9th July

Welcome cobber
2003 - Harry Kewell signed from Leeds United for £5m on a five-year deal. It was also announced that he would be taking over the famous number seven shirt, with Vladimír Šmicer switching to eleven. Harry’s time at Anfield was disappointing as he suffered from a series of niggling injuries, bagging sixteen goals in 139 reds games before leaving as his contract expired. However, he did help us to claim the Champions League and FA Cup in his time as a red, although he limped out of both Finals.

Farewell King Billy
2001 - The funeral of Billy Liddell was held. King Billy was a genuine reds legend, arriving at Anfield in July 1938 while still only sixteen. He left the club 23 years later, having struck 228 times in 534 games, and brightened the lean Second Division years for Kopites. His only club honour was the League title in 1947, although he also played in the FA Cup Final three years later.
1939 – Welsh international half-back George Latham died. He joined the reds as an amateur in December 1902, signing on professionally the following year. He played nineteen reds games without scoring before joining Southport Central in 1909.

A great day for Ged
1992 - Gérard Houllier was appointed Manager of France. He was in charge for just fifteen months, winning seven of his twelve games in command, although the French narrowly missed out on qualifying for the World Cup in the USA.
2003 - He was presented with his Honorary OBE in London by Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, alongside his good friend Arsène Wenger.

Conor’s day
2003 – Northern Irish right-back Conor Bradley was born in Tyrone. He signed from Dungannon Swifts in September 2019, striking once in 28 senior reds appearances to the end of the 2023/24 season, already helping us to claim the League Cup.

In and out
2007 - Two new members of staff at the Academy started their jobs. Technical Manager Piet Hamberg had arrived from Grasshoppers of Zurich and Recruitment Manager Paul Johnson came from Blackburn Rovers, though both have already left. Meanwhile, Djibril Cissé was sold to Olympique de Marseille for £6.3m, after a season there on loan. He had bagged 24 goals in 79 reds games since his club record £14m capture from Auxerre, scoring to help us to claim three trophies in his time at Anfield.

Debuting in Wales
2005 - Pepe Reina and Bolo Zenden both played their first reds games as we won our opening pre-season friendly 4-3 at Wrexham. Fernando Morientes and Milan Baroš grabbed a brace each.

Battling for the Final
2014 – Future red Gini Wijnaldum and ex-reds Dirk Kuyt, Javier Mascherano and Maxi Rodríguez faced off in the World Cup Semi-final in São Paulo. The game ended goalless, with Argentina eventually beating the Netherlands 4-2 on penalties. They went on to lose the Final to Germany.

1994 – Future reds goalkeeping coach Cláudio Taffarel played for Brazil as they beat the Netherlands 3-2 in their World Cup Quarter-final in Dallas.
1991 – Taffarel played as Brazil beat Bolivia 2-1 in a Copa América group game in Chile.
1989 – Taffarel appeared once more for his country, this time as they beat Paraguay 2-0 in the Copa América in Recife.

In comes Diarra
2002 - Young French midfielder Alou Diarra signed for five years from Bayern München on a free transfer. He spent all his time as a red on loan away from Anfield, first at Le Havre, then Bastia, and finally with Racing Club de Lens whom he joined permanently for £2m in June 2005.
2006 - He reached the pinnacle of his career, making a substitute appearance in the World Cup Final as France lost out to Italy on penalties in Berlin.

Heading off
2019 – Alberto Moreno signed for Villarreal, having been released by the reds after netting three times in 141 reds games since signing for £12m from his hometown club Sevilla in August 2014. On the same day, ex-red Xabi Alonso started work as head coach for Real Sociedad’s B-team.
2009 - Jermaine Pennant signed for Real Zaragoza after a five-month loan spell with Portsmouth. He had arrived at Anfield in July 2006 for £6.7m after Birmingham City were relegated, hitting the target just three times in 81 reds games, helping us to reach the UEFA Champions League Final in his first season.
1902 – Scottish inside-left Bill White left the reds to sign for Dundee. He had signed from West Calder in 1901, scoring his only reds goal after just two minutes of his debut in the Anfield derby in September of that year. He made just five more senior reds appearances.

Martin’s bow
2004 - Future red Martin Škrtel won his first senior international cap as Slovakia lost 3-1 to host nation Japan in the Kirin Challenge Cup in Hiroshima.

Finishing third
2021 – Future red Luis Díaz bagged a brace as Colombia beat Peru 3-2 in their Copa América third place play-off in Brasilia.

New deals
2021 – Harvey Elliott signed a new contract, having signed from Fulham for an initial £1.2m in July 2019. On the same day, Colombian defender Anderson Arroyo joined Club Deportivo Mirandés on loan, making 31 senior appearances.
2020 – Czech keeper Vítezslav Jaroš signed a new contract. He arrived from SK Slavia Praha in 2017 and played as we won the FA Youth Cup in 2019. He has so far made it to the first-team bench on seven occasions.
2004 - Darren Potter signed a new three-year contract. He made the break-through to the first team in Rafael Benítez’s first season, making a total of seventeen appearances before joining Wolverhampton Wanderers in January 2007.

Jari up for the cup
1992 - Future red Jari Litmanen scored in the Finnish Cup Final as Myllykosken Pallo-47 beat FF Jaro 2-0 at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki.

Also on the move
1999 - Ex-reds striker Ronnie Rosenthal left Watford. He had been with the Hornets for two years, bagging eleven goals in 39 games, helping them to the Second Division title in his first season.
2010 – Ex-reserves defender David Raven joined Shrewsbury Town on a free transfer from Carlisle United. He played 28 times for the Shrews before being released the following May.
2013 - Keeper Jamie Stephens signed for Newport County having been released by the reds. He made just thirteen senior appearances before being released by the Welsh side in May 2015.

2015 - Abel Xavier was appointed Manager of Clube Desportivo das Aves, but only remained in charge for two months.
2016 – Keeper Ryan Fulton joined Chesterfield on loan, playing 22 senior games for the League One side that season.
2018 – Future reds loanee midfielder Arthur Melo was sold to Barcelona from Grêmio for an initial €31m, netting four times in 72 games before moving on to Juventus for an initial €72m in June 2020.
2022 – Colombian defender Anderson Arroyo signed a new contract, joining Deportivo Alavés on loan on the same day.

Crouch heads south again
2004 - Future reds centre-forward Peter Crouch moved back to the south coast to join Southampton from Aston Villa in a £2m deal. He had netted just six times in 43 games for the Midlands outfit, but had a terrific season at St. Mary’s, bagging sixteen goals in 33 games as the Saints were relegated, as well as winning his first senior international cap.

Carra honoured
2012 - Jamie Carragher was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by Liverpool John Moores University at Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral.

Also in international action
2000 - Reds defender Rigobert Song played in Cameroon’s 3-0 World Cup qualifying defeat of Angola in Yaoundé. Meanwhile, future red El-Hadji Diouf featured in Senegal’s goalless draw with Egypt in Dakar.
2011 – Lucas Leiva played for Brazil as they were held to a 2-2 draw by Paraguay in their Copa América group game in Argentina.
2012 – Conor Coady, Suso, Jack Robinson and future red Tiago Ilori all featured at Under-19’s level in the European Championships Finals in Estonia, with all bar Ilori ending up on the winning side.
2015 – Future red Kostas Tsimikas featured for Greece Under-19’s as they were held to a goalless draw in a European Championships qualifier by Austria.

On the committee again
2002 - Reds Director Noel White was re-appointed as Chairman of the FA International Committee for an eighth consecutive year. The former Liverpool Chairman, who was on the Board of Directors at Anfield for 21 years until his resignation in October 2006, had first been elected to this post in 1994.