28th February

Happy birthday Ronnie
1934 - Reds stalwart Ronnie Moran was born in Crosby. He spent 49 years at Anfield, making 379 senior appearances and bagging seventeen goals. He helped us to win the Second Division in 1963 and the League title the following year, before joining the coaching staff. He took charge of the reds for ten games in between Kenny Dalglish’s departure and Graeme Souness’s appointment, having another spell in temporary charge while Souness recovered from his heart operation. He died in March 2017.

1980 – Danish midfielder Christian Poulsen was born in Asnæs. He was signed by Roy Hodgson for £4.5m from Juventus in August 2010 and played 21 reds games without scoring, moving on to French side Évian Thonon Gaillard a year later.
1973 - Goalkeeping coach Xavi Valero was born in Castellón de la Plana. He played for a variety of clubs in Spain, including Real Murcia, and joined the staff at Melwood in July 2007 after José Ochotorena left to join Valencia. He then followed Rafael Benítez to Internazionale.
1962 – Former Head of the Academy medical department Dave Galley was born in Stoke-on-Trent. He had roles with Port Vale, Fulham, Luton Town and Sheffield Wednesday before joining the reds as a physiotherapist in the summer of 1999. He returned to the club in 2009, moving on to Sunderland a year later.

Another record for Rushie
1995 - Ian Rush equalled Denis Law’s FA Cup scoring record of 41 goals as we beat Wimbledon 2-0 at Selhurst Park in a Fifth Round replay. John Barnes was also on target. Rush went on to net 44 FA Cup goals in total, still a competition record. Unfortunately, we were knocked out at Anfield by Tottenham Hotspur in the next round.

Wembley disappointment
2016 – We lost the League Cup Final to Manchester City on penalties. Fernandinho put the Sky Blues ahead shortly after the break, with Philippe Coutinho equalising to send the game into extra time. Emre Can converted the first spot kick before Fernandinho missed. However, Lucas, Coutinho and Adam Lallana’s efforts were all saved as we lost the shoot-out 3-1.

Seven thousand goals
2021 – Curtis Jones opened the scoring behind closed doors at Sheffield United as we won 2-0. Roberto Firmino’s strike deflected off Kean Bryan in what was our 7,000th goal in top-flight football, becoming the second club to reach that landmark.

Off the mark
1987 - John Aldridge bagged his first reds goal to hand us a 1-0 victory over Southampton at Anfield. Centre-forward Alan Irvine made his fourth and final senior reds appearance in this game, coming on as a substitute for Gary Gillespie, with Ian Rush moving back into midfield to accommodate him.
1981 - We also entertained the Saints, with Ray Kennedy and Terry McDermott on target in a 2-0 win.

1914 – Forward Jimmy Nicholl struck his first reds goal in our 2-2 draw at Oldham Athletic, with Arthur Metcalf also on target. Centre-forward Tommy Gracie played his 34th and final reds game, while right-back Ephraim Longworth put through his own net, with Ollie Tummon also on target.
1920 – Notts County were beaten 3-0 in L4, thanks to Albert Pearson’s fourth and final reds goal, with Jackie Sheldon and Tom Miller also on target.

Red trebles
1931 - South African forward Gordon Hodgson netted a hat-trick, including a penalty, in a 5-2 home League win over Blackpool with centre-half Norman James making his reds bow. Archie McPherson added a brace as Jimmy Hampson netted the first of his six goals against the reds and Jack Oxberry also on target.
1953 - Louis Bimpson bagged all three goals in our 3-2 friendly defeat of Burnley.

Carra the top personality
2005 - Jamie Carragher was awarded the Merseyside Sports Personality of the Year in a ceremony organised by the Liverpool Echo.

Friedel’s debut
1998 - Brad Friedel made his reds bow in a 2-1 League defeat at Aston Villa. Michael Owen bagged our goal from the spot, with ex-red Stan Collymore netting both of the home side’s goals in John Gregory’s first game as Villa boss.
2001 - Friedel won his 67th cap for the USA, his first one as a Blackburn Rovers player, in their 2-0 World Cup qualifying win over Mexico. The game was played in the Columbus Crew Stadium, where he used to play his club football.

Second-rate King Kenny
1984 - Kenny Dalglish made his first reserves appearance for the reds, nearly seven years into his Anfield career. He had been out of action for two months since fracturing a cheekbone against Manchester United. Only 360 fans were there to see him lay on a goal for Paul Jewell as he played the full ninety minutes. On the same day, Graeme Souness captained Scotland to a 2-1 victory over Wales in the British International Championships at Hampden Park, with Ian Rush and ex-reds Joey Jones and Frank McGarvey also featuring.

Twice against Boro
1903 - We won 2-0 at Linthorpe Road, with Sam Raybould and Edgar Chadwick on target in this top-flight meeting with Middlesbrough, our first visit to Boro and only fixture at this venue.
2009 – We lost 2-0 at the Riverside Stadium. A Xabi Alonso own goal handed the home side the lead with Tuncay also netting. Martin Škrtel had a rare outing at right-back.

Derby action
We twice faced Derby County on this day during the 1970s.
1970 - We lost 2-0 at Anfield, one of just eleven home League defeats in the entire decade. This was the Rams’ first win in L4 since December 1937 after fourteen unsuccessful visits. John O’Hare bagged one of his six goals past us, with Terry Hennessey also netting as left-back Peter Wall appeared for the 42nd and last time for the reds.
1976 - We drew 1-1 at the Baseball Ground, with Ray Kennedy netting late on for the reds after Charlie George had struck one of his five goals against the reds from the spot. Emlyn Hughes reached the impressive landmark of 500 reds games that day.

Back in town
1979 – We beat Burnley 3-0 in an FA Cup Fifth Round tie at Anfield. David Johnson netted twice with Graeme Souness also scoring and ex-red Brian Hall on the losing side. We went as far as the Semi-final that season before losing to Manchester United.

On target again
2010 - We scored in our 25th consecutive home League game as we beat Blackburn Rovers 2-1. Fábio Aurélio played his 110th and final game of his first spell at Anfield. Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres struck in the first half, either side of a Keith Andrews penalty after Jamie Carragher’s inadvertent handball.

First time as a red
1999 - Rigobert Song won his first cap as a reds player as Cameroon beat Mozambique 1-0 in an African Cup of Nations qualifier in Yaoundé.

International beginning and end
2006 - Ex-reds keeper Tony Warner won his first cap for Trinidad & Tobago as a substitute in their 2-0 friendly defeat of Iceland at Loftus Road. Future reds Sotirios Kyrgiakos and Andriy Voronin also played for their countries while Scott Carson, Darren Potter, future reds Alberto Aquilani, Raul Meireles and James Milner, and ex-red Michael Foley-Sheridan all featured in Under-21’s friendlies on the same day, with future red Glen Johnson winning his fourteenth and final cap at this level as England beat Norway 3-1 in Reading, with John Welsh playing for the first time since moving permanently to Hull City. Meanwhile, Roy Hodgson took charge of Finland in the Cyprus Tournament.

2012 – Future red Lazar Marković made his senior international debut for Serbia as they beat Armenia 2-0 in a friendly in Cyprus. Meanwhile, Conor Coady captained England Under-19’s in their 2-1 friendly victory over the Czech Republic in London, with Andre Wisdom also featuring.
1925 – Ex-red Harry Beadles won his second and final cap for Wales in their 2-1 defeat by England in the British International Championships at Vetch Field.
1995 – Future red Haukur Ingi Gudnason won his sixteenth and last Under-17’s cap for Iceland as they were trounced 6-1 by Scotland in the Portugal Tournament.

International reds in action
2001 - Nick Barmby bagged the first England goal of Sven-Göran Eriksson’s reign, with Emile Heskey also netting in a 3-0 friendly defeat of Spain at Villa Park, as Michael Owen won his 25th cap. Ex-red David James also played. On the same day, Igor Bišcan came on as a substitute in Croatia’s 1-0 friendly defeat of Austria in Rijeka, winning his twelfth cap, and first as a reds player, with future red Alex Manninger also playing.

Also in action that day were Sander Westerveld, who kept a clean sheet against Turkey at the Amsterdam ArenA, Sami Hyypiä, Vladimír Šmicer and ex-red Jim Magilton. Future red Abel Xavier appeared in Portugal’s 3-0 World Cup qualifying defeat of Andorra in Funchal. Meanwhile, Feyenoord’s Jerzy Dudek won his tenth cap as Poland thumped a Switzerland side that included Stéphane Henchoz 4-0.

On the move
1978 – Centre-half Max Thompson was sold to Blackpool for £80,000. He had become the club’s youngest ever player in May 1974, aged seventeen years and 129 days, standing in for John Toshack four days after the FA Cup had been won in 1974, having only turned pro four months earlier. He only made one more senior appearance.
2011 – Reserves forward David Amoo joined Hull City on loan, netting once in seven games for the Tigers.
2013 - Kevin MacDonald was appointed Manager of Swindon Town after Paolo Di Canio’s resignation. He led them to the League One play-offs at the end of that season, where they missed out in the Semi-final. However, he left by mutual consent after just fourteen games and five months in charge.
2022 – Rigobert Song was appointed Manager of Cameroon for the second time. He guided them to the World Cup Finals later that year when they beat Brazil but still failed to reach the knock-out phase.

Other reds games
1996 – We beat Charlton Athletic 2-1 in an FA Cup Fifth Round tie at Anfield as we headed towards Wembley. Robbie Fowler headed in before Stan Collymore struck.
1959 – We won a Second Division fixture 3-1 at Leyton Orient, with Jimmy Melia, Fred Morris and Alan A’Court all getting on the scoresheet.
1948 – We lost 3-1 at Chelsea, with Kevin Baron nabbing our goal.
1925 – We lost 3-0 at Sunderland. Charlie Buchan scored one of his 21 goals past us, with Billy Ellis scoring before Billy Clunas converted a penalty.

Youngsters on target for their countries
2001 - Future red Milan Baroš netted as the Czech Republic Under-21’s beat Poland 4-2 in a friendly in Blšany.
1984 - Ex-red Dave Watson bagged his first goal in only his second game for England Under-21’s as they thumped France 6-1 in a European Championships Finals game at Hillsborough.

Also in international action
2014 – Sheyi Ojo and future red Joe Gomez played for England Under-17’s as they drew 2-2 with Portugal in the Algarve Tournament.
1990 – Future red Karl-Heinz Riedle played as West Germany lost a friendly 2-1 in France.