delighted for Hughie as he has been with us for a long time.”

Leo the first
1997 - We lost 1-0 to IFK Göteborg in our first pre-season friendly, with Øyvind Leonhardsen making his debut appearance in a red shirt. This is one of only two games we have played on this day in history.

Another honour for Ged
2002 - Gérard Houllier was awarded an honorary fellowship from Liverpool John Moores University in a ceremony at the city’s Anglican Cathedral.

Bob hitched
1946 – Bob Paisley married Jessie Chandler at All Souls Church in Springwood. They remained happily married until his death in February 1996, having two sons and a daughter.

Mixed Copa América fortunes
1995 - Future red Brad Friedel saved two penalties as the USA beat Mexico 4-1 in a shoot-out, following a goalless Quarter-final in Uruguay.
2011 – Lucas Leiva was sent off in extra time as Brazil were held to a goalless draw by Paraguay in La Plata, with the underdogs eventually triumphing 2-0 on penalties.

Bamber on target
1920 - Reds right-half John Bamber scored as an England side trounced South Africa 9-1 in an FA Tour game in Cape Town. Clubmate Ephraim Longworth also played.

Forwards on the move again
2018 – Winger Harry Wilson joined Derby County on loan, netting eighteen times in 49 outings as the Rams just missed out on promotion. On the same day, young forwards Taiwo Awoniyi and Rhian Brewster both signed new contracts, while ex-reds full-back Ryan McLaughlin joined Blackpool from Oldham Athletic after three goals in 62 games for the Latics.
2006 - Ex-reds reserves striker John Durnin was appointed to the coaching staff at Conference outfit Southport. He only stayed in the role for less than three months.
2003 - Ex-reserves forward Paul Dalglish joined Northern Irish side Linfield from Blackpool on a free transfer. He remained there less than six months, before moving to Modena in Italy.

2007 - Centre-half Dejan Lovren joined Inter Zaprešić on loan from Dinamo Zagreb, scoring once in 56 games across two seasons.
2012 – Future keeper Andy Lonergan joined Bolton Wanderers from Leeds United, where he was competing with Ádám Bogdán for the number one spot. He played 62 times before moving to Fulham in June 2015.
2023 – Left-back Yasser Larouci joined Sheffield United on loan from Troyes, making thirteen senior outings as the Blades finished bottom of the Premier League. On the same day, centre-half Ragnar Klavan signed as a player for Tallinna Kalev, having been their President since 2016. He played fourteen times in his first season there.

Youngsters in Euro action
2000 - Future red Milan Baroš won his sixteenth cap for the Czech Republic Under-18’s as they drew 1-1 with Russia in a European Championship Finals group game in Augsburg.
2008 – Future reds Victor Moses and Daniel Sturridge featured in England’s goalless draw in the Under-19’s European Championships in the Czech Republic. On the same day, Péter Gulácsi, Krisztián Németh and András Simon all played for Hungary as they beat Spain 1-0 in the same competition.
2018 – Adam Lewis played for England Under-19’s in their 3-2 defeat of Turkey in a European Championships Finals group game in Finland. On the same day, Bernard Diomède took charge of France Under-19’s as they lost 2-1 to Ukraine in a European Championships Finals group game in Finland.

World Cup win
1994 - Thiago Alcântara's father Mazinho played for Brazil in the World Cup Final in California. The game ended goalless after extra time, with the Brazilians beating Italy 3-2 on penalties. Future reds goalkeeping coach Cláudio Taffarel saved one of the shoot-out spot-kicks.
1991 – Taffarel also represented his country as Brazil lost 3-2 to Argentina in a Copa América final round game in Chile.
1988 – Taffarel again played for Brazil, this time helping them to a 2-0 win over the host nation in the Australia Bicentenary Gold Cup Final in Sydney.

Signing on
2020 – Midfielder Jake Cain signed a new contract with the reds. He had made his senior debut the preceding February in our FA Cup Fourth Round replay win over Shrewsbury Town at Anfield.
2021 – Polish keeper Fabian Mrozek signed pro terms, having joined the Academy the previous August. On the same day, future red Wataru Endō played for Japan Under-23’s in their 1-1 draw with Spain in Kobe.