10th August

The arrival of the king
1977 - Kenny Dalglish signed from Celtic for a club record £440,000 to fill the gap left by the recently-departed Kevin Keegan. King Kenny struck 172 times in his 515 games, winning countless honours as both player and manager.

1995 - We met Celtic in a friendly, sharing a goalless draw at Celtic Park.
2013 – We lost a pre-season meeting with the Hoops at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, with the stadium sold out for a football match for the first time since opening in May 2010. Amido Baldé scored the only goal of the game.

Wembley disgrace
1974 - Phil Boersma netted as we drew 1-1 with Leeds United in the first FA Charity Shield to be played at Wembley, as Bill Shankly led the reds out for the last time. We went on to claim the trophy, winning a penalty shoot-out 6-5 thanks to Ian Callaghan’s decisive kick after each side had converted five successfully, with Brian Clough having nominated keeper David Harvey to take Leeds’ sixth kick. However, the day was marred by the dismissals, and shirt-tossing, of Kevin Keegan and Leeds United’s Billy Bremner, the first ever British players to be sent off at Wembley. Both players were eventually banned for eleven games and fined £500 apiece.

Latest arrival
2020 – Greek left-back Kostas Tsimikas signed from Olympiacos for an initial £11.75m as competition for Andy Robertson. He made 86 senior appearances across his first four campaigns with the reds, converting the winning spot-kick as we won the FA Cup in May 2022.

Welsh moves
2012 - Joe Allen signed from Swansea City for a reported £15m, a Welsh record sale. He netted seven times in 132 outings before moving on to Stoke City for £13m in July 2016. On the same day, Craig Bellamy re-joined Cardiff City on a free transfer after nine strikes in 37 games in his second spell in L4, helping us to claim the League Cup and reach the FA Cup Final.
2011 – Craig Bellamy won his last cap as a Manchester City player as Wales lost 2-1 to Australia in Cardiff, with future red Joe Allen also in action.

Spud departs
2004 - Danny Murphy left Anfield to join Charlton Athletic for £2.5m after netting 44 goals in 249 reds games, helping us to claim the UEFA Cup, UEFA Super Cup, FA Cup, League Cup and FA Charity Shield. He is probably best remembered for three times scoring the winner for us at Old Trafford. He made 64 appearances for the Addicks, notching ten times, before moving to Tottenham Hotspur for £2m in January 2006.

Austrian joy
2004 - We travelled to the Arnold Schwarzenegger Stadion to face Austrian champions Grazer AK in the first leg of our third qualifying round for the Champions League. Michael Owen remained on the bench as his transfer to Real Madrid loomed, while Djibril Cissé, Josemi, Darren Potter and Stephen Warnock all made their senior debuts, in Rafael Benítez’s first competitive game. This was our hundredth game in the European Cup, with Steven Gerrard bagging both goals in our 2-0 victory, also having a third cruelly chalked off for offside.

Reds off the mark
1983 - Michael Robinson scored in his first reds game as we beat WAC Morocco 3-1 in a testimonial match for Moroccan legend Labri Abadane. Steve Nicol and Graeme Souness netted our others.
1985 - Kevin MacDonald scored his first reds goal in a 3-3 friendly draw at Bristol City. Ronnie Whelan was also on target, with our first score coming from a Rob Newman own goal.
2014 – Centre-half Dejan Lovren scored in his first reds game as we thumped Jürgen Klopp’s Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e.V. Dortmund 4-0 at Anfield, with right-back Javier Manquillo also featuring for the first time. The other goals came from Daniel Sturridge, Philippe Coutinho and Jordan Henderson.

Antonio - first and last
2005 - Young Spanish right-back Antonio Barragán made his only senior reds appearance as we won 3-1 at CSKA Sofia in the first leg of our Champions League Third Qualifying Round tie. Steven Gerrard set up all three of our goals, with Fernando Morientes bagging a brace to add to a Djibril Cissé strike.

Rushie treble
1990 - Ian Rush bagged a hat-trick as we beat Swedish side Landskrona BoIS 6-3 in a pre-season friendly. Ray Houghton weighed in with a brace, with Ronnie Rosenthal completing the reds scoring.

Other recent transfer moves
2009 – Reserves winger Adam Hammill was sold to Barnsley, having been on loan at Oakwell earlier that year. He notched thirteen times in 84 outings for the Tykes before moving to Wolverhampton Wanderers in January 2011. On the same day, Rickie Lambert joined Southampton from Bristol Rovers for £1m after 59 strikes in 155 games.
2007 - We completed the signing of Argentine winger Sebastián Leto from Club Atlético Lanús for £1.85m. However, work permit problems restricted him to just four senior appearances, and he was sold to Panathinaikos in Greece in July 2009. On the same day, keeper Scott Carson joined Aston Villa on loan, while reserves centre-half James Smith moved temporarily to Stockport County. Carson turned out 36 times for the Villains before moving permanently to West Bromwich Albion in July 2008, while Smith played twelve times before signing a longer-term deal in December 2007.

2012 - Alou Diarra joined West Ham United from Olympique de Marseille for £2m after two goals in 42 outings in his one season in the south of France.
2017 – Hungarian forward Krisztián Németh signed for New England Revolution, who acquired him via a trade with Columbus Crew.

Happy birthday Rafa
1994 – Spanish centre-half Rafael Páez was born in Orihuela. He joined the reds from Real Madrid in September 2013. He played fifteen times for the Under-21’s in his first season, spending the next campaign on loan at Bologna in Italy and S.D. Eibar in Spain before moving permanently to AD Alcorcón in August 2015.

Friendly international goalscorers
2011 - Alberto Aquilani bagged his only senior international goal as a reds player as he won his final cap while on our books, with ex-red Xabi Alonso converting a penalty as Italy beat Spain 2-1 in Bari, with future red Thiago Alcântara making his bow from the bench. John Arne Riise scored while playing his first game for Norway since joining Fulham in their 3-0 defeat of the Czech Republic in Oslo. Mohamed Salah won his eleventh and last cap for Egypt Under-20’s as they lost 2-1 to Argentina in their World Championship Finals Round of 16 tie in Colombia, scoring from the spot. Future red Fabio Borini netted for Italy Under-21’s in their 1-1 friendly draw with Switzerland in Varese.

Charlie Adam won his first cap as a reds player, with Christian Poulsen playing his last international as a red, as Scotland beat Denmark 2-1 at Hampden Park. Raul Meireles made his last appearance for Portugal before leaving the reds, while Yossi Benayoun won his final cap before joining Arsenal on loan from Chelsea and Robbie Keane won his last cap as a Tottenham Hotspur player. Craig Bellamy featured for Wales for the last time before returning to Anfield from Manchester City, with Milan Jovanović winning his first cap as a Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht player. Also in international action that day were Daniel Agger, Péter Gulácsi, Michael Ngoo, Dani Pacheco, Danny Wilson, future reds Joe Allen, Oussama Assaidi, Mario Balotelli, Ádám Bogdán, Ragnar Klavan, Dejan Lovren, Simon Mignolet and Xherdan Shaqiri, and ex-reds Álvaro Arbeloa, Milan Baroš, Fernando Torres and Andriy Voronin, with John Toshack taking charge of FYR Macedonia.

It starts with City
1968 - We kicked off the new season by defeating Manchester City 2-1 at Anfield, thanks to goals from Bobby Graham and Peter Thompson. Neil Young bagged one of his four goals against the reds.

Olympian reds
2008 – Ryan Babel was on target as the Netherlands drew 2-2 with the USA in an Olympics Finals group game in China. Javier Mascherano featured as Argentina beat Australia 1-0, while Lucas Leiva appeared in Brazil’s 5-0 trouncing of New Zealand.
2016 – Tiago Ilori played in Portugal’s 1-1 draw with Algeria in Brazil, with Takumi Minamino in action for Japan as they beat Sweden 1-0 as fellow future red Wataru Endō captained the side.

Shepherd flocks
1949 – Centre-forward Arthur Shepherd left Anfield to sign for New Brighton. He was on our books at the same time as his brothers Joseph and right-back Bill. Arthur struck twelve times in eleven wartime games, but never appeared for the reds in peacetime.

In comes Cyril
1921 - Winger Cyril Gilhespy signed from Sunderland. He scored three times in nineteen outings before moving to Bristol City in 1925.

Shoot-out defeat
2000 - The reds lost a penalty shoot-out 4-2, following a 1-1 draw at Norwegian side Vålerenga in a pre-season friendly, with Vladimír Šmicer on the scoresheet. Dietmar Hamann and Titi Camara both missed their kicks, while Gary McAllister and Nick Barmby were successful.

Swiss reds
1982 - We played out a goalless draw with Servette FC Genève at Les Charmilles.
1984 - John Wark bagged the only goal of the game to claim the Phillips Trophy against Grasshopper-Club Zürich at the w***dorf Stadion in Bern.

Other friendlies
1994 - Robbie Fowler netted a brace with Steve McManaman also scoring as we won 3-1 at Wrexham.
1976 - Less happily, we lost 2-0 at Dutch side Twente.

Off the mark
2010 – Martin Kelly netted on his debut for England Under-21’s, with future reds Jordan Henderson winning his first and Victor Moses his only cap at this level in a 2-0 friendly defeat of Uzbekistan at Ashton Gate, and future red Daniel Sturridge also in action. Mario Balotelli made his senior international bow, winning his only cap as an Internazionale player as Italy lost 1-0 to the Ivory Coast at Upton Park, with future red Kolo Touré on target. Meanwhile, Lucas featured in Brazil’s 2-0 senior friendly victory over the USA in New Jersey.

Ex-reds on the move
1990 - Phil Babb joined Bradford City from Millwall on a free transfer. He went on to make 93 appearances for the Bantams, scoring fourteen times, before moving on to Coventry City for £500,000 in July 1992.
1997 - Ronnie Rosenthal joined Watford on a free transfer from Tottenham Hotspur. He bagged eleven goals in 39 games for the Hornets.

Also in international action
1996 – Future red John Arne Riise played for Norway Under-15’s as they lost 3-1 to England in Lillehammer.
1997 – Future reds goalkeeping coach Cláudio Taffarel played as Brazil won a friendly 2-1 in South Korea.