17th August

Into the hot seat
Both Bob Paisley and Kenny Dalglish made managerial debuts on this day in history.
1974 - Bob took charge of his first League game, a 2-1 win at Luton Town, with the goals coming from Tommy Smith and Steve Heighway.
1985 - King Kenny’s first reds game as boss brought a 2-0 defeat of Arsenal at Anfield, thanks to goals from Ronnie Whelan and Steve Nicol.

European debut
1964 - We made our first appearance in European competition in the preliminary round of the European Cup. We won 5-0 at Icelandic champions Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur, with Gordon Wallace and Roger Hunt both netting braces and Phil Chisnall grabbing his first reds goal. This remained our record equal away win in Europe until October 2017. The return leg was just as straightforward, as we ran out 11-1 winners on aggregate.

Simon’s perfect start
2013 – New keeper Simon Mignolet kept a clean sheet by saving a late penalty and its follow-up on his reds bow as Daniel Sturridge’s goal was enough to secure victory over Stoke City at Anfield. Forward Iago Aspas and centre-half Kolo Touré both also debuted in this game. As the game was an early kick off on opening day, the reds finished the match at the top of the table!
2014 – Forward Rickie Lambert and centre-half Dejan Lovren both made their reds bows against former club Southampton as we won 2-1 at Anfield, with right-back Javier Manquillo also debuting. Future red Nathaniel Clyne equalised after Raheem Sterling had opened the scoring, with Daniel Sturridge bagging the winner.

Most recently
2019 – We won 2-1 at Southampton with ex-Saint Sadio Mané scoring on the stroke of half time. Roberto Firmino doubled our lead before an Adrián howler handed ex-red Danny Ings the chance to bag a consolation. This result took us to the top of the table after two fixtures, a position we did not relinquish for the rest of the campaign.

Recent moves
2018 – Estonian centre-half Ragnar Klavan was sold to Cagliari for £2m after two goals in 53 games since signing from Augsburg for £4.2m.
2015 – Keeper Brad Jones signed for Bradford City on a one-year deal having been released by the reds, but only played three times for the Bantams before being released just two months later.
2012 - Moroccan winger Oussama Assaidi signed from Dutch side SC Heerenveen for £2.4m, failing to score in twelve appearances before spending a season and a half on loan at Stoke City. He was sold to UAE Arabian Gulf League side Al Ahli for a reported £4.7m in January 2015.

Happy birthdays
1980 - Former right-back Jan Kromkamp was born in Makkinga in the Netherlands. He made just eighteen reds appearances following his January 2006 swap arrival from Villarreal, leaving after less than eight months at Anfield with an FA Cup winners’ medal.
1970 - Øyvind Leonhardsen was born in Kristiansund in Norway. He signed from Wimbledon in June 1997 for £3.5m, scoring seven times in 49 reds appearances before Gérard Houllier off-loaded him to Tottenham Hotspur for £3m in August 1999.
1910 – Forward Alan Scott was born in Birkenhead. He signed from Liverpool Pembians in April 1929, scoring twice in four outings before moving to Swindon Town in June 1932.

Off the mark
2015 – Centre-forward Christian Benteke scored his first reds goal to see off Bournemouth 1-0 at Anfield, despite Philippe Coutinho being in an offside position and seemingly interfering with play. James Milner took over the captain’s armband for the first time after Jordan Henderson was substituted.

Double debutants
2003 - Steve Finnan and Harry Kewell both made their official reds bows as we lost 2-1 at home to Chelsea. Michael Owen scored a twice-taken penalty, our 300th League goal since Gérard Houllier took sole charge. Future red Glen Johnson played his first League game for the visitors, with Juan Sebastián Verón on target and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink bagging the last of his seven goals against the reds.

Other departures
1978 – Tommy Smith lefts the reds to join Swansea City. The ‘Anfield Iron’ had helped us to win four League titles, two FA Cups, two UEFA Cups, European Cup, UEFA Super Cup and two FA Charity Shields in his time with Liverpool, netting 48 times in 638 games since turning pro in April 1962.
2006 - Darren Potter joined Wolverhampton Wanderers on loan, having not fully convinced in his seventeen senior reds outings. He made the move permanent the following January, after one goal in 24 outings for Wolves.

Triple debutants
1991 - Mark Walters, Mark Wright and new record signing Dean Saunders all made their official reds debuts as we saw off Oldham Athletic 2-1 at Anfield in our opening fixture of the season. Ray Houghton and John Barnes scored our goals after Earl Barrett had opened the scoring early on.

And Núñez
2004 - Spanish right-sided midfielder Antonio Núñez signed from Real Madrid as part of the deal that took Michael Owen to Spain, being valued at £1.5m. He is the only player to score his solitary reds goal in a major cup final, netting a consolation in the Carling Cup defeat by Chelsea in February 2005, one of his 27 reds appearances. He moved on to Real Club Celta de Vigo in July 2005.

Boro treble
1996 - Our opening game of the season ended in a 3-3 draw at Middlesbrough, with their new signing Fabrizio Ravanelli nabbing a hat-trick. Stig Inge Bjørnebye struck the first of his four reds goals, with John Barnes and Robbie Fowler also on target for the reds. Future red Stewart Downing was one of the ball-boys that day.

Other League fixtures
1968 - We drew 1-1 at Arsenal, with Roger Hunt netting our goal and John Radford on target for the Gunners with one of his seven strikes past us as Tommy Smith played his 200th reds game.
1970 - We held Blackpool to a goalless draw at Bloomfield Road.
1971 – We beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-2 at Anfield, when John Toshack and Steve Heighway added to a Tommy Smith penalty. Derek Dougan netted the last of his four goals against the reds with Kenny Hibbitt also scoring for the visitors.

Another friendly
1973 - We held Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht to a goalless draw at their Stade Émile Versé.

World Stars
1999 - Stig Inge Bjørnebye and Rigobert Song played for a World Stars XI against South Africa at Ellis Park in Johannesburg. The game was billed as the “Nelson Mandela Farewell Game” and the Liverpool duo lined up with a host of famous names under the guidance of Roy Hodgson and Ruud Gullit.
1997 – Future red Song played for Cameroon as they won a World Cup qualifier 2-1 in Zimbabwe.

International firsts
1994 - Ronnie Rosenthal won his first cap as a Tottenham Hotspur player, his 38th in total, as Israel lost 4-0 to Croatia in a friendly in Tel-Aviv. On the same day, Patrik Berger won his third senior cap, and first for the new Czech Republic side as they drew 2-2 with France in a friendly in Bordeaux, with fellow future red Jean-Michel Ferri also in action.
2004 - Robbie Foy, Anthony Le Tallec, Darren Potter, Florent Sinama-Pongolle, ex-red Arnaud Bühler and future reds Scott Carson, Stewart Downing and Jermaine Pennant all featured in Under-21’s friendlies, with James Milner winning his first cap at this level as a Newcastle United player and future reds coach Gary O’Neil making his debut.

International goalscorers
1983 – Future reds centre-half Glenn Hysén struck in Sweden’s 4-0 thumping of Iceland in a friendly in Reykjavik.
1999 - Milan Baroš netted in the Czech Republic Under-18’s 2-1 friendly defeat of Poland in Nachod. Fellow future red John Arne Riise played for Norway Under-21’s as they lost a friendly 21-0 in Portugal on the same day.

Future reds on the world stage
2004 - Momo Sissoko played for Mali as they were held to a 3-3 draw by South Korea in an Olympics group game in Thessaloniki, Greece. This result ensured that they qualified for the Quarter-finals. On the same day, Javier Mascherano featured for Argentina as they beat Australia 1-0 to also reach the knock-out phase.
2011 – Philippe Coutinho played as Brazil Under-20’s beat Mexico 2-0 to reach the World Championships Final in Colombia.

For Clem
1990 – Kenny Dalglish featured for Tottenham Hotspur in a testimonial match for his former teammate Ray Clemence, against West Ham United at White Hart Lane.

Diarra’s day
2002 - Alou Diarra made his debut for Le Havre AC as a substitute for future red Anthony Le Tallec, as they drew 1-1 at Racing Club de Strasbourg. Fellow future red Florent Sinama-Pongolle struck for Le Havre.

Signing on
2001 - It was announced that Stéphane Henchoz had signed a new contract that would tie him to the reds until 2005. He made a total of 205 reds appearances, helping us to claim five trophies in 2001 and another League Cup two years later, moving on to Celtic in January 2005.
2020 – Young Welsh right-back Neco Williams signed a new contract, having made eleven senior appearances in his first season with the first team as we claimed the League title. On the same day, Sadio Mané won the Premier League PFA Fans' Player of the Year award for 2019-20, having struck eleven times in 35 appearances as we won the League.

International beginnings and endings
2005 - Pepe Reina made his senior international debut while Fernando Morientes won his first cap as a reds player, as Spain beat Uruguay 2-0 in a friendly in Gijón. Luis García and future red Fernando Torres also played. Meanwhile, Dietmar Hamann won his 59th and final cap for Germany as they drew 2-2 in the Netherlands, who included future reds John Heitinga, Dirk Kuyt and Jan Kromkamp, who was winning his first cap as a Villarreal player. Future reds Sporting Director Richard Hughes won his fifth and last cap for Scotland in their 2-2 friendly draw with Austria in Graz.

On the same day, Vladimír Šmicer won his first cap while with Girondins de Bordeaux, and 75th to date, with Milan Baroš playing his final international as a red, as the Czech Republic lost 2-1 in Sweden. Jari Litmanen played his first international as a Malmö FF player in Finland’s 3-0 World Cup qualifying win in FYR Macedonia, with Sami Hyypiä skippering the side. Philipp Degen made his first appearance as a Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e.V. Dortmund player as Switzerland won a friendly 2-0 in Norway, with John Arne Riise on the losing side. Meanwhile, Ragnar Klavan appeared for Estonia for the first time since moving to Heracles Almelo as they beat Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-0 in Tallinn.

Michael Owen won his last cap while playing for Real Madrid, his 71st to date, as England won 4-1 in Denmark, with Jamie Carragher, Steven Gerrard, future reds Joe Cole and Glen Johnson, and ex-red David James all also featuring against future reds Daniel Agger and Christian Poulsen, with Glen Johnson winning his fifth and final cap while with Chelsea. John Toshack took charge of Wales as they were held to a goalless draw in Cardiff by Slovenia, with another ex-red featuring, Gareth Roberts. Also in friendly action that day were Djibril Cissé, Steve Finnan, future reds Sotirios Kyrgiakos, Kolo Touré and Andriy Voronin and ex-reds Alou Diarra and El-Hadji Diouf.

On the move
2000 - Craig Bellamy signed for Coventry City from Norwich City for £6.5m after 34 strikes in 91 games for the Canaries. He went to bag eight goals in 39 outings for the Sky Blues, before moving on to Newcastle United just ten months later.
2010 – Bellamy joined Cardiff City on loan from Manchester City. He bagged eleven goals in 36 outings as the Bluebirds narrowly missed out on promotion.
2008 – Sean Dundee signed for AmaZulu in his native Durban in South Africa, failing to score in four League games.