31st August

Happy birthday Mr. Kennedy
1954 - Alan Kennedy was born in Sunderland. He is best remembered for his winning strikes in two European Cup Finals, but also won five League titles, four League Cups and three FA Charity Shields after moving from Newcastle United for £330,000 in August 1978, making 359 appearances and notching twenty times before joining his hometown club for £100,000 in September 1985.

1911 - Frank O’Donnell was born in Buckhaven, Fife. He struck once in two Wartime appearances for the reds. He gained six Scotland caps as well as scoring for Preston North End in every round of the FA Cup in 1937, including the Final.
1990 – Scottish reserves midfielder Gary Mackay-Steven was born in Thurso. He joined the reds in 2007 but failed to break through before being released two years later.
2006 – Forward Keyrol Figueroa was born in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. He signed pro terms with the reds in May 2024 and represents the USA at Under-17’s level even though his father was a senior international with Honduras.

Happy birthday Pepe
1982 - Keeper Pepe Reina was born in Madrid. He arrived from Villarreal for £6m in July 2005, keeping a remarkable 177 clean sheets in his 394 games and helping us to claim the FA Cup, League Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FA Charity Shield before moving to Bayern München for £2m in August 2014 after spending the previous campaign on loan at SSC Napoli.

Farewell to a legend
1960 - Billy Liddell played his 534th and final reds game as we lost 1-0 to Southampton in a Second Division fixture at Anfield. Right-half Gordon Milne made his reds debut in the same game.
1994 - We also faced Southampton, winning 2-0 with John Barnes and Robbie Fowler on target at The Dell. Bruce Grobbelaar and former reds reserve Jim Magilton both featured for the home side.
1968 – Tony Hateley played his 56th and last reds game in our 1-0 defeat at Leeds United, with Mick Jones netting one of his seven goals past us.

Keepers on the move
2002 - We signed two goalkeepers on transfer deadline day as Gérard Houllier lost faith with incumbent Sander Westerveld. Jerzy Dudek signed from Feyenoord for £4.85m, while Chris Kirkland arrived from Coventry City for £6m. Dudek played 186 reds games, with Kirkland making 45 appearances. On the same day, defender Djimi Traoré joined French side Racing Club de Lens on loan for the rest of the season.

2004 - Sander Westerveld joined Real Club Deportivo Mallorca on loan from Real Sociedad. He played six League games for the island side.
2009 - Charles Itandje joined Greek side A.O. Kavala on loan, where he played nineteen League games that season.

Late winner
2022 - Alexander Isak netted on his debut for Newcastle United, having a second strike ruled out for offside before Roberto Firmino equalised at Anfield after an hour. Fábio Carvalho nabbed a very late winner during a scramble from a corner.

In comes the Ox
2017 – Midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain signed from Arsenal for £35m, scoring eighteen times in 146 games before moving on in the summer of 2023. He made it back from serious injury to sit on the bench as we claimed the UEFA Champions League in Madrid in June 2019 and then helped us to claim the Premier League, FIFA Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup. On the same day, forward Divock Origi joined VfL Wolfsburg on loan, for whom he struck six times in 34 outings. Meanwhile, centre-half Mamadou Sakho was sold to Crystal Palace for an initial £24m after a successful loan spell, and Brazilian midfielder Allan Rodrigues de Souza joined Apollon Limassol on loan.

David’s debut
2008 - David N’Gog made his reds bow as a substitute for the injured Fernando Torres as we held Aston Villa to a goalless draw in our Premiership meeting in the Midlands, with Robbie Keane again drawing a blank.

Bobby’s half ton
2019 – Roberto Firmino scored his fiftieth League goal late on as we won 3-0 at Burnley. Chris Wood put through his own net with Sadio Mané also on target before the break. Mané had a much-hyped, short-lived argument with Mohamed Salah as he was substituted.

Latest moves
2021 – Midfielder Jake Cain joined Newport County on loan, winger Sheyi Ojo moved to Millwall for the season, while winger Luis Longstaff headed north to Queen’s Park for the upcoming campaign. On the same day, centre-half Rhys Williams signed a new contract and then moved on to Swansea City on loan. Meanwhile, centre-half Nat Phillips and club skipper Jordan Henderson both penned new deals with the reds.
2023 – Phillips moved on to Celtic on loan, playing eight times before being recalled in January.

Other recent deadline day moves
2016 – Mario Balotelli joined Nice on a free transfer after a season on loan back at AC Milan. He had signed from the rossoneri for £16m two years earlier, scoring just four times in 28 reds games. On the same day, defender Andre Wisdom joined Red Bull Salzburg on loan, with winger Lazar Marković moving to Sporting Clube de Portugal on a temporary basis. Luis Alberto was sold to S.S. Lazio for €4m after just twelve senior reds appearances since arriving from Sevilla for £6.8m in June 2013. Meanwhile, defender Álvaro Arbeloa joined West Ham United from Real Madrid on a free transfer and forward Rickie Lambert left West Bromwich Albion to sign for Cardiff City.

2015 – Fabio Borini was sold to Sunderland for £8m after a previous loan spell, having bagged three goals in 38 reds games since his £10.4m arrival from Roma in July 2012. On the same day, winger Sergi Canós joined Brentford on loan, while forward Samed Yeşil moved to Luzern on a temporary basis. Nigerian forward Taiwo Awoniyi signed from Imperial Academy for £400,000 and joined Fußballsportverein Frankfurt 1899 e.V. on loan on the same day.
2012 – Winger Sadio Mané joined Red Bull Salzburg from Metz for a reported €4m, going on to net 45 times in 87 games for the Austrian side to secure a £11.8m move to Southampton in September 2014.

2011 – This day brought a whole host of deadline day transfers. Raúl Meireles left Anfield to sign for Chelsea for £12m, after five goals in 44 reds appearances since arriving from Porto for £11.5m a year earlier. Craig Bellamy signed on a free transfer from Manchester City, netting nine times in 37 games in this second spell and helping us to claim the Carling Cup. David N’Gog was sold to Bolton Wanderers for £4m after nineteen strikes in 94 reds games since signing from Paris St. Germain for £1.5m in July 2008. Meanwhile, Christian Poulsen joined French side Évian Thonon Gaillard having played 21 times for the reds, while Joe Cole signed for Lille OSC Métropole on loan, for whom he netted nine goals in 42 outings.

On the same day, Yossi Benayoun joined Arsenal on loan from Chelsea, while future red Fabio Borini signed for Roma on a temporary basis from Parma. Peter Crouch joined Stoke City from Tottenham Hotspur for a club record £10m after bagging 24 goals in 94 games for Spurs. Meanwhile, El-Hadji Diouf’s contract with Blackburn Rovers was terminated by mutual consent, with the same happening to Philipp Degen at Anfield.

2010 – Left-back Paul Konchesky signed from Fulham in exchange for £3.5m, Finnish forward Lauri Dalla Valle and Swedish left-winger Alex Kačaniklić. Konchesky only played eighteen reds games before being sold to Leicester City in July 2011, after a previous loan spell at Nottingham Forest. Left-back Emiliano Insúa joined Galatasaray on loan, while Moroccan forward Nabil El Zhar moved to PAOK in Greece on a temporary basis. Meanwhile, Dutch midfielder Vincent Weijl left Anfield to join Spanish side S.D. Eibar, with midfielder Ádám Hajdú arriving on loan from MTK Hungária. On the same day, ex-reds midfielder Jermaine Pennant joined Stoke City on loan from Real Zaragoza, making the move permanent four months later.

Damien in and out
2007 - Young French midfielder Damien Plessis signed from Olympique Lyonnais. He made eight senior appearances, netting once. On the same day, Danny Murphy joined Fulham from Tottenham Hotspur. He struck 28 goals in 210 games for the Cottagers before moving to Blackburn Rovers in June 2012.
2010 – Plessis left Anfield for Panathinaikos, for whom he played nine times before joining French side Athlétic Club Arles-Avignon in July 2012. On the same day, ex-red Luis García also joined the Greek side, on a free transfer from Real Racing Club de Santander. He netted twice in 20 games in Greece before moving to Mexico to sign for Puebla in July 2011.

Other deadline day moves
2006 - Florent Sinama-Pongolle joined Real Club Recreativo de Huelva on loan. He struck twelve times in 34 League outings in his first season, subsequently signing for them permanently in a £2.7m deal. On the same day, Jan Kromkamp returned to his native Netherlands to join PSV Eindhoven after just eighteen reds appearances following his January 2006 swap arrival from Villarreal, although he left Anfield with an FA Cup winners’ medal. Meanwhile, Paul Ince signed for Swindon Town and Javier Mascherano joined West Ham United from Corinthians Paulista for an undisclosed fee. Ince only turned out three times for the Robins, with Mascherano only doing marginally better, with just seven appearances for the Hammers.

2018 – Defender Corey Whelan joined Crewe Alexandra on loan, scoring once in eighteen games for the Alex. On the same day, left-back Joe Maguire joined Crawley Town on loan from Fleetwood Town, scoring once in thirty appearances for the reds.
2020 – Midfielder Tyler Morton signed professional terms. He penned a new contract in January 2021, featuring in the FA Youth Cup Final defeat to Aston Villa four months later. He broke through to make nine senior appearances in 2021/22.
2022 – Left-back Owen Beck joined Bolton Wanderers on loan, appearing nine times for the League One outfit. On the same day, ex-reds forward Mario Balotelli signed for Sion, scoring six times in nineteen games before moving on in September 2023.

Four for William
1927 - Centre-forward Willie Devlin scored four goals as we thumped Bury 5-1 at Anfield, with Gordon Hodgson netting the other.

Derby joy
1991 - David Burrows struck a screamer inside the first minute after Blues skipper Dave Watson forced the reds to attack the Kop end in the first half, the first of his three reds strikes. Dean Saunders and Ray Houghton also netted as we beat Everton 3-1, our fifth straight derby victory. Ex-reds reserves striker Mike Newell struck the consolation while Peter Beardsley made the short return across the park to be greeted with chants of “what a waste of talent.”

Scoring starts
1974 - Ray Kennedy was on the scoresheet on his reds debut as we won 3-0 at Chelsea. A Phil Boersma brace completed the scoring.
1935 - We also visited Stamford Bridge, with Berry Nieuwenhuys on target twice in a 2-2 draw in our first game of the season. Joe Bambrick bagged the first two of his four goals past the reds.
1921 – Forward Billy Matthews struck his first two reds goals as we beat Manchester City 3-2 at Anfield, with Dick Forshaw also on target. Horace Barnes netted one of his nine goals against us, with Billy Murphy also scoring.

Ton up for Brendan
2014 – Brendan Rodgers led us to a 56th win in his hundredth game as reds boss as we won 3-0 at Tottenham Hotspur. Raheem Sterling opened the scoring before Steven Gerrard converted a new club record 43rd penalty. Left-back Alberto Moreno bagged his first goal for the club, with Mario Balotelli making his reds bow.
2018 – Harry Kewell took over as Manager of Notts County, but only lasted three months before being sacked. On the same day, former reds Managing Director Christian Purslow was appointed as CEO of Aston Villa, ex-reds loanee Nuri Şahin joined SV Werder Bremen on a free transfer from Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e.V. Dortmund and keeper Dean Bouzanis joined PEC Zwolle on loan from Melbourne City.

Debutants galore
1946 - Len Carney, making his debut, scored our first post-war goal in the final minute, the only strike of our opening First Division fixture at Sheffield United, and his solitary senior reds goal. Keeper Cyril Sidlow and Bill Jones both also made their reds bows. The reds had caused a stir by coming out onto the pitch ten minutes before kick-off to warm up, largely unheard of at the time.
1982 - Steve Nicol made his first reds appearance in our goalless draw at Birmingham City.

A reds legend starts out
1968 - Phil Neal made his debut for Fourth Division Northampton Town in their 1-0 defeat of Walsall. He spent six years at the County Ground before arriving at Anfield for £66,000 in October 1974.

More recent moves
2014 - Fernando Torres joined AC Milan on loan from Chelsea, netting once in ten games before returning to his first club Atlético de Madrid the following January.
2012 – Jay Spearing joined Bolton Wanderers on loan, where he struck twice in 39 outings before signing on permanently a year later. On the same day, Charlie Adam moved to Stoke City for a reported £4m after two goals in 37 reds games since his arrival from Blackpool for an initial £6.75m in July 2011. Meanwhile, reserves forward Nathan Eccleston was sold to Blackpool, having made nine senior reds appearances. Yossi Benayoun rejoined West Ham United on loan from Chelsea, winger Adam Hammill moved to Huddersfield Town from Wolverhampton Wanderers on a temporary basis, while Ryan Babel re-signed for Ajax. On the same day, Christian Benteke left Koninklijke Racing Club Genk to join Aston Villa for a reported £7m.
2011 – Keeper Daniele Padelli joined Udinese on loan from Sampdoria, failing to make a senior appearance before making the move permanent in August 2012.

2008 - Left-winger Albert Riera signed from R.C.D. Espanyol on transfer deadline day for an initial £5.5m. He made 56 appearances, netting five times before joining Olympiacos in July 2010.
2007 – Right-back Glen Johnson joined Portsmouth from Chelsea for £4m, having spent the previous season on loan at Fratton Park. He bagged four goals in exactly a century of games for Pompey in total. On the same day, future Under-23’s Assistant Coach Gary O’Neil joined to Middlesbrough from Portsmouth for a reported £5m, going on to net twelve times in 120 games before moving on to West Ham United in January 2011.
2006 - Rickie Lambert joined Bristol Rovers from League Two side Rochdale for £200,000 after 28 goals in 68 games for the Dale.
2004 – Centre-half Ragnar Klavan joined Vålerenga on loan from Flora Tallinn, playing just four times while in Norway.
2002 - Robbie Keane joined Tottenham Hotspur from Leeds United for £7m. He notched 107 times in 254 outings in his first spell with Spurs before moving to Anfield for £19.3m in July 2008.

2005 - Michael Owen joined Newcastle United from Real Madrid for £17m after a proposed move back to Anfield failed to materialise. He bagged thirty goals in 79 games for the Toon as serious injuries interrupted his time in the north east. On the same day, Salif Diao joined Portsmouth on loan. He only managed to make thirteen appearances for Pompey and was not taken on permanently. Meanwhile, Darren Potter signed a new three-year contract at Anfield and ex-red Abel Xavier signed for Middlesbrough. He played twenty times for Boro while also being found guilty of breaching UEFA’s anti-doping regulations. Meanwhile, James Milner joined Aston Villa on loan from Newcastle United on loan, netting three times in 33 games.

An opening day thumping
1929 - We were well beaten as we lost 5-0 at Middlesbrough in our opening fixture of the season. Forward Alan Scott played the first of his four senior reds games. Bobby Bruce struck the first two of his five goals against us, with Jackie Carr bagging the last of his five, George Camsell the first of his nine past the reds and Owen Williams also on target.

Called off
1997 – Our Premiership encounter with Newcastle United at Anfield was called off following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in Paris earlier that day.

Other reds games
1985 – Craig Johnston and Ronnie Whelan struck as we drew 2-2 at West Ham United with Frank McAvennie twice giving the Hammers the lead.
1983 – Graeme Souness netted the only goal of our trip to Norwich City.
1976 – We drew 1-1 with West Bromwich Albion in a League Cup Second Round tie at Anfield. Johnny Giles struck the last of his five goals against the reds after Ian Callaghan had given us the lead. However, we lost the replay.

1963 – We lost 2-1 to Blackpool in L4. John McPhee scored before Ray Charnley struck one of his seven goals past us before half time. Ronnie Moran had a penalty saved before Jimmy Melia struck.
1957 – We beat Cardiff City 3-0 in a Second Division encounter at Anfield. Jimmy Melia and Billy Liddell each netted inside the first five minutes, with Danny Malloy putting through his own net after the break.
1955 – We drew another Second Division fixture 1-1 at Sheffield Wednesday with Billy Liddell scoring our goal.
1949 – Billy Liddell was on target as Stoke City held us to a 1-1 draw at home with Frank Bowyer nabbing one of his four goals against us.

International bows
1988 - Karl-Heinz Riedle netted on his senior international debut, coming on as a substitute in West Germany’s 4-0 World Cup qualifying win in Finland. Meanwhile, fellow future red István Kozma featured for Hungary in their goalless friendly in Austria, with Fiorentina’s Glenn Hysen in action as Sweden lost 2-1 to Denmark in a friendly in Solna.
2005 – Michael Nardiello debuted for England Under-17’s in their 3-1 defeat of Portugal in the Pepsi International Tournament at Ashton Gate.

2000 - Stephen Wright won his first cap for England Under-21’s as a substitute in their 6-1 friendly mauling of Georgia at the Riverside Stadium, with future red Joe Cole scoring his first goal at this level.
2001 – They both also featured at the same level in a 2-1 European Championships qualifying win in Germany, with Cole again on target. Meanwhile, Pepe Reina played for Spain Under-21’s as they beat Austria 2-0 in Burriana, and fellow future red Christian Poulsen featured in Denmark’s 2-0 defeat of Northern Ireland in another qualifier in Odense.

Final caps
2017 – Philippe Coutinho struck has last goal for Brazil while a reds player as they beat Ecuador 2-0 in a World Cup qualifier in Porto Alegre, with future red Alisson Becker also in action. Future red Naby Keïta scored as Guinea beat Libya 3-2 in a qualifier in Conakry. On the same day, Mohamed Salah won his first cap as a red in Egypt’s 1-0 qualifying defeat in Uganda. Ragnar Klavan, Gini Wijnaldum, ex-reds Péter Gulácsi and Brad Smith, and future red Xherdan Shaqiri also featured in qualifiers that day.
2016 – Ex-red Robbie Keane won his 146th and last cap for the Republic of Ireland, netting in their 4-0 thumping of Oman in a friendly in Dublin.

Internationals on target
1996 - Ex-red Dean Saunders netted twice while winning his first cap as a Nottingham Forest player, and 53rd in total, as Wales thumped San Marino 6-0 in a World Cup qualifier in Cardiff. Other ex-reds in international action on the same day were Ray Houghton, Jim Magilton and Steve Staunton, with future red Stéphane Henchoz also playing for his country.
2007 – Future reds reserves forward Nikola Sarić bagged his first Under-17’s goal as Denmark thumped Norway 4-0 in a Syrenka Cup game in Poland.
2012 – Jerome Sinclair scored for England Under-17’s as they beat Turkey 4-1 in a friendly in Northampton, with Sheyi Ojo also featuring.

Captain Gary Mac
1996 - Leeds United’s Gary McAllister captained Scotland as he won his 45th international cap, in their goalless World Cup qualifier in Austria.

Also in international action
1993 – Future red Brad Friedel played for the USA as they won a friendly 1-0 in Iceland.