5th July

Happy birthdays
1960 – Scottish centre-back Gary Gillespie was born in Bonnybridge. He was Joe Fagan’s first signing, arriving from Coventry City for £325,000 in July 1983. He won three League titles in his eight years at Anfield, scoring 16 times in his 214 appearances, before moving back north to his boyhood heroes Celtic for £925,000 in August 1991.

1989 – Croatian centre-half Dejan Lovren was born in Zenica. He arrived from Southampton for £20m in July 2014, notching eight times in 185 outings and helping us to claim the Premier League title before moving on to Zenit St. Petersburg for £10.9m in July 2020.
1992 – Spanish left-back Alberto Moreno was born in Seville. He signed on a month later than Lovren for £12m from his hometown club Sevilla, netting three times in 141 reds games before being released in June 2019.

New club records
2020 – We beat Aston Villa behind closed doors 2-0 at Anfield, our 24th consecutive League win, a new club record and also a record for any club in the top flight. Sadio Mané and Curtis Jones both struck past ex-reds custodian Pepe Reina.
1967 - Tony Hateley signed from Chelsea for a then club record £96,000 fee. In his first season he grabbed 27 goals in 52 games, but injuries took their toll, and he was sold to Coventry City in September 1968 after a total of 28 strikes in 56 outings.

In comes Ned
1904 - Ned Doig signed from Sunderland for £220. He went on to make 53 reds appearances, helping us to the Second Division title in 1905, and playing on until 1908, finishing as our oldest ever player aged 41 years and 165 days.

In comes Fabs
2006 - Left-back Fábio Aurélio signed from Valencia on a free transfer. He made 134 appearances, notching four times and helping us to claim the FA Community Shield, but suffered from a succession of injuries before returning to his native Brazil to sign for Grêmio in May 2012.

On the same day, winger Mark González was granted a work permit and Fernando Morientes officially signed for Valencia. González struck three times in 36 games, but left the club in July 2007 to join Real Betis Balompié.

Heading off
2005 - Steven Gerrard announced his desire to leave Liverpool, after a second successive summer of transfer turmoil. Fortunately, he changed his mind the next day and bagged a total of 186 goals in 710 reds games before moving on to LA Galaxy in the summer of 2015, helping us to claim the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup, two FA Cups, two UEFA Super Cups, three League Cups and the FA Community Shield.
2022 – Belgian forward Divock Origi signed for AC Milan after 41 goals in 175 reds games, including a crucial goal as we won the UEFA Champions League in Madrid in June 2019 and six derby strikes. He also helped us to claim the Premier League title, FIFA Club World Cup, UEFA Super Cup and League Cup since arriving from Lille OSC Métropole for £9.8m in July 2014.

1954 – Centre-half Joe Maloney was sold to Shrewsbury Town, for whom he played 237 League games. He had signed on at Anfield as a professional in January 1951, but only made twelve senior reds games.

International firsts
2007 - Javier Mascherano scored his first senior international goal while winning his 27th cap. Argentina beat Paraguay 1-0 in their final Copa América group game in Venezuela as they qualified for the next stage on maximum points.
1996 – Future red John Arne Riise debuted for Norway Under-15’s as they lost 1-0 to Sweden in Sandefjord.

The end of the road for Mighty Mouse
1982 - Phil Thompson played in England’s goalless draw with Spain in the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid, which dumped England out of the World Cup. Late cameos from Trevor Brooking and ex-red Kevin Keegan could not result in the break-through goal. Keegan was winning his 63rd and final international cap.

World Cup progress
2014 – Ex-red Dirk Kuyt played as the Netherlands required a penalty shoot-out to see off Costa Rica in their Quarter-final in Salvador, with future red Gini Wijnaldum also in action. Meanwhile, Divock Origi won his last cap before joining the reds as Belgium lost 1-0 to ex-red Javier Mascherano’s Argentina in Brasilia.

Heading to the Final
2021 – Fabinho featured from the bench as Brazil beat Peru 1-0 in their Copa América Semi-final in Rio de Janeiro, although they then lost to Argentina.

Reds on the move again
2000 - John Scales left Tottenham Hotspur for Ipswich Town on a free transfer. He had only made 33 starts in his three and a half years at White Hart Lane, going on to make just four appearances for the Suffolk club.
2002 - Steve Harkness was released by Sheffield Wednesday. A club spokesman said, “The club thanks Steve for his contribution over the past two seasons and wishes him well for the future.” He had played 32 times for the Owls during his two seasons at Hillsborough.
2012 – Defender Jon Otsemobor joined MK Dons on a free transfer from Sheffield Wednesday after 37 outings for the Owls.

Internationals on target
1966 - Roger Hunt grabbed the only goal of England’s friendly in Poland as they warmed up for the World Cup Finals later that month.
2019 - Sadio Mané had a penalty saved having already scored the only goal as Senegal beat Uganda in their Africa Cup of Nations Finals Round of 16 game in Cairo, having also had a spot-kick foiled in his previous game.
2023 – Ex-red Liam Millar scored his first goal for Canada while winning his twentieth cap in their 4-2 defeat of Cuba in a CONCACAF Gold Cup group game in Texas. On the same day, Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott both played for England Under-21’s as they beat Israel 3-0 in a European Championships Finals group game in Georgia.

Didi in charge
2011 - Dietmar Hamann was appointed Manager of Stockport County. He led them to just three wins in twenty games before resigning four months later following the failure of a proposed takeover.

New deal for Sami
2002 - Sami Hyypiä signed a new four-year deal, which was subsequently extended twice further until the summer of 2009 when he joined Bayer 04 Leverkusen. He made 464 appearances for the reds, netting 35 times.

On the move
1993 - Stan Collymore joined Nottingham Forest from Southend United for £2m. He went on to net an impressive 45 goals in 78 games for Forest.
2005 – Left-back Paul Konchesky moved to West Ham United from Charlton Athletic for £1.5m after six strikes in 169 outings for the Addicks.
2007 – Midfielder Nuri Şahin joined Feyenoord on loan from Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e.V. Dortmund, where he scored six times in 34 games. Meanwhile, keeper Daniele Padelli joined Pisa 1909 on loan from Sampdoria, playing eight times for the Serie B side.
2011 – Ex-reserves forward András Simon signed for top-flight side Győri ETO back in his native Hungary. He only played four League games, spending most of his three years out on loan.

2013 – Ex-reserves forward Lauri Dalla Valle signed for Belgian side Koninklijke Sint-Truidense Voetbalvereniging having been released by Norwegian club Molde earlier in the month.
2014 – Keeper Ian Dunbavin was released by Accrington Stanley.
2016 – Forward Fernando Torres re-joined Club Atlético de Madrid permanently after a successful loan spell. He struck 38 times in 160 games this time around.
2018 – Future keeper Andy Lonergan was released by Leeds United after nine first-team outings since signing for his second spell on a free transfer from Wolverhampton Wanderers in August 2017.

Starting out
2021 – Left-back Luke Chambers signed pro terms with the reds, having joined the Academy at the age of six. He has so far played four senior games. On the same day, midfielder Liam Coyle left Anfield to sign for Accrington Stanley on a free transfer, netting once in 22 appearances in his first season with Accy.
1991 - Future reserves forward Lee Jones signed for Wrexham as a professional. He bagged thirteen goals in 49 games in his first period with the Dragons. He eventually had four different spells at the Racecourse Ground.
1990 – Former Under-13’s Coach Mike Sheron signed as a professional for Manchester City. He netted 28 times in 119 games for City before joining Norwich City for £1m in August 1994.