28th July

Happy birthday Mr Kennedy
1951 - Ray Kennedy was born in Seaton Delavel. After five successful years as a forward with Arsenal, Bob Paisley converted him into a left-sided midfielder following his club record £180,000 arrival as Bill Shankly’s last signing in July 1974. He won six League titles, three European Cups, the UEFA Cup, UEFA Super Cup, League Cup and three FA Charity Shields before joining John Toshack’s Swansea City in January 1982, striking 72 times in 393 reds games.

Robbie arrives
2008 - Robbie Keane signed from Tottenham Hotspur for £19.3m. He struck seven times in 28 reds outings before returning to north London for an initial £15m fee the following February. He grabbed fifteen goals in 52 games in his second spell with Spurs before moving on to LA Galaxy for £3.5m in August 2011, while also being loaned out to Celtic and West Ham United. On the same day, ex-red El-Hadji Diouf joined Sunderland from Bolton Wanderers for £2.5m, after a total of 24 goals in 136 games for the Trotters.

Razor sheathed
1992 - Ray Houghton was sold to Aston Villa for £900,000 as Graeme Souness tried to reduce the number of non-Englishmen in the squad, to comply with UEFA regulations for European competition. He had netted 38 times in 202 reds games, helping us to claim two League titles, two FA Cups and the FA Charity Shield.

In comes Harvey
2019 – Winger Harvey Elliott signed from Fulham for a fee eventually set at an initial £1.2m, having become the youngest ever to play in both the Premier League and League Cup while with the Cottagers. He made his senior bow on the same day as we lost 3-0 to SSC Napoli at Murrayfield in Edinburgh. He netted ten times in 119 senior appearances across his first five years with the reds, helping us to claim two League Cups and the FA Community Shield.

2020 – Northern Irish youngster Conor Bradley signed for the reds as a professional. He has so far struck once in 28 senior reds appearances, already helping us to claim the League Cup.
1992 - England international Paul Stewart signed from Tottenham Hotspur for £2.3m. That same day he made his reds bow in a 1-0 friendly defeat to Rosenborg BK in Vålerenga. His time at Anfield was a failure, as he scored just three times in 42 appearances in nearly four seasons. He left for Sunderland on a free transfer in March 1996.
1972 – Midfielder Trevor Storton signed from Tranmere Rovers for £25,000, having struck eight times in 118 League games. He only played twelve times in two years before joining Chester in June 1974, for whom he turned out more than 400 times.

Shaq off the mark
2018 – Xherdan Shaqiri scored in his first reds game as we thumped Manchester United 4-1 in an International Champions Cup game in Michigan, with Sadio Mané and Sheyi Ojo both scoring from the spot and Daniel Sturridge also on target.

Four for Fagan
1945 - Willie Fagan scored four times, including two penalties, as we thumped an RAF XI 7-0 in Germany shortly after the end of hostilities. Legendary forward Billy Liddell bagged a brace, with Jack Balmer completing the scoring.

Fernando the champion
2002 - Future red Fernando Torres bagged the only goal of the Final of the European Championships for Spain Under-19’s as they beat their German counterparts in Oslo. This was the third consecutive Under-19’s game in which he had scored.

Reds firsts
2012 – Fabio Borini played his first reds game in a dour goalless draw with Tottenham Hotspur in Baltimore on our North American tour.
2014 – Herbie Kane skippered England Under-17’s while making his debut at this level as they thumped Iceland 5-1 in a Nordic Tournament group game in Denmark, with Trent Alexander-Arnold also featuring. On the same day, future red Marko Grujić played for Serbia Under-19’s in their goalless draw with Portugal in their European Championships Semi-final, with Portugal going through to the Final after a penalty shoot-out.

New boys off the mark
1997 - New signing Øyvind Leonhardsen and young winger Mark Kennedy both scored their first reds goals in a 6-0 rout of Shelbourne in Dublin, each netting twice. Danny Murphy also struck his first reds goal, with Steve McManaman adding the other.

Red Scots deaths
1967 – Scottish centre-half David Pratt died. He played 84 times for the reds after signing from Bradford City in January 1923, scoring just once and being known for his long throw-ins. He left Anfield to sign for Bury in November 1927.
1960 – Scottish inside-right Jimmy Stewart died. He arrived from Motherwell in April 1909, bagging 26 goals in 63 outings before joining Hamilton Academical in January 1914.
1943 – Scottish outside-right Tom Wyllie died. He bagged fifteen goals in 25 senior games after signing from Everton in 1982, as well as scoring the only goal of the first ever derby meeting with his former club, in the Liverpool Senior Cup Final in 1893. He moved on to Bury later that year.

Starting out
1996 - We were held to a goalless draw at Goodison Park in the third-place play-off of a friendly tournament also featuring Borussia Mönchengladbach and Porto, to celebrate the centenary of the birth of Sir John Moores CBE. Jamie Carragher made his first reds appearance, playing at right wing-back in place of the injured Jason McAteer.

2016 – Winger Harry Wilson signed a new contract. He made his reds bow in January 2017 in our FA Cup Third Round replay win at Plymouth Argyle, but only made one further first-team appearance. He was sold to Fulham for a reported £12m in July 2021 after a successful loan spell.

Scandinavian reds
1987 - Steve Nicol was on target as we drew 1-1 with Danish side Brønshøj at the Ringsted Stadion. Play was stopped briefly during the second half when a rabbit ran onto the pitch!
1991 - We were held to a goalless draw at Sirius in Sweden.

Cleaned out by Ajax
2001 - We lost our closing fixture in the pre-season Amsterdam Tournament, going down 3-1 to Ajax. Jari Litmanen featured against his old side, while Robbie Fowler was on the scoresheet.

Other pre-season games
1971 - Chris Lawler netted from long range as we beat Wrexham 1-0 in a testimonial game for Arfon Griffiths at the Racecourse Ground.
1993 - Ian Rush scored as we drew 1-1 at Birmingham City in the T.N.T. Inter-City Challenge Cup. We lost the resulting penalty shoot-out 4-3.

2007 - A Liverpool XI was held to a 1-1 friendly draw at Colchester United, with Miki Roqué volleying our goal.
2011 – We lost 3-0 at Galatasaray.
2013 – We beat the Thailand national side 3-0 in Bangkok, with Philippe Coutinho, Iago Aspas and Steven Gerrard on target.

South coast moves
2009 - Peter Crouch joined Tottenham Hotspur from Portsmouth. He had struck sixteen times in 49 outings in this second spell with Pompey.
2006 - David Thompson moved to Fratton Park, having been released by Wigan Athletic at the end of the previous season. He featured just fifteen times for Pompey before moving to Bolton Wanderers the following January.

Tosh for Charlie
1969 - Future red John Toshack played for Wales as they lost 1-0 to a Rest Of UK side at Ninian Park, in a game played to mark the investiture of the Prince of Wales, and raise funds for the Aberfan Disaster Fund.

Internationals in action
2013 – Future reds midfielder Naby Keïta featured as Guinea beat Mali 1-0 in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Conakry.
2009 – Conor Coady and future red Conor Thomas made their debuts for England Under-17’s as they drew 1-1 with Denmark in the Nordic Tournament in Trondheim, with Andre Wisdom also featuring.
2002 - Michael Foley-Sheridan appeared for the Republic of Ireland Under-19’s in the European Championship Finals third place play-off, which they lost 2-1 to Slovakia in Oslo.

1997 – Future red Haukur Ingi Gudnason won his seventeenth and last Under-19’s cap as Iceland drew 2-2 with Hungary in a European Championships group game.
1988 – Future reds goalkeeping coach Cláudio Taffarel played as Brazil held Norway to a 1-1 friendly draw in Oslo.

Ged in charge
1993 - Future reds boss Gérard Houllier led France to a 3-1 friendly win over Russia in Caen. Frank Sauzée, Eric Cantona and Jean-Pierre Papin netted for Les Bleus.

Olympian ends
2008 – Lucas Leiva featured for a Brazil Olympic XI in their 3-0 defeat of a Singapore Select XI in the Stadium of Singapore, in what was the last match before the stadium was demolished later that year.
2021 – Alexis Mac Allister won his ninth and final cap for Argentina Under-23’s as they drew 1-1 with Spain in the Olympics in Japan, while future red Wataru Endō appeared for the host nation as they beat France 4-0 in Yokohama.

On the move again
1987 - Future reds loanee keeper Alec Chamberlain joined Everton from Ipswich Town for £80,000, although he never made the first team before moving on to Luton Town for £150,000 a year later.
2005 - Ex-reserves midfielder Neil Prince signed for Conference North outfit Stalybridge Celtic three years ago, after impressing on a trial. He left in May 2007 after seventeen strikes in 84 appearances.
2010 – Ex-reds winger Mark Kennedy joined Ipswich Town for £75,000 from Cardiff City. He had failed to find the net in 79 outings for the Bluebirds.
2011 – Midfielder Momo Sissoko joined Paris Saint-Germain from Juventus for an initial €7m, netting twice in 35 outings, before having his contract terminated in September 2013.

2015 - Spanish forward Dani Pacheco joined Deportivo Alavés on loan from Real Betis Balompié, netting three times in 38 outings as they claimed the Segunda División title.
2017 – Midfielder Adam Phillips signed for Norwich City, having his contract cancelled in February 2019 having failed to make a senior appearance. On the same day, right-back Connor Randall joined Heart Of Midlothian on loan, turning out 27 times for the Jam Tarts.
2022 – Midfielder Lee Peltier signed for Rotherham United, scoring once in 36 outings in his first campaign with the Millers.
2023 – Left-back Adam Lewis re-joined Newport County on loan, scoring twice in thirty games in this spell, before being released by the reds at the end of the season.