21st July

Crossing the Pennines
2017 – Left-back Andy Robertson signed from Hull City for an initial £8m, scoring eleven goals in 297 outings across his first seven seasons as he has so far helped us to claim the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup, UEFA Super Cup, FA Cup, two League Cups and FA Community Shield. On the same day, midfielder Kevin Stewart made the reverse journey for a reported £6m, having made twenty senior appearances for the reds since arriving in July 2014 after his contract with Tottenham Hotspur expired.

Happy birthday Mike
1969 - Mike Marsh was born in Kirkby. He bagged six goals in 101 reds games before being part of the deal that brought Julian Dicks to Anfield from West Ham United in September 1993. He left Melwood in June 2015, having risen to First Team Coach after progressing rapidly through the Academy coaching ranks.

Welcome Vedgy
1998 - Vegard Heggem arrived from Rosenborg BK for £3.5m, the only signing made by the joint management team of Roy Evans and Gérard Houllier. His five years at Anfield were ravaged by hamstring injuries, and he could only make 65 appearances, scoring three times.
2010 – Joe Cole signed on a free transfer from Chelsea. He notched just five times in 42 reds outings, spending a season on loan at Lille OSC Métropole before returning to West Ham United for free in January 2013.

First games in charge
2012 – Brendan Rodgers took charge of his first game in the appropriately-named Rogers Centre in Toronto. We drew 1-1 with Toronto with young centre-forward Adam Morgan scoring in his first senior outing while, Krisztián Adorján and Jordon Ibe both played their first reds games.
2004 - Rafael Benítez led the reds for the first time. Djibril Cissé, Carl Medjani, Darren Potter, David Raven and Stephen Warnock all made their first outings for the club as we beat Wrexham 2-1 at the Racecourse Ground. Anthony Le Tallec grabbed both our goals.

Four for Darwin
2022 - Darwin Núñez scored his first reds goals, bagging four, with his first coming from the spot, as we thumped RasenBallsport Leipzig e.V. 5-0 in their Red Bull Arena in a pre-season friendly after Mohamed Salah had opened the scoring.

Other birthdays
1979 - Andriy Voronin was born in Odessa. The Ukrainian forward arrived from Bayer 04 Leverkusen on a free transfer in July 2007 and bagged six goals in 28 outings in his first season, before being loaned out to Hertha BSC Berlin, whom he helped to a fourth-placed finish in the Bundesliga, netting eleven times in 26 games. He then returned to Anfield where he failed to score in another twelve games before being sold to Dinamo Moskva in January 2010 for £1.8m.
1961 – Former reserves midfielder Mick Halsall was born in Bootle. He left Anfield in 1983 after six years as a professional to forge a successful career with Birmingham City, Carlisle United and Peterborough United. He is now head of Academy coaching for West Bromwich Albion.

Signing on
2010 - Young centre-back Danny Wilson signed from Rangers for an initial £2m fee. He made nine first-team reds appearances, as well as breaking into the senior Scotland side in his first season. However, he moved on to Heart Of Midlothian in May 2013 after a series of loan spells away from Anfield.
2021 – Ethiopian-born, German international midfielder Melkamu Frauendorf signed as a professional with the reds, making his senior bow from the bench in an FA Cup defeat of Shrewsbury Town in January 2022, making two first-team appearances before being released in June 2024.

Lonergan’s lone outing
2019 – Keeper Andy Lonergan made his only first-team appearance, playing the first half of our 2-1 defeat by Sevilla in Boston, with the Spaniards having Joris Gnagnon dismissed for a horror tackle on Yasser Larouci. Nolito opened the scoring with Divock Origi equalising before the break. However, Alejandro Pozo struck a late winner.

Roy’s stalemate start
2010 – Roy Hodgson took charge of the reds for the first time as we were held to a goalless draw at Grasshopper-Club Zürich. Forwards David Amoo and Lauri Dalla Valle, midfielders Tom Ince, Victor Pálsson and Jonjo Shelvey and centre-back Steven Irwin all made their first senior appearances for the club.

Justice denied
2000 - Former South Yorkshire Police Superintendent Bernard Murray was cleared of manslaughter at Leeds Crown Court over his part in the Hillsborough disaster. The jury took longer to come to a conclusion on former Chief Superintendent David Duckenfield, although he was also eventually not convicted.

Striking out
2007 - Robbie Fowler signed for Cardiff City, after twelve strikes in 39 games in his second reds spell. He netted six times in just sixteen outings in a season that was once again hampered by injury.
2014 – Iago Aspas joined Sevilla on loan after netting just once in fifteen reds games since arriving from Real Club Celta de Vigo for £7.7m in June 2013. He returned to his former club two years later for €5m.

Reds farewells
2006 - Former keeper Bert Slater died in Brechin. He arrived from Falkirk in swap deal for Tommy Younger in June 1959 and played 111 times, winning a Second Division title medal in 1962, before returning to Scotland to join Dundee that July.
2021 – Scottish left-half Tommy Leishman died. He had won the Scottish Cup with St. Mirren, signing for £10,000 in November 1949. He helped us back to the First Division in 1962, although he then only made eleven top-flight appearances before returning north of the border, to Hibernian, in January 1963 after a total of seven goals in 118 reds games, including our first ever League Cup strike.

Bowyer deal off
2002 - Liverpool pulled out of the controversial deal to bring Lee Bowyer to Anfield. A club spokesman said, “Liverpool Football Club have decided not to go ahead with the proposed transfer of Lee Bowyer for a variety of reasons. Manager Gérard Houllier was not convinced the player had either the hunger or desire to play for the club, qualities which are essential for any Liverpool player.”

Reds in action
2007 - A Liverpool XI played in a testimonial match for Peterborough United’s long-serving keeper Mark Tyler at London Road. Martin Hansen saved a penalty as the game ended goalless.

Dioufy on target
2001 - El-Hadji Diouf netted in Senegal’s 5-0 thumping of Namibia in a World Cup qualifier in Windhoek. Fellow future red Salif Diao also played.

Youngsters on the mark
2010 – Dani Pacheco nabbed a brace as Spain Under-19’s beat Portugal 2-1 in a European Championship Finals group fixture in France, with future red Thiago Alcântara also in action. Meanwhile, Chris Mavinga played as France thumped Austria 5-0 and future reds Steven Caulker and Nathaniel Clyne both featured in England’s 1-0 defeat by the Netherlands in the same competition, with future red Fabio Borini playing for Italy in their goalless draw with Croatia.

2000 - Future red Milan Baroš was on the scoresheet as the Czech Republic Under-18’s beat their Finnish counterparts 3-2 in a European Championship Finals group game in Germany. His future clubmate Daniel Sjölund was on the losing side.
2002 - Fernando Torres featured as Spain Under-19’s drew 1-1 with the Czech Republic in a group encounter in Norway.

Babb steps up
1992 - Phil Babb joined Coventry City from Bradford City for £500,000. He had played as a midfielder at Valley Parade, scoring fourteen times in 93 appearances. He looked an accomplished centre-back at Highfield Road, grabbing four goals in 84 appearances before arriving at Anfield.

Knocked out
2007 - Harry Kewell came off the bench as Australia were held to a 1-1 draw by Japan in the Quarter-final of the AFC Asian Cup in Vietnam. Extra time brought no further goals, with Japan eventually winning 4-3 on penalties. Meanwhile, future red Mikel San José featured as Spain Under-19’s were held to a goalless draw by Greece in a European Championship Finals group game in Austria.
2016 – Sheyi Ojo, Jordan Rossiter and future red Dominic Solanke all played for England Under-19’s as they lost 2-1 to Italy in their European Championships Semi-final in Germany. These were Ojo and Rossiter’s final caps at this level, while Rossiter was captaining the side.

Ex-reds on the move
1988 - Former reserves forward Paul Jewell joined Bradford City from Wigan Athletic for £80,000. He netted 66 times in 311 games for the Bantams, his final League club.
1997 - Former reserves striker Mike Newell signed for Aberdeen from Birmingham City for a fee of £160,000. He had two seasons at Pittodrie, bagging fourteen goals in 54 games, before joining Crewe Alexandra on a free transfer.

2009 – Winger Richie Partridge signed for MK Dons on a free transfer from Chester City. He had nabbed seven goals in 68 outings for the Blues.
2016 – Left-back Paul Konchesky signed for Gillingham from Leicester City on a free transfer after five goals in 155 games for the Foxes.
2017 – Right-back Javier Manquillo joined Newcastle United from Club Atlético de Madrid, after seventeen senior games for the Spanish side.
2023 – Ex-reds defender Ki-Jana Hoever re-joined Stoke City on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers, scoring four times in 44 outings in this second spell with the Potters.

Also in international action
1991 – Future reds goalkeeping coach Cláudio Taffarel played as Brazil beat host nation Chile 2-0 in the Copa América.
2003 – Future red Daniel Agger played as Denmark Under-20’s lost 2-0 to Brazil in an NI Milk Cup game in Northern Ireland.
2004 – Ex-red Arnaud Bühler featured for Switzerland Under-19’s as they lost 3-2 to Turkey in their European Championships Semi-final in Fribourg.
2009 – Future red Thiago Alcântara represented Spain Under-19’s in their 2-1 defeat of Turkey in a European Championship Finals group game in the Ukraine.