2nd December

Stevie again
2007 - Steven Gerrard converted a penalty to score in his sixth consecutive home game as we thumped Bolton Wanderers 4-0 in a Premiership fixture at Anfield. Sami Hyypiä headed our hundredth home League goal against the Trotters to open the scoring, before ex-red Nicolas Anelka missed an open goal. Fernando Torres and Ryan Babel were also on target.

An away win at last
2006 - Craig Bellamy bagged a brace at the JJB Stadium as we won away from home in the League for the first time that season, at the eighth time of asking. Our other goals in a 4-0 defeat of Wigan Athletic came from Dirk Kuyt and a Lee McCulloch own goal, with all the goals coming in the opening period.

Happy birthdays
1960 - Nigel Spackman was born in Romsey. He signed from Chelsea for £400,000 in February 1987 and made 63 first-team appearances without scoring before moving to Queens Park Rangers for £500,000 in February 1989, after losing his place to Ronnie Whelan. He won a League title medal in his one full season at Anfield.
1953 - Former Chief Scout and joint Reserve Team Manager Paco Herrera was born in Spain. He joined the Melwood coaching staff in July 2004, having formerly managed with Merida and Albacete Balompié. He returned to his native land in the summer of 2006, and is currently Head Coach with La Liga side Real Zaragoza.

Walker’s woe
1996 - Michael Thomas put us ahead in a live televised League game at Tottenham Hotspur. Shortly after the break a tame Steve McManaman effort hit a divot in front of Spurs’ keeper Ian Walker and flew into the net as we won 2-0. Cue travelling Kopites singing ‘England’s number one’, just as they had done to Tim Flowers in similar circumstances at Blackburn Rovers ten months earlier!

Babbel’s first
2000 - Markus Babbel bagged his first League goal as we beat Charlton Athletic 3-0 at Anfield, to add to a Mark Fish own goal and an Emile Heskey strike.

Nicky’s debut
1989 - Nicky Tanner made his reds bow as we won 4-1 at managerless Manchester City, with Ian Rush grabbing a brace and future City players Peter Beardsley and Steve McMahon also netting. Kenny Dalglish was left with an injury headache after the game as Gary Gillespie and Steve Staunton both limped off, to join John Barnes, David Burrows, Alan Hansen, Steve Nicol and Barry Venison in the treatment room.
1893 - We also faced City, when they were still known as Ardwick. David Henderson, Hugh McQueen and James Stott struck as we won this Second Division match 3-0.

Simon suffers
2014 – We beat Leicester City 3-1 at their King Power Stadium, despite falling behind when Leonardo Ulloa’s strike rebounded off the post and Simon Mignolet for an own goal. Adam Lallana, Steven Gerrard and Jordan Henderson were all on target, with the Foxes having Wes Morgan sent off.

A rare defeat
1922 - We suffered our only home First Division defeat of the season as Newcastle United won 2-0. However, we went on to claim the title for the third time that year.

On the move
1975 - Phil Boersma left Anfield to join Middlesbrough for £72,000, after thirty goals in 120 games.
1997 - Dean Saunders joined Sheffield United from fellow First Division side Nottingham Forest on a free transfer. He struck 22 times in 55 games for the Blades before rejoining former boss Graeme Souness at SL Benfica.
1998 - Former reserves keeper Michael Stensgaard signed for Southampton from F.C. København on a free transfer. He never made a senior appearance, and returned to Denmark the following summer.

Romanian stalemate
2010 – We drew 1-1 at Steaua Bucureşti to ensure top spot in our UEFA Europa League group, with Milan Jovanović heading in his second and final reds goal.

Another debut
1899 - Don Wilson made the first of just two reds appearances as we lost 2-1 at Burnley, with John Walker grabbing our consolation. Billy Bowes bagged the last of his four goals past us, with John Miller also netting.

Mixed fortunes against the Saints and Villains
1905 - We beat Aston Villa 3-0 at home with Jack Cox and Joe Hewitt adding to a Howard Spencer own goal, as reds keeper Sam Hardy saved a William Garratty penalty.
1911 - We were trounced 5-0 at Villa Park in another top-flight encounter, the third time we had gone down by that score at Villa. Ex-red Bert Goode bagged a brace, with Charlie Wallace also netting twice and Joe Bache nabbing one of his nine goals against the reds.

1995 - Stan Collymore struck after ten appearances without a goal as we were held to a 1-1 draw by Southampton at Anfield, with Neil Shipperley putting the Saints ahead.
1961 - We lost 2-0 at The Dell in our Second Division encounter.

Disappointment against the Gunners
We have faced Arsenal four times in the First Division on this day in history, without winning.
1933 - Sam English struck as we lost 2-1 at Highbury, with Joe Hulme bagging one of his ten goals past us and Jimmy Dunne netting the last of his eleven against us.
1975 - Phil Neal converted two penalties as we drew 2-2 at Anfield, with ex-Blue Alan Ball also scoring from the spot, the last of his eleven goals against the reds. Brian Kidd also scored one of his six goals past us.

We have subsequently lost twice at Highbury without scoring.
1978 - We lost 1-0 when Ray Clemence misjudged a Frank Stapleton cross, with Ray Kennedy’s clearance rebounding off David Price into the net.
1990 – We went down 3-0, our first defeat in 23 League games, and the first time in 28 fixtures that we had failed to score. Paul Merson nabbed one of his seven strikes against the reds, with Alan Smith netting the last of his nine past us and Lee Dixon converting a penalty.

Brum beaten twice
We have twice beaten Birmingham City at Anfield on this day over the years.
1972 - We won a seven-goal top-flight thriller with Peter Cormack and John Toshack on target for the reds, adding to an Alec Lindsay brace. Recent first team coach Mike Kelly was in the Blues’ goal that day. Bob Latchford struck the first of his five goals against the reds, with Gordon Taylor nabbing one of his four past us and Bobby Hope also on target.
1980 - Kenny Dalglish, Terry McDermott and David Johnson gave us a 3-1 Fifth Round League Cup win as we edged closer to winning the trophy for the first time.

Wartime derby joy
1916 - Inside-forward Arthur Metcalf scored in his fourth consecutive game as we beat Everton 2-1 at Anfield, with Thomas Bennett also on target.
1939 - We also entertained the Blues, with Berry Nieuwenhuys and Willie Fagan, from the spot, netting in a 2-2 draw.

Big wins
1944 - We thumped Chester 6-0 in a Wartime League fixture, with Berry Nieuwenhuys and Phil Taylor both bagging braces to add to goals from Don Welsh and Bill Kinghorn.
1895 - We beat a Wrexham & District side 5-0 in a testimonial match for Wrexham Secretary and ex-captain Arthur Lea, with William Keech and James Holmes each netting twice and Frank Becton also on target.

Missing out
2008 - Fernando Torres was voted into third in the Ballon d’Or award, with Steven Gerrard coming in ninth. The trophy was claimed by Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo.

Shannon’s farewell
2007 – Centre-forward Les Shannon died, with “You’ll Never Walk Alone” being played at his funeral. He signed professional terms in November 1944, having to wait until April 1948 to make his reds bow. He bagged just one goal in eleven games, as well as six in fifteen wartime appearances, moving on to Burnley in November 1949. He is the father of recent Under-16’s coach Dave Shannon.

Youngsters in Arabia
2003 - Three reds youngsters appeared in the Under-20’s World Championship Finals in the United Arab Emirates. Zak Whitbread was on target as the USA lost 3-1 to Germany, and was also booked. Meanwhile, Darren Potter appeared in the Republic of Ireland’s 2-2 draw with the Ivory Coast, and John Welsh played in England’s 1-0 defeat by Egypt.

Tosh against Clem
1970 - John Toshack made his debut for Wales Under-23’s, with Ray Clemence keeping a clean sheet in a goalless draw at the Racecourse Ground, playing behind reds team-mate Larry Lloyd.

Stig’s Norwegian farewell
1992 - Stig Inge Bjørnebye won his final cap as a Rosenborg BK player, and his 23rd in total, sixteen days before signing for the reds, as Norway lost 2-1 to China in a friendly in Guangzhou. Current and future clubmate Øyvind Leonhardsen also played, winning his eighteenth cap. On the same day, Ronnie Rosenthal played in Israel’s 2-0 World Cup qualifying defeat at home to Bulgaria.