25th July

Tom takes charge
1896 - Tom Watson was appointed as reds boss, doubling his salary to £300 a year from his time at Sunderland, whom he had led to three League titles and three FA Cup Semi-finals in four seasons. He went beyond the remit of Club Secretary at Anfield, involving himself in team selection, tactics and player recruitment, so becoming a Manager in all but name. He led the reds to two League titles and the Second Division championship and our first ever FA Cup Final, remaining in charge until his death in May 1915.

Happy McBirthday
1891 - Legendary left-back Donald McKinlay was born in Newton, Cambuslang, near Glasgow. He signed from Newton Villa in January 1910, making 434 appearances before joining Prescot Cables in July 1929. He scored 34 times, including one struck spectacularly from ten yards inside his own half at West Ham United in January 1926! He skippered us to two League titles, and also played in our first FA Cup Final in 1914.

Off on loan
2008 – Two young centre-backs left the club to go out on loan. Jack Hobbs joined Leicester City, turning out 49 times as they claimed the League One title before signing on permanently in April 2009. Meanwhile, Godwin Antwi only played seven games for Tranmere Rovers, later joining Hereford United for another loan spell before leaving the reds for good for Vejle Boldklub in Denmark in December 2009.

Red bows
2012 – Full-back Ryan McLaughlin played his first reds game as we lost 2-1 to Roma in a friendly at the Fenway Park baseball stadium in Boston on our North American tour, with Charlie Adam on target.
1972 - Peter Cormack made his first appearance as we won 2-0 at Chester in a game played behind closed doors. Brian Hall and Steve Heighway struck the goals.

Anfield departures
1958 - Outside-right Brian Jackson was sold to Port Vale for £1,700. He had struck eleven times in 133 reds games since his arrival in November 1951 from Leyton Orient for £6,500 plus forward Don Woan.
1934 – Forward Dave Wright was sold to Hull City for £1,000 after bagging 35 goals in exactly a century of reds games since signing from Sunderland in March 1930.

1998 - Reserves winger Nicky Rizzo left Anfield for Crystal Palace on a free transfer. He netted four times in 41 games for the Eagles, before joining Italian side Ternana two years later.
2016 – Welsh midfielder Joe Allen was sold to Stoke City for £13m after seven goals in 132 reds games since his £15m arrival from Swansea City in August 2012. On the same day, ex-reds midfielder Sammy Lee was appointed Assistant Manager of England, under Sam Allardyce.

Signing on
1892 – Keeper Billy McOwen arrived from Darwen. He kept eleven clean sheets in 27 appearances, helping us to claim the Second Division title. He left the reds to sign as an amateur for Blackpool in July 1894, as well as returning to his dentistry career.
1986 - Barry Venison signed from Sunderland for £200,000. He netted three goals in 158 appearances for the reds, winning two League titles, an FA Cup and two FA Charity Shields in his time at Anfield.

New stadium plans
2007 - New designs for the new stadium in Stanley Park were unveiled, coinciding with the submission of the official planning application to Liverpool City Council. This was to be a 60,000-seater stadium, with 18,000 in the Kop. However, this project has since been firmly shelved.

Stevie honoured
2008 - Steven Gerrard was awarded an Honorary Fellowship from Liverpool John Moores University.

The reds go broadband
2000 - It was announced that Granada Media and Liverpool FC had agreed to form a new joint venture company, Liverpool FC Broadband, to exploit our new-media and commercial rights, including delayed online coverage of Premiership matches.

God the champion
1993 - Robbie Fowler helped England Under-18’s to claim the European Championships for the ninth and final time to date. Tottenham Hotspur’s Darren Caskey struck the only goal of the game against Turkey at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground, with the England side also including future stars such as Sol Campbell, Julian Joachim, Gary Neville and Paul Scholes. On the same day, future reds goalkeeping coach Cláudio Taffarel played as Brazil lost a World Cup qualifier 2-0 in Bolivia.

Javier misses out
2004 - Future red Javier Mascherano played as Argentina lost the Copa América Final. The game in Lima ended 2-2, but Brazil won the penalty shoot-out 4-2.

Red farewells
1900 - James Kelso committed suicide back in his native Scotland, aged just 29. He only played one senior reds game, in a 4-0 Lancashire League defeat of Bury at Anfield in September 1892.
1938 – Inside-forward Willie Michael died. He joined the reds from Heart Of Midlothian in January 1895, scoring five times in 23 reds games before returning to Tynecastle in May 1897.

A new case for Jimmy
1991 - Ex-reds midfield dynamo Jimmy Case joined Third Division Bournemouth from Southampton on a free transfer. He was a virtual ever-present in his one season with the Cherries, before joining Halifax Town on a free transfer in May 1992.

Young future reds on target
2002 - Fernando Torres bagged a brace as Spain Under-19’s reached the Final of the European Championships in Norway, courtesy of their 3-2 defeat of Slovakia in Drammen. On the same day, future reds Head of Opposition Analysis Chris Davies played for Wales Under-19’s as they lost 4-1 to Scotland in a friendly.
2003 – Daniel Agger converted a penalty for Denmark Under-20’s as they lost a shoot-out 5-4 to the USA in the NI Milk Cup third place play-off in Northern Ireland, after the match had ended 1-1.

Partridge claims bronze
1999 - Richie Partridge featured as the Republic of Ireland Under-18’s beat Greece 1-0 in Sweden to claim third place in the European Championship Finals.
1996 - Michael Owen played in the same tournament as England drew 1-1 with Italy in a group game France, with Gérard Houllier taking charge of France, with Christian Damiano as they beat Portugal 1-0.

On the move
1927 – Future reds outside-right Danny McRorie joined Stenhousemuir from Airdrieonians, having struck five times in eight League games for the Diamonds.
1996 - Future reds loanee keeper Paul Jones joined Stockport County from Wolverhampton Wanderers for £60,000. He appeared 66 times for County before following boss Dave Jones to Southampton for £900,000 a year later.
2011 – Future keeper Andy Lonergan joined Leeds United for the first time from Preston North End, playing 38 times. He became captain that season, moving on to Bolton Wanderers in July 2012.

2017 – Diogo Jota joined Wolverhampton Wanderers on loan from Club Atlético de Madrid, netting eighteen times in 46 games before signing on permanently in July 2018 for a reported €14m.
2018 – Ex-reds forward Jerome Sinclair joined Sunderland on loan from Watford, scoring twice in nineteen games for the Black Cats.
2021 - Fernando Torres was appointed Head Coach of Club Atlético de Madrid’s Under-19's side, remaining in that role until taking charge of their B team in June 2024.

Also in international action
1925 - Forward Jimmy Walsh appeared for an England side that beat Australia 2-0 in an FA Tour game in Melbourne.
1976 - Future red Avi Cohen played in the Olympics for Israel as they lost 4-1 to Brazil in the Quarter-final in Toronto.
1986 – Future red Stig Inge Bjørnebye featured for Norway Under-16’s as they shared a goalless draw with Finland in a tournament game in Hungary.

2014 – Future red Marko Grujić played as Serbia Under-19’s beat Bulgaria 1-0 in a European Championship Finals group game in Hungary.
2021 – Alexis Mac Allister played for Argentina Under-23’s as they beat Egypt 1-0 in the Olympics in Japan, while fellow future red Wataru Endō appeared for the host nation in their 2-1 defeat of Mexico in Saitama.