29th February

Javier signs on
2008 – Argentine midfielder Javier Mascherano signed on permanently for £18.6m, having been on loan from West Ham United for thirteen months. He netted twice in 139 outings in total, signing on permanently for £18.6m in February 2008. He left for Barcelona in a €22m in August 2010.

On the same day, ex-reserves forward Conal Platt joined Rushden & Diamonds on loan from Weymouth, while former second string right-back Stephen Vaughan moved to temporarily left Chester City for Droylsden. Platt failed to net in ten outings, with Vaughan appearing twice.

An Anfield rarity
1964 – Swansea Town won an FA Cup Sixth Round tie 2-1, the only time the Swans have ever won at Anfield. Peter Thompson netted for the reds but Ronnie Moran missed a late penalty that would have levelled the scores.

Double treble
1896 – We secured our record equal away League victory, beating Burton Swifts 7-0 in a Second Division meeting at Peel Croft. Inside-right Jimmy Ross and inside-forward Frank Becton both netted hat-tricks, after half-back John McCartney had opened the scoring.

Joe’s bow
1956 – Winger Joe Dickson made his reds debut as we beat Leeds United 1-0 in a Second Division fixture at Anfield. Forward John Evans scored the only goal late on.

Arthur’s double century
1908 – Outside-right Arthur Goddard played his 200th League game for the club as we beat Bristol City 3-1 in a top-flight encounter in L4. Joe Hewitt nabbed a brace, with his first being his fiftieth in the League for us, with left-half Jim Bradley also on the scoresheet. Future reds forward Sam Gilligan netted one of his five goals past us.

Ending a run
2020 – We lost 3-0 at Watford as Ismaïla Sarr bagged a second-half brace before Troy Deeney completed the scoring. This was our first League defeat of the season, also ending a run of eighteen straight victories as we remained 22 points clear at the top of the table.

Biting the hand that fed
1936 – Ex-reds forward Gordon Hodgson was amongst the scorers as we lost 3-0 at Aston Villa, with Dai Astley nabbing one of his six goals past us and Jack Maund also scoring.

Most recently
2020 – We lost 3-0 at Watford, our first League defeat of this title-winning season. Ismaïla Sarr bagged a brace with Troy Deeney also on target in the second half. We remained 22 points clear at the top of the table as a run of eighteen straight League wins came to an end.

Stalemates
2004 – We drew 2-2 at Leeds United, with ex-White Harry Kewell and Milan Baroš on target for the reds, with all the goals coming in the first half. A minute’s silence was observed for Wales and Leeds legend John Charles before the match, our most recent on this day prior to this year.
1992 – We were held to a goalless draw at Anfield by Southampton with Barry Venison reaching a century of League outings for the reds.

International firsts
2012 – Fabio Borini made his senior international bow, winning his only cap while a Parma player, and on loan at Roma, as Italy lost 1-0 to the USA in Genoa. Meanwhile, Yossi Benayoun made his last appearance while on loan at Arsenal, skippering Israel to a 3-2 defeat by Ukraine in Petah Tikva. Krisztián Németh won his first cap as a RKC Waalwijk player in Hungary’s 1-1 draw with Bulgaria, while future red Daniel Sturridge came on as a substitute and was later himself substituted as England lost 3-2 to the Netherlands at Wembley. Future reds loanee Victor Moses made his senior bow in Nigeria’s goalless African Cup of Nations qualifying draw in Rwanda. Nuri Şahin won his first cap as a Real Madrid player as Turkey lost 2-1 at home to Slovakia, while future red Samed Yeşil made his debut for Germany Under-18’s as they beat the Netherlands 1-0 in Osnabrück.

Future red Steven Caulker bagged his first goal for England Under-21’s, with future red Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain also on target while winning his last cap at this level in their 4-0 European Championships qualifying defeat of Belgium at the Riverside Stadium as Christian Benteke won his ninth cap at this level, and only one while with Aston Villa. Jordan Henderson skippered a side that also included Martin Kelly and Jonjo Shelvey. Ex-red Gary Mackay-Steven won his first cap at the same level that day as Scotland were held to a goalless draw by the Netherlands in another qualifier at St. Mirren Park, with Danny Wilson also in action.

Xherdan Shaqiri bagged his last senior goal for Switzerland while with Basel, as Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick in Argentina’s 3-1 win in Bern. Ex-reds Milan Baroš and Harry Kewell both also scored for their countries, with Charlie Adam, Craig Bellamy, Stewart Downing, Steven Gerrard, Dirk Kuyt, Maxi Rodríguez, Martin Škrtel, Luis Suárez, future reds Joe Allen, John Heitinga, Joël Matip, Simon Mignolet, James Milner and Mohamed Salah, and ex-reds Xabi Alonso, Álvaro Arbeloa, Alou Diarra, Milan Jovanović, Robbie Keane, Javier Mascherano, Raul Meireles, Nikolay Mihaylov, Christian Poulsen, John Arne Riise and Andriy Voronin also playing for their countries that day, as John Toshack took charge of FYR Macedonia.

Other international reds
1984 – Sammy Lee and future reds John Barnes and Paul Walsh all played as England lost 2-0 to France in a friendly in Paris.
1904 – Forward Richard Morris and right-half Maurice Parry appeared for Wales as they were held to a 2-2 draw by England in the British International Championships in Wrexham.