21st August

Another charitable win
1982 - We beat Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 at Wembley to claim the FA Charity Shield outright for the sixth time, thanks to an extra-time strike from Ian Rush. David Hodgson made his first-class reds debut in this game.

A sponsored run-out
1979 - We became the first English club to wear sponsored shirts when Hitachi was emblazoned on the red kit for the first time during a goalless draw with Bolton Wanderers at Anfield.

New men in charge
1991 - David Moores became Chairman of the club. He showed patience towards the Managers he employed to lead the reds, while largely staying out of the limelight favoured by some club chairmen. He sold his stake in the club to George Gillett Jr. and Tom Hicks in February 2007, becoming Honorary Life President, although he resigned from the Board in June 2009 after this had proven to be a terrible mistake.
2015 – Ex-reds centre-half Sami Hyypiä was appointed Manager of Zürich, being sacked nine months later as they were on their way to relegation.

In comes Soto
2009 – Greek centre-half Sotirios Kyrgiakos signed from A.E.K Athens for £2m, following the summer departure of Sami Hyypiä. Soto bagged three goals in 49 largely solid performances at the back, becoming something of a cult figure for his no-nonsense style before moving to VfL Wolfsburg on a free transfer two years later. On the same day, reserves left-back Robbie Threlfall joined Northampton Town on loan. He turned out five times in his one month with the Cobblers.

Trebles at either end
1954 - Forward Tony Rowley scored a hat-trick on his reds debut as we beat Doncaster Rovers 3-2 in our season opener at Anfield. Kit Lawlor bagged a brace for the visitors.
1971 - We were on the receiving end at St. James’ Park as Malcolm MacDonald bagged a treble for Newcastle United who beat us 3-2, the first of his seven goals past us, with Emlyn Hughes and future Magpie Kevin Keegan striking our goals.

New reds
1987 - Mike Marsh signed on at Anfield, joining on a free transfer from Kirkby Town. He netted six times in 101 first-team games for the reds, before moving to West Ham United in September 1993 as part of the deal that brought Julian Dicks to Anfield. He is now a First Team Coach back at Anfield.
1941 – Centre-forward Arthur Shepherd signed for the reds. He was on the Anfield books at the same time as his brothers Joseph and full-back Bill. He struck twelve times in eleven wartime games, but never appeared for the reds in peacetime.

1874 – Forward Joe Lumsden was born in Tanfield. He signed from Burton Wanderers in June 1897, scoring twice in just eight senior outings before moving on to Glossop North End in May 1898.

Seeing red for City
2004 - Richard Dunne was sent off for Manchester City as they lost 2-1 at Anfield in our first home game under Rafael Benítez, with our goals coming from Milan Baroš and Steven Gerrard. This was the first time in over five years that we had triumphed in a League game after trailing at half-time, to a Nicolas Anelka strike, one of his five goals past us.

The wrong kind of treble
2000 - Dietmar Hamann, Gary McAllister and Arsenal’s Patrick Vieira were all sent off as we lost 2-0 at Highbury. Hamann’s red card was later rescinded. Thierry Henry netted the first of his nine goals past us, after Lauren had opened the scoring.

Macca off the mark
1991 - Steve McManaman scored his first official reds goal as we lost 2-1 at Manchester City, with Dean Saunders missing a penalty. Mark Wright was injured in this game, and subsequently missed the next 21 games. David White bagged a brace for City, the first two of his five strikes past us, a feat he repeated in the reverse fixture later that season.

A striking debut
1976 - New £200,000 record signing David Johnson made his reds bow as we beat Norwich City 1-0 at Anfield, thanks to a Steve Heighway goal. Bob Paisley was presented with the Manager of the Year award from the previous season before the match.

Into the Champions League
2001 - We thumped Haka 4-1 at Anfield to progress to the group stages of the new Champions League for the first time, 9-1 on aggregate. Robbie Fowler scored on his return to the first team after his spat with Phil Thompson, while French midfielder Bernard Diomède played his fifth and final reds game. Our other goals came from Jamie Redknapp, Emile Heskey and an own goal from ex-Manchester United player Mark Wilson.

Cyril’s century
1951 – Forward Cyril Done reached a century of reds senior games in our goalless top-flight draw with Burnley at Turf Moor.
2021 – We beat Burnley 2-0 at Anfield, in front of a sell-out crowd for the first time since March 2020, due to previous COVID restrictions. Diogo Jota headed us in front, before both sies had goals ruled out for offside. Sadio Mané secured the victory after the break. On the same day, midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain became a father for the first time, a son. Meanwhile, ex-reds reserves centre-half Conor Masterson joined Cambridge United on loan from Queens Park Rangers, scoring once in 21 outings for the U’s.

Kicking off
1948 - We started the season with a defeat, losing 2-1 at Aston Villa in a season when we finished twelfth in the table. Jack Balmer nabbed our consolation with Trevor Ford netting two of his seven goals against us, while Cyril Sidlow saved a Dickie Dorsett spot-kick as right-back Bill Shepherd made his reds bow.

Quadruple debutants
2002 - Alou Diarra, Anthony Le Tallec, Florent Sinama-Pongolle and Grégory Vignal all made their debuts for the French Under-21’s. The French beat Iceland 2-1 in a friendly held at the Stade André Pestourie in Brive-la-Gaillarde. Future red Alex Manninger won his 1st cap for Austria as a R.C.D. Espanyol player as they lost 3-2 to Stéphane Henchoz’s Switzerland in a friendly in Basel.
2007 – Future red Joe Allen scored on his debut for Wales Under-21’s as they won a friendly 4-3 in Sweden. On the same day, future reds loanee Victor Moses nabbed a brace as England Under-17’s thumped New Zealand 5-0 in a World Championship Finals group game in South Korea, with future red James Milner playing for England Under-21’s.

Three for the boss
1943 - Future reds boss Don Welsh bagged a treble as we beat Everton 5-2 in a wartime friendly at Goodison Park. Billy Liddell and Jack Balmer added our others.

Robbie again
2002 - Robbie Keane netted in his fourth consecutive international, winning his final cap as a Leeds United player as the Republic of Ireland won a friendly in Finland 3-0. Sami Hyypiä, Jari Litmanen and ex-red Jason McAteer all also featured, with the latter captaining the side as he won his fiftieth cap, although some counts place this as his 49th due to a disputed game against a Mexico XI in 2000.

Bruno l’international
2002 - Bruno Cheyrou made his senior international debut for France, as a late substitute for Lilian Thuram in their 1-1 draw with Tunisia in Rades. Future red Djibril Cissé also featured. On the same day, Øyvind Leonhardsen won his final cap as a Tottenham Hotspur player, and 79th in total, as Norway lost 1-0 to the Netherlands in a friendly in Oslo. John Arne Riise and future red Bolo Zenden also played. Christian Poulsen won his first cap while with Schalke 04 as Denmark beat Scotland 1-0 at Hampden Park. Also in international action were Milan Baroš, Vladimír Šmicer, and future reds Paul Jones, Sotirios Kyrgiakos, Fernando Morientes and Andriy Voronin.

Red Olympians
2004 - Momo Sissoko played for Mali as they lost 1-0 to Italy in the Quarter-final at the Olympic Games in Athens. More happily, future red Javier Mascherano featured in Argentina’s 4-0 thumping of Costa Rica in Patras at the same stage of the tournament.

Diouf on target
2007 - Ex-red El-Hadji Diouf struck as Senegal drew 1-1 in a friendly with Ghana at The New Den in south London. Ex-reds Djibril Cissé and Alou Diarra both featured for France in a B international defeat in Slovakia, with Nikolay Mihaylov featuring for Bulgaria Under-21’s.

Strikers on the move
2019 – Daniel Sturridge signed for Trabzonspor after netting an impressive 67 times in 160 reds games since arriving from Chelsea for £12m in January 2013. He was released the following March after scoring seven times in sixteen outings.
2008 – Djibril Cissé joined Sunderland on loan from Olympique de Marseille. He bagged eleven goals in 38 games for the Mackems that season.
2001 - King Kenny’s son Paul Dalglish re-joined Wigan Athletic on loan from Norwich City. He stayed for the whole season, scoring twice in thirty appearances.
1914 – Forward Jack Parkinson moved on to Bury after 128 goals in 219 reds games.

Other reds games
1999 – We lost 1-0 at Middlesbrough with Brian Deane nabbing the last of his eight goals against the reds.
1995 – Tony Yeboah netted a wonder strike, the only goal of our visit to Leeds United.
1985 – We were held to a 2-2 draw at Aston Villa. Gary Shaw scored for the Villains with Ian Rush equalising before the break. Future red Mark Walters netted before Jan Mølby’s late leveller. However, there was still time for Nigel Spink to save a Rush spot-kick.
1965 – We won 3-1 at Leicester City with Geoff Strong adding to a Roger Hunt brace.

For Shanks
1974 – An informal dinner party in honour of the retired Bill Shankly was staged at St. George’s Hotel. The event was sponsored by the reds players and labelled ‘Thank You Boss’. The menu included Cured Kop Cod and Clear Mersey Soup, with one of the accompanying wines being from “a Shankley [sic] vintage year” of 1972, curiously a year in which he failed to lead us to silverware.

Also in international action
1990 – Future red Øyvind Leonhardsen played for Norway Under-21’s as they beat Sweden 2-0 in a friendly in Tromsø.
1999 – Future red Igor Bišcan featured for Croatia in their 2-1 defeat of Malta in a European Championships qualifier in Zagreb.