8th August

Happy birthday Joël
1991 – Centre-half Joël Matip was born in Bochum, Germany. He signed on a free transfer from Schalke 04 in July 2016, bagging eleven goals in 201 games for the reds as he helped us to claim the Premier League title, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, FA Cup, League Cup and FA Community Shield.

Into the Champions League
2001 - We played our first ever game in the new format of the UEFA Champions League, registering our record equal away win in Europe to date as we thumped Finnish side Haka 5-0, thanks to a hat-trick from Michael Owen, our first away from home in Europe, and strikes from Emile Heskey and Sami Hyypiä.

Stevie the best
2013 - Steven Gerrard came first in the club’s second ‘100 Players Who Shook The Kop’ poll, beating Kenny Dalglish, who had taken the honour the first time around in October 2006.

Forward signings
1983 – Forward Michael Robinson signed from Brighton & Hove Albion for £200,000. In his first season at the club he won the League title and European Cup, bagging a total of thirteen goals in 52 games before moving to Queens Park Rangers for £100,000 in December 1984.
1991 - Mark Walters officially signed from Rangers for a £1.25m fee, going on to score nineteen times in 124 reds appearances. He had been a big success in Scotland, but could not reproduce that at Anfield, and eventually moved to Southampton in January 1996.

Djimi off
2006 - Djimi Traoré was sold to Charlton Athletic for £2m after one goal in 141 reds games, in which he helped us to claim the Champions League in 2005. He appeared just thirteen times for the Addicks before moving on to Portsmouth in January 2006. On the same day, reserves centre-back Danny O’Donnell joined Crewe Alexandra on loan. He played 31 times for the Alex that season, making the switch permanent in June 2007.

Happy birthday Julian
1968 - Former left-back Julian Dicks was born in Bristol. He signed from West Ham United for £1.5m in September 1993 and has the honour of being the last red to score in front of the standing Kop, before he returned to West Ham United in May 1994 after three goals in 28 reds games.

Farewell Nessie
2002 - Agnes ‘Nessie’ Shankly’s funeral was held in Liverpool. She had been Bill Shankly’s wife throughout his career and was well-loved by many of the players and staff at Anfield.

Wembley disappointment
1992 - Paul Stewart made his first-class debut for the reds as we lost 4-3 to Leeds United in the FA Charity Shield at Wembley, thanks to an Eric Cantona hat-trick, the first of his five goals past us, with Tony Dorigo also on target. Ian Rush and Dean Saunders netted, as we also benefited from a late Gordon Strachan own goal.

Pepe wins again
2007 - Pepe Reina was awarded the Barclays Golden Glove Award for most clean sheets for the second successive season. He went on to claimed it twice more during his time in England.
2014 – He was sold to Bayern München for £2m after 177 clean sheets in 394 reds games since signing from Villarreal for £6m in July 2005. He had helped us to claim the FA Cup, League Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FA Charity Shield.

Bonjour and au revoir
2003 - Young French centre-back Carl Medjani signed from Saint-Étienne on a free transfer. He never made the reds first team, moving back to his native land to join Lorient in July 2006 after a previous loan spell.
2005 - He signed for Metz on loan, making 25 senior appearances.

2014 – Left-back Aly Cissokho signed for Aston Villa, having spent the previous season on loan from Valencia at Anfield. On the same day, Spanish midfielder Gerardo Bruna signed for Tranmere Rovers, while centre-forward Adam Morgan joined St. Johnstone on loan from Yeovil Town.
2010 – Right-back Philipp Degen joined VfB Stuttgart on loan, but he could only make eight first-team appearances as he once again suffered with injuries.
1941 – Defender Fred Finney signed on as an amateur in August 1941, but played just two senior reds games, both in the space of a week against Chester in January 1946.

Barmby on the move
Nick Barmby twice changed clubs on this day over the years.
1995 - He joined Middlesbrough from Tottenham Hotspur for £5.25m.
2002 - He left Anfield for Leeds United in a £2.75m deal after eight goals in 58 reds games.

Jock remembered
1998 - We played Celtic in a friendly to commemorate the opening of their Jock Stein Stand. Øyvind Leonhardsen grabbed the only goal of the game.

German friendlies
We have twice played at Hamburger SV’s Volksparkstadion on this day over the years.
1967 - Ian St. John grabbed a brace as we drew 2-2.
1986 - We lost 1-0.
1978 - We drew 1-1 at Bayern München, with David Fairclough on the scoresheet.

Reds in Scandinavia
1988 - John Aldridge and Ronnie Whelan were on target as we drew 2-2 at Norwegian side Tromsø.
1990 - John Barnes struck the only goal of the game against a Stockholm Alliance XI in Solna.

Other friendlies
2021 – Diogo Jota struck as we drew 1-1 with Athletic Bilbao in an Anfield friendly in front of a 75% capacity crowd, post-COVID.
2009 - We lost 2-1 at Anfield to Club Atlético de Madrid in our final pre-season friendly, with Lucas notching for the reds after we went in two goals down at the break, also suffering an injury to Jamie Carragher. Ex-red Florent Sinama-Pongolle came off the bench for the visitors to a warm reception during the second half.
2008 – Andriy Voronin bagged the only goal of the game in the final minute as we entertained S.S. Lazio at Anfield in our final pre-season friendly.

1984 - Alan Kennedy struck to hand us victory over Swiss side BSC Young Boys in the first round of the Phillips Trophy at their w***dorf Stadion in Bern, which we went on to win two days later.
1982 - Phil Neal netted from the spot, with Ian Rush on target twice as we won 3-0 at Third Division Portsmouth.
1975 - Jimmy Case scored in our last pre-season friendly as we drew 1-1 at Dutch side Roda JC in a game that marked the official switching on of the new floodlights at the Gemeentelijk Sportpark Kaalheide.

Adam on target
2010 – Adam Morgan netted for England Under-17’s as they beat Sweden 2-1 in the Final of the Nordic Tournament in Finland.

More beer
2002 - A new three-year sponsorship deal with Carlsberg, worth up to £15m, was announced.

Clem honoured
2001 - It was announced that Ray Clemence had won a prestigious UEFA award to mark his achievement of playing more than a century of UEFA club competition games.

On the move
2008 – Ex-reds defender Stephen Wright signed for Coventry City after spending much of the previous season at Stoke City. On the same day, Jari Litmanen re-signed for Lahti in his native Finland. He netted four goals in fourteen League outings before signing a one-year deal in April 2009.
2001 - Reserves defender Alan Navarro joined Crewe Alexandra for his second loan spell at Gresty Road. He made nine appearances to add to the eight he had made there at the end of the previous season. On the same day, midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain joined Arsenal from Southampton for a reported £12m, going on to bag twenty goals in 198 games for the Gunners before moving to Anfield for £35m in August 2017.

2012 – Young forward Henoc Mukendi joined Northampton Town on loan, netting once in thirteen outings, although ten of these were from the bench.
2016 – Full-back Ryan McLaughlin signed for Oldham Athletic, having been released by the reds at the end of the previous campaign. He scored twice in 43 outings in his first season with the Latics.
2018 – Ex-reds left-back Brad Smith joined Seattle Sounders on loan from Bournemouth.

2019 – Ovie Ejaria returned to Reading for a second loan spell, netting three times in 39 outings as the Royals finished in mid-table in the Championship. On the same day, keeper Scott Carson joined Manchester City on loan from Derby County, but never made a first-team appearance. Meanwhile, Andy Carroll re-signed for Newcastle United, failing to notch in 21 games in his first campaign back on Tyneside.
2022 – Midfielder Conor Coady joined Everton on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers, netting twice in 25 outings as he helped them to avoid relegation.
2023 – Polish keeper Jakub Ojrzyński joined Den Bosch on loan, playing eleven senior games for the Dutch side.

A century of the League
1987 - Peter Beardsley and ex-red Steve Ogrizovic both played as a Football League side beat a Rest of the World eleven that included future red Glenn Hysén 3-0 in the Football League Centenary Classic at Wembley Stadium.

Rickie the dad again
2013 – Future reds forward Rickie Lambert became a father for the third time, to Bella Rose.

Also in international action
1993 – Future reds goalkeeping coach Cláudio Taffarel appeared as Brazil were held to a 1-1 friendly draw by Mexico in Maceió.
1991 – Future red Øyvind Leonhardsen played for Norway in their 2-1 friendly defeat by Sweden in Oslo.
1984 – Jim Beglin featured in the Republic of Ireland’s goalless draw with Mexico in Dublin.