27th May

European glory in Gay Paree
1981 - We won the European Cup for the third time by beating the mighty Real Madrid at the Parc des Princes in Paris thanks to an Alan Kennedy strike nine minutes from time. Unbeknownst to everyone, Ray Clemence was making his 665th and final reds appearance, keeping his 335th clean sheet, with Jimmy Case also playing his 269th and last reds game.

Tommy’s testimonial
1977 - Two days after we won the European Cup for the first time, Anfield hosted a testimonial match for Tommy Smith, who had intended to retire. The game featured Liverpool playing a Bobby Charlton Select XI, ending 9-9 with both Tommy Smith and Ray Clemence grabbing a brace! Jimmy Case, David Fairclough, David Johnson, Kevin Keegan and Terry McDermott were all also on target. Bobby Charlton briefly appeared for the reds in this game, with Emlyn Hughes taking a turn in goal and delivery driver Lol Cotterell also appearing, thanks to winning a competition on the BBC’s “The Big Time” programme, hosted by Esther Rantzen.

Mighty Mouse off the mark
1971 - Kevin Keegan scored his first reds goal as we thumped Swedish side IFK Lulea 5-0 in an end-of-season friendly. Forward Jack Whitham added a brace, with Alec Lindsay and Bobby Graham also on the scoresheet.

Young Mickey for England
1998 - Michael Owen scored his first senior England goal as they won 1-0 in the King Hassan II International Cup in Morocco, becoming England’s then youngest-ever scorer at eighteen years 164 days. Fellow red Paul Ince captained England for the seventh and final time in this game, with Steve McManaman also featuring. On the same day, Stig Inge Bjørnebye, ex-red Rigobert Song and future reds Markus Babbel, Dietmar Hamann, Sami Hyypiä, Jari Litmanen and Bolo Zenden all also played for their countries in friendlies.

2000 - Owen also scored for his country as Kevin Keegan’s England drew 1-1 with Brazil in a friendly at Wembley. Robbie Fowler and ex-red Paul Ince also featured, while future red Nick Barmby won his first cap as an Evertonian. Meanwhile, Vegard Heggem and future reds John Arne Riise and Bolo Zenden all also played in friendlies.

Friendly victories
1953 - Bill Jones struck a treble as we thumped a Montreal All Stars side 10-0, with Billy Liddell, Joseph Maloney and Jimmy Payne all bagging braces and Alan A’Court also on the scoresheet.
1923 – We beat Levallois 4-0 in Paris.

1932 - We beat a Copenhagen Select 3-1, thanks to goals from Gordon Gunson, Edmund Hancock and Harold Barton. Our opponents were chosen to be the best players from the Danish League.
1964 – We beat German side Meidericher Spielverein 4-1 in Detroit, with Alf Arrowsmith and Gordon Wallace both striking twice.
1958 - We won 4-0 at Perpignan, with Bobby Campbell, Billy Liddell and Johnny Morrissey among the scorers.

Four for Sir Roger
1964 – While his clubmates were playing in Detroit, Roger Hunt scored four goals for England as they thumped the USA 10-0 in a friendly in New York. Fellow red Peter Thompson also played.
1967 - Hunt also played for his country in a 1-0 friendly win in Austria.

Rushie off the mark
1982 - Ian Rush netted his first full international goal, while winning his eighth cap, as Wales beat Northern Ireland 3-0 in the British International Championships in Wrexham. Ex-red Joey Jones also played. On the same day, future reds Assistant Manager Sean O’Driscoll played as the Republic of Ireland lost a friendly 7-0 in Brazil.

On the move
1933 – Forward Jack ‘Nipper’ Roberts signed from Southport. He only made one first team appearance, moving on to Wigan Athletic in June 1934. He was an all-round sportsman, even playing baseball for England. He became famous when he escaped from a prisoner-of-war camp in Italy, walking 400 miles to freedom despite a broken neck!
2002 - A fee of £4.7m was agreed with French club Sedan for the Senegalese midfielder Salif Diao. He made a total of 61 reds appearances, netting three times, before joining Stoke City in January 2007 after a series of loan spells away from Anfield over his last three seasons.
2013 – Centre-half Danny Wilson signed for Heart Of Midlothian after a successful four-month loan spell at Tynecastle. On the same day, Rafael Benítez was appointed Manager of SSC Napoli, guiding them to the Italian Cup and a third-place Serie A finish in his first campaign in charge, resigning after a second season which they ended in fifth.

Joneses for Wales
1997 - Reserves striker Lee Jones and future reds keeper Paul Jones both made their senior international debuts from the bench as Wales beat Scotland 1-0 in a friendly in Kilmarnock. Paul Jones was winning his only cap as a Stockport County player, while Lee Jones made his only appearance as a red. Leeds United’s Gary McAllister skippered the Scots, while ex-red Dean Saunders also played. Future red Milan Baroš played for the Czech Republic Under-15’s on the same day.

Reds defenders in and out
1992 - Dominic Matteo signed on as a professional at Anfield. He went on to play 155 times for the reds, scoring just twice, before joining Leeds United for £4m in August 2000.
1999 - Rob Jones was released after failing in his latest comeback from serious injury. He had made 243 first-team appearances, despite suffering a succession of injuries, without once hitting the back of the net.

Irish glory
1986 - The Republic of Ireland won the Icelandic Triangular Tournament, their first senior prize. This was a result of their 1-0 defeat of Czechoslovakia in Reykjavik, with ex-red Michael Robinson winning his 24th and final cap, and future reds John Aldridge and Ray Houghton also in the team.

Happy birthdays
1980 - Ex-reserves keeper Ian Dunbavin was born in Knowsley. He joined Shrewsbury Town on a free transfer in January 2000, but moved on to Halifax Town in July 2004 after 115 games for the Shrews.
1979 - Andy Parkinson, who was also in the victorious FA Youth Cup squad in 1996, was born in Liverpool. He failed to break through to our first team, later finding greater success with Tranmere Rovers.

First and last caps
2004 - Ex-red Christian Ziege won his 72nd and final cap for Germany in their 7-0 friendly trouncing of Malta in Freiberg, with Dietmar Hamann also featuring. Future red Robbie Keane won his fiftieth cap as the Republic of Ireland beat Romania 1-0 in a friendly at Lansdowne Road. Steve Finnan, John Arne Riise, future reds Craig Bellamy, Yossi Benayoun and Ragnar Klavan, and ex-red Gareth Roberts all also turned out in international friendlies that day.
2011 – Bellamy featured for Wales again, playing in their 2-0 Carling Nations Cup defeat of Northern Ireland in Dublin. Gini Wijnaldum won his last cap for the Dutch Under-21’s as a Feyenoord player, converting a penalty as they beat Israel 2-0 in a friendly in Austria.
2012 – Bellamy won his last cap as a reds player, with Joe Allen playing for Wales for the final time while with Swansea City as they lost 2-0 to Mexico in a friendly in New York. Jack Dunn made his debut for England Under-19’s in their 1-1 draw with Montenegro in a European Championships qualifier in Rochdale, with Jack Robinson and future red Emre Can also in action at this level. Ex-red Alou Diarra was also in international action that day.

2006 - Jan Kromkamp won his first cap as a reds player as the Netherlands beat Cameroon 1-0 in a friendly at his international team-mate Dirk Kuyt’s home ground in Feyenoord. Xabi Alonso, Djibril Cissé, Luis García, future reds Ryan Babel, Philipp Degen, Christian Poulsen and Fernando Torres and ex-red Alou Diarra also featured in friendly action, with John Toshack also involved.
1998 – Vegard Heggem won his only cap for Norway Under-23’s, being dismissed in their 1-0 tournament defeat by Spain in Romania, with fellow future red Frode Kippe also in action.
1994 - Future red Gary McAllister skippered Scotland in their 3-1 friendly win in the Netherlands, with future reds coach Steve Clarke winning his sixth and final cap.
1987 – Future red Øyvind Leonhardsen played his fifth and last game for Norway Under-16’s as they beat Yugoslavia 2-0 in a tournament game in France.

More internationals on target
2001 - Future red Djibril Cissé netted as France Under-20’s drew 1-1 with Japan in the Toulon Tournament. Grégory Vignal and future red Alou Diarra both also played.
2008 – Cissé featured for the senior French side, winning his last cap while with Olympique de Marseille. Fellow ex-reds Nicolas Anelka and Alou Diarra also featured as they beat Ecuador 2-0 in a friendly in Grenoble. Mikel San José and future red Ragnar Klavan also represented their countries that day.
2010 - Christian Poulsen struck his last goal for Denmark as a Juventus player in their 2-0 friendly defeat of Senegal in Ålborg, with Daniel Agger also in action.

Young finalists
2010 – Conor Coady skippered England Under-17’s as they beat France 2-1 in the Semi-final of the European Championship Finals in Liechtenstein, with Andre Wisdom also in the side.

More youngsters in action
2019 – Future red Darwin Núñez played for Uruguay Under-20’s as they beat Honduras 2-0 in a World Championship Finals group game in Poland.
2009 - Danny Wilson captained Scotland Under-19’s for the first time as they beat Slovakia 2-1 in a European Championships Finals group game at Bramall Lane, with Martin Kelly also in action for England in the same tournament that day in Doncaster.
2005 – Future red Besian Idrizaj represented Austria Under-19’s in their 2-0 European Championships qualifying defeat by Slovakia.

2000 - Jamie Carragher conceded a penalty from which Italy scored while playing for England Under-21’s in the European Championship Finals in Slovakia. Danny Murphy and David Thompson also featured in the 2-0 defeat.
1991 – Future red David James featured for England Under-21’s in their 2-1 defeat of Senegal in the Toulon Tournament.

Jari for Finland
Future red Jari Litmanen twice represented his country in friendlies on this day in history.
1990 - He won his fifth cap in a 6-0 friendly defeat in Sweden. On the same day, Steve Staunton and ex-reds John Aldridge and Kevin Sheedy played for the Republic of Ireland in their goalless draw in Turkey.
1994 - The Finns lost 2-0 in Italy.

Fernando’s day
2009 - Fernando Torres married Olalla Dominguez at El Escorial in Madrid. On the same day, he was awarded with the Merseyside Sports Personality of the Year for 2008.

Quasi the dad
1989 - Peter Beardsley became a father for the first time, to Drew.

On the move
1978 – Academy Chief Scout Dave Moss joined Luton Town from his boyhood favourites Swindon Town for £110,000, having notched sixty goals in 231 League games for the Robins.
2004 - Reserves forward Steven Gillespie joined Bristol City on a free transfer. He is now with League One side Colchester United.

Roy in charge
Roy Hodgson twice took charge of Switzerland in friendlies on this day in history.
1992 – He led them to a 2-1 defeat of France in Lausanne.
1994 – The Swiss beat Liechtenstein 2-0 in Basel.

2016 – Hodgson managed England as they beat Australia 2-1 in a friendly at the Stadium of Light, with Nathaniel Clyne, Jordan Henderson, Adam Lallana, James Milner and ex-red Raheem Sterling lining up against Brad Smith. Future reds Takumi Minamino, Virgil van Dijk and Gini Wijnaldum, and ex-red Javier Mascherano also featured in international friendlies that day.
2018 – Rigobert Song took charge of Cameroon for the second and final time of his first spell in charge as they lost a friendly 1-0 to Burkina Faso in France.

Also in international action
1950 – Billy Liddell played for Scotland as they lost a friendly 1-0 in France.
1959 – Andy Beattie took charge of Scotland for their 2-1 friendly defeat of the Netherlands in Amsterdam. He had guested with the reds during the war, and later joined the backroom staff at Anfield after a successful management career.
1972 – Emlyn Hughes featured as England won a British International Championships encounter 1-0 in Scotland.

1984 – Jim Beglin played for the Republic of Ireland as they drew 0-0 with a Japanese Universities side in the Kirin Cup in Matsuyama.
2014 – Mamadou Sakho played for France as they thumped Norway 4-0 in a friendly at the Stade de France.