2nd May

Strikers on the move
1961 - Ian St. John signed from Motherwell for a club record £37,500. He went on to bag 118 goals in 425 reds games, helping us to two League titles, our first ever FA Cup, Second Division championship and FA Charity Shield before joining South African side Hellenic in February 1971.

1897 – Scottish inside-forward Willie Walker arrived from Leith Athletic. He struck three times in twelve reds games, returning to his former club for free in August 1898
1938 – Bill Kinghorn joined the reds from Queen’s Park. He netted four times in nineteen reds games, and another three times in eleven wartime matches.
1979 - Future red John Aldridge signed for Newport County from South Liverpool for £3,500. He netted 83 times in 198 games for County.

Cally honoured
1974 - Ian Callaghan was named as the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year, surprisingly becoming the first red ever to win this honour since its launch in 1948.
2008 - Fernando Torres was voted runner-up in the same awards, with ex-red David James in third. Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo was the winner.

Happy birthdays
1981 - Chris Kirkland was born in Leicester. He only appeared 45 times between our sticks after signing from Coventry City for £6m in August 2001, while suffering from a succession of injuries, and moved to Wigan Athletic in October 2006 for a reported £3.5m after a successful loan spell.
1904 - Outside-right Cyril Oxley was born in Worksop. He signed from Chesterfield for £2,000 in October 1925 and bagged six goals in 34 games before moving to Southend United in September 1928.
1997 – Midfielder Matty Virtue was born in Epsom. He was Under-23’s skipper, moving on to Blackpool in January 2019.

Red farewells
2018 – Ragnar Klavan featured in his 53rd and last reds game as we lost the second leg of our UEFA Champions League Semi-final 4-2 at Roma, our first defeat in the competition that season, to progress 7-6 on aggregate. Sadio Mané and Gini Wijnaldum both scored inside the first half hour, either side of an unfortunate James Milner own goal. Edin Džeko gave the home side hope with the latest of his five goals past us before Radja Nainggolan added two late strikes, including a stoppage-time penalty.
2010 – Yossi Benayoun played his 134th and final reds game prior to joining the visitors as we meekly surrendered 2-0 to Chelsea at Anfield, thus helping to ensure they won the League title ahead of Manchester United and that we could not qualify for the following season’s Champions League. Didier Drogba pounced on a stray Steven Gerrard back-pass to open the scoring with one of his eleven goals past us, with Frank Lampard also on target with last of his eight. Daniel Ayala also made his final senior appearance, his fifth.

2004 - Danny Murphy scored his 44th and last reds goal, converting a spot-kick in a 2-0 defeat of Middlesbrough at Anfield, to continue his hundred per cent record at penalties for us, with his eighth successful conversion. Emile Heskey grabbed the other goal.
1956 – Don Welsh took charge of the reds for the last time as we lost our final game of the season 2-0 at Lincoln City to finish the season in third in the Second Division.
1925 – Full-back Ted Parry made his thirteenth and final reds appearance as we drew 1-1 at League champions Huddersfield Town, benefiting from a Tommy Wilson own goal as we finished the season in fourth.

Five against the Hammers
1998 - We thumped West Ham United 5-0 at home in the Premiership. Michael Owen, Jason McAteer, with a brace that included his final reds goal, and Øyvind Leonhardsen all scored before the break, with ex-Hammer Paul Ince wrapping up the scoring in the second half to ensure our place in the UEFA Cup for the next season.
1931 - We also played the Hammers as Gordon Hodgson struck twice in our final game of the season to hand us a 2-0 win at Anfield, as we finished ninth in the top flight. This was the sixth consecutive game in which he had netted.

The worst season ever
1955 - We finished the season with a 6-1 thumping at Rotherham United, ending up in our worst ever final League position, eleventh in the Second Division. The great Billy Liddell bagged our consolation with Ian Wilson netting four goals, with Jack Grainger and Dennis Pell also on target for the Millers.

Champions!
1988 - We were presented with the League Championship trophy, along with the new Barclays trophy, before our 1-1 Bank Holiday Monday home draw with Southampton. John Aldridge put us in front just before half-time, with Rod Wallace equalising with the first of his five strikes against the reds.

Also recently
2015 - Philippe Coutinho gave us a first-half lead over Queens Park Rangers before Leroy Fer equalised after the break. Nedum Onuoha was sent off for the visitors and Steven Gerrard had a penalty saved by Robert Green, although he went on to head in a late goal as we won 2-1 with Lazar Marković making his 34th and last reds appearance.
2021 – Our League visit to Manchester United, due to be played behind closed doors due to COVID restrictions, was called off before kick-off due to protests by the home fans against their owners.

Colin for the only time
1981 - Forward Colin Russell played his only reds game as Sunderland won 1-0 at Anfield, thanks to a Stan Cummins goal. Future Bolton Wanderers boss Sam Allardyce played his final game for the visitors.

A Tiny mistake
1936 - We lost 2-1 in our final game of the season as we finished nineteenth with Stoke City securing their joint highest ever League placing, ending up fourth in the top flight. Fred Howe netted for the reds with centre-half Tom ‘Tiny’ Bradshaw putting through his own net and Jim Westland also on target for the home side. This was George Patterson’s last game in his second spell in charge of the reds.

Injured
1992 – John Barnes had to limp off during our goalless draw at Sheffield Wednesday with an injury that ruled him out of the FA Cup Final the following weekend.

Danny stays
2009 – Centre-half Daniel Agger agreed a new contract until 2014, later further extended. He struck fourteen times in 232 reds games since signing from Brøndby IF for £5.8m in January 2006, before returning there for a reported £3m in August 2014.

Reds against reds
1984 - Alan Kennedy and Sammy Lee faced Ian Rush in a British International Championships game at the Racecourse Ground. It was Barney’s second and final cap. Future red Mark Wright made his England debut, while his future clubmate Paul Walsh won his fifth and last cap. Ex-red Joey Jones also played as the home side won 1-0 thanks to a Mark Hughes goal. Future red Glenn Hysén and ex-red Dave Watson both also featured in internationals that day.

First and last caps
1979 - John Toshack won his first cap as a Swansea City player, and 35th overall, in Wrexham, coming on as a substitute in their 2-0 defeat by West Germany in a European Championships qualifier. Fellow ex-red Joey Jones also played.
1989 – Øyvind Leonhardsen debuted for Norway Under-21’s as they lost 2-1 to Poland, with fellow future red Stig Inge Bjørnebye also in action.
2004 - David Raven won his sixth and last cap for England Under-19's as they drew a European Championships qualifier with Ukraine 1-1 in Slovenia.

Ins and out
2011 – Sami Hyypiä announced his retirement from playing, having bagged three goals in 61 outings for Bayer 04 Leverkusen after leaving Anfield two years earlier. On the same day, it was announced that Club Secretary Ian Silvester was to leave by mutual consent, having been in that role for two years.

1980 – Defender Richard Money arrived from Fulham for a £50,000 fee. However, he was unable to displace either Alan Kennedy or Phil Neal at full-back, making only seventeen first-team appearances before joining Luton Town in April 1982.
1908 – Scottish keeper Don Sloan signed from Everton for £300, failing to keep a clean sheet in six reds games before becoming Player/Manager of his old club Distillery in Belfast in July 1909.
1896 – Scottish centre-half Robert Neill signed on loan from Hibernian, having joined on loan in April 1895. At five feet four inches he is probably our shortest ever central defender, scoring three times in 27 games. He left to join Rangers in April 1897.

More disappointments on this day
1995 – We shared a goalless draw with Wimbledon at Selhurst Park.
1987 – We lost 1-0 at Coventry City, with Nick Pickering scoring shortly after the break.
1983 – Peter Davenport bagged the only goal of our trip to Nottingham Forest as we fell to our fourth consecutive defeat, with the League title already in the bag.
1963 – Ian St. John scored as we lost 2-1 at Leyton Orient, although the O’s were still relegated after just one season in the top flight.
1921 – We shared a goalless draw with Arsenal at Highbury.

Internationals on target
1964 - Roy Evans netted for England Schoolboys as they beat their Scottish counterparts 4-2 in Dundee.
1993 – Future red Titi Camara scored for Guinea as they beat Zimbabwe 3-0 in a World Cup qualifier in Conakry.

Also in international action
1956 – Future reds keeper Tommy Younger played for Scotland in their 1-1 friendly draw with Austria at Hampden Park.
1962 – Ian St. John featured as Scotland lost 3-2 to Uruguay at the same venue.
1978 – Future reds coach Joe Corrigan played for England Under-21’s as they drew the second leg of their European Championships Semi-final 1-1 with Yugoslavia at Maine Road, losing out 3-2 on aggregate.

2002 – Carl Medjani captained France Under-17’s as they lost 2-1 to fellow future red Arnaud Bühler’s Switzerland in a European Championships Finals group game in Denmark.
2006 – Jerzy Dudek played for Poland as they lost a friendly 1-0 to Lithuania in Bełchatów.
2007 – Future reds Victor Moses and Mamadou Sakho both played in European Championships Finals group games in Belgium.
2019 – Luke Chambers and Isaac Mabaya played for England Under-15’s as they lost a penalty shoot-out after their friendly meeting with the USA ended 1-1.