9th January

Feliz aniversario
1987 - Brazilian central midfielder Lucas Leiva was born in Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul. He made 346 senior appearances after signing from Grêmio for a reported £5m in May 2007, notching just seven times before moving on to S.S. Lazio for £5m in July 2017. He bagged a brace for Brazil in the Sudamericano Sub-20 “Juventud de América” on his twentieth birthday, as they beat Peru 2-1 in a group match in Paraguay.

Other births and deaths
1962 - Ray Houghton was born in Glasgow. He signed from Oxford United for £825,000 in October 1987, going on on to strike 38 times in 202 reds games, helping us to two League titles, two FA Cups and the FA Charity Shield before moving to Aston Villa for £900,000 in July 1992.
1985 - Ex-reserves forward Mark Smyth was born in Liverpool. He made his senior debut as a substitute in our Carling Cup victory at Tottenham Hotspur in December 2004 but was released in July 2005.

2018 – Keeper Tommy Lawrence died. ‘The Flying Pig’ signed professional terms in October 1957 and played 390 times for us, winning two League title medals and an FA Charity Shield as well as being a member of the 1965 FA Cup winning side. He left the club in November 1971 to join Tranmere Rovers.
2022 – Former Club Secretary and Chief Executive Peter Robinson died aged 86. He joined the club in 1865, retiring in 2000.

Supersub arrives
1974 - David Fairclough signed on as a professional. He bagged 55 goals in 154 reds games, two-fifths of which were from off the bench. The bionic carrot helped us to three League titles, European Cup, UEFA Cup, UEFA Super Cup and two League Cups before moving on to Luzern in July 1983.
1970 – Winger Hughie McAuley turned pro. He was a regular for the reserves but did not make a senior appearance before moving to Plymouth Argyle in October 1974, He returned to the club in 1988 as a coach at the Academy.
2007 - Daniele Padelli signed on loan from Sampdoria. He made one senior appearance, as we were held to a 2-2 draw in our final League game of the season at home to Charlton Athletic in May 2007. However, he was not kept on.

Reds farewells in a rout
2007 - We were beaten 6-3 at Anfield by Arsenal in our rearranged Carling Cup Fifth Round meeting, the first time we had conceded half a dozen at home since April 1930. This was our ninth meeting with the Gunners in this competition, making them our most frequent League Cup opponents. Júlio Baptista scored four goals and had a penalty saved by Jerzy Dudek. Luis García came on as a substitute and was later himself replaced, in what was to be his 121st and final reds game. Stephen Warnock played his 67th and last reds match with Lee Peltier appearing for the fourth and final time, while Robbie Fowler scored his final goal for us from open play, with Steven Gerrard and Sami Hyypiä also on target. Gerrard’s strike was our 400th in the competition. Jérémie Aliadière and Alex Song also netted for the visitors.

1904 – Inside-forward Fred Buck played his thirteenth and final reds game in our 2-1 defeat at The Wednesday. Sam Raybould struck our goal. Jimmy Stewart scored the first of his five goals past us, with Tommy Crawshaw also on target.
1946 – Defender Fred Finney made his second and last senior reds appearance as we beat Chester 2-0 in an FA Cup Third Round second leg at Anfield to progress 4-0 on aggregate, with Willie Fagan nabbing a brace.

The king back in charge
2011 – Kenny Dalglish took charge of the reds for the first time in his second spell in the hot seat. Steven Gerrard was sent off as we lost our FA Cup Third Round match 1-0 at Manchester United, thanks to a controversial early penalty, converted by Ryan Giggs, the last of his five goals past us. Ryan Babel played his 146th and final reds game and was later admonished for tweeting a photo of referee Howard Webb mocked up in a United shirt.

First and last outings
2022 – Kaide Gordon equalised with his first reds goal as we beat Shrewsbury Town 4-1 in an FA Cup Third Round tie at Anfield. Fabinho converted a penalty to hand us a half-time lead, adding a late second after Roberto Firmino had netted. Melkamu Frauendorf debuted, with fellow midfielder Elijah Dixon-Bonner appearing for the third and last time. We went on to lift the trophy for the eighth time that season.

More arrivals
2004 - Paul Jones signed on loan from Southampton, due to injuries to both Jerzy Dudek and Chris Kirkland. He went straight into the first team to face Aston Villa at Anfield the next day, but only played once more before moving permanently to Wolverhampton Wanderers for £250,000 later that month.
1997 - Bjørn Tore Kvarme signed from Rosenborg BK on a free transfer. He went on to make 54 reds appearances without scoring, but was not the defensive missing link we were searching for.
1936 - Outside-right Billy Hartill signed from Everton, but only played four times before joining Bristol Rovers as part of the deal that brought Phil Taylor to Anfield two months later.

Albert Stubbins was the man for me
2003 - The funeral of Albert Stubbins took place. The great centre-forward struck 83 times in 178 reds matches after signing from Newcastle United for a British record £12,500 fee in September 1946, helping to power us to the first League championship played after the Second World War. He was also the only footballer to appear on the cover of The Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album, and became a scout for the club in 1954, a post he held for the rest of the decade.

On the way to Wembley
1965 - We started our first victorious FA Cup campaign when we visited fellow top-flight outfit West Bromwich Albion for our 200th game in the competition. The kick-off was delayed by twenty minutes due to heavy traffic, and Roger Hunt opened the scoring shortly before the break. Ian St. John added a second after Jeff Astle had a goal chalked off for the home side. Ron Yeats gave away a penalty with thirteen minutes to go, picking the ball up in the area as he believed the referee had blown for a foul. Fortunately, Bobby Cram, athlete Steve’s uncle, stroked the kick wide. Jeff Astle finally notched for the Baggies, one of his seven goals against the reds, but we held on to win 2-1.

An unwelcome European first
1968 - We suffered our first ever home defeat in Europe as Hungarian side Ferencvárosi won 1-0 in the Fairs Cup Third Round second leg in snowy conditions, to send us crashing out 2-0 on aggregate.

A new record signing
1985 – Seventeen-year-old forward Wayne Harrison signed from Oldham Athletic for £250,000, then a record fee for a teenager, although he never made a senior reds appearance before having to retire due to injury in the summer of 1991, aged just 23.

2009 – Icelandic reserves midfielder Victor Pálsson signed from AGF Århus. He failed to break through to the first team, moving on to Hibernian in January 2011.
2024 – Czech keeper Vítězslav Jaroš signed a new contract, joining Sturm Graz on loan on the same day. He helped them to claim the Austrian League and Cup double.

300 up in the cup
1963 – Roger Hunt bagged our 300th FA Cup goal as he opened the scoring in our 3-0 win at Wrexham in the Third Round. Kevin Lewis and Jimmy Melia also netted.

Another Welsh treble
1990 - Ian Rush scored a hat-trick, which included our 7,000th goal in all competitions, as we trounced Swansea City 8-0 in an FA Cup Third Round replay at Anfield, just three days after being held to a goalless draw in the first game at Vetch Field. Alan Hansen played his 600th reds game as John Barnes added a brace with Ronnie Whelan, Peter Beardsley and Steve Nicol all also on the scoresheet. We reached the Semi-final that season before going out to Crystal Palace.

Disappointment on the south coast
We have twice visited Southampton on this day in history, failing to win on both occasions.
2002 - We lost 2-0 at the Friends Provident St. Mary’s Stadium, our first visit there. John Arne Riise put through his own net with James Beattie also on the scoresheet.
1926 - We were held to a goalless draw at The Dell in an FA Cup Third Round tie, winning the Anfield replay before being knocked out at Fulham at the next hurdle. This was the third consecutive season we had been paired with the Saints in the cup.

Trotters again
1954 - We lost 1-0 at Bolton Wanderers in the FA Cup Third Round, a week after our previous game, a 2-1 top-flight defeat to the same side at Anfield. Willie Moir struck the last of his five goals against the reds as right-half Phil Taylor played his 343rd and final reds game.

The new Anfield?
2003 - Chief Executive Rick Parry announced at the club’s AGM at Anfield that the proposed new stadium would hold 60,000, five thousand more than originally thought, while Gérard Houllier gave a rousing speech to shareholders. Work on a new stadium was later shelved in favour of redeveloping Anfield.

Beating the Blues
We have twice won at Goodison Park on this day in history.
1932 - Gordon’s Gunson and Hodgson netted in a 2-1 FA Cup Third Round victory after we had gone behind to one of Dixie Dean’s nineteen derby strikes inside the first minute. However, we went out to Chelsea in the Sixth Round.
1943 - We had previously won 3-1 in a Wartime League fixture. Michael Hulligan struck a brace, with Arthur Shepherd also notching.

The Wright man in charge
2002 - Mark Wright was appointed Manager of Chester City. He was in charge for two and a half years before resigning following rumours of an affair with one of his player’s wives.

On the move
2023 – Ex-loanee centre-half Steven Caulker joined Wigan Athletic on a free transfer from Fatih Karagümrük until the end of the campaign. He played nine times for the Latics.
2021 – Keeper Andy Lonergan signed for West Bromwich Albion. He had spent the 2019/20 season with the reds, failing to make a senior appearance, also not playing for the Baggies’ first team.
2020 – Brazilian midfielder Allan Rodrigues de Souza was sold to Clube Atlético Mineiro for £3.2m, having not managed to break through at Anfield. He had arrived from Internacional for a reported £0.5m in September 2015, spending most of his time out on loan due to work permit issues.
2015 – Ex-reserves winger Adam Hammill joined Rotherham United on loan from Huddersfield Town, playing fourteen times for the Millers without scoring. On the same day, Xherdan Shaqiri joined Internazionale from Bayern München for €15m, having helped the Germans to claim to Bundesliga titles, the DFB-Pokal, DFL-Supercup, FIFA Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup.

2014 – Reserves full-back Ryan McLaughlin joined Barnsley on loan, playing nine times for the Tykes.
2013 – Ex-reserves forward David Amoo joined Tranmere Rovers from Preston North End on a free transfer, netting once in eleven senior outings. On the same day, Andre Wisdom signed a new contract with the reds.
2009 - Porto bought sixty per cent of the rights to left-back Aly Cissokho from Vitória de Setúbal for €300,000, after just seventeen games for the team from southern Portugal.
1986 - Ex-reserves forward Mike Newell joined Luton Town from Wigan Athletic for £100,000. He bagged nineteen goals in 68 games for the Hatters, helping them to seventh in the top flight in his one full season at Kenilworth Road, their best ever League finish.

Other reds games
1999 – We held Arsenal to a goalless draw at Arsenal.
1993 – John Barnes put the reds in front as we lost 2-1 to Aston Villa at Anfield, with Garry Parker scoring before Dean Saunders nabbed the last of his four goals against the reds prior to signing for us.
1988 – Our FA Cup Third Round tie ended goalless at Stoke City in the mud and rain, with the home side wasting a glorious chance late on as we eventually made it all the way to Wembley.
1971 – We drew 2-2 with Blackpool in L4, with Steve Heighway scoring and John Craven deflected a Heighway cross into his own goal.
1960 – We beat Leyton Orient 2-1 in an FA Cup Third Round tie at Anfield, with Roger Hunt heading in after just 45 seconds, nabbing a last-minute winner after the O’s had drawn level through Ronnie Foster.

1937 – Berry Nieuwenhuys gave the reds the lead, but Pat Glover scored before Alf Hobson put through his own net as we lost 2-1 at Grimsby Town.
1915 – We beat Stockport County 3-0 in an FA Cup Third Round encounter at Anfield. Fred Pagnam bagged a brace with Arthur Metcalf also on target, with Norman Rodgers missing a penalty for the visitors.
1909 – Bobby Robinson netted as Blackburn Rovers left L4 with a share of the spoils, after Walter Aitkenhead had opened the scoring with the first of his four goals past us.
1897 – George Allan and Fred Geary struck as we won 2-1 at Wolverhampton Wanderers. Joseph McMain had opened the scoring after just a minute. Wolves had to play the second half a man down due to an injury to George Eccles.
1895 – Jimmy Ross bagged the only goal of the game at Derby County, a match that had been due to be played before Christmas but had to be postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. This was our only trip to their old County Ground.

In international action
1985 – Ex-red Avi Cohen and future red Ronnie Rosenthal both featured in Israel’s 2-0 friendly defeat by Greece in Jaffa.
2010 – Ex-red Rigobert Song played for Cameroon in their 3-1 friendly win in Kenya.
2019 – Future red Takumi Minamino played for Japan as they beat Turkmenistan 3-2 in an AFC Asian Cup group game in Abu Dhabi.

2023 – Rigobert Song took charge of Cameroon as they beat Sudan 2-0 in a friendly in Tunisia.
2024 – Song managed Cameroon to a 1-1 friendly draw with Zambia in Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, ex-red Takumi Minamino netted as Japan thrashed Jordan 6-1 in an unofficial meeting in Qatar.

Missing out
2012 - Luis Suárez was voted into sixth place in the FIFA Ballon d’Or for 2011, with ex-red Xabi Alonso coming sixteenth as Barcelona’s Lionel Messi claimed the trophy for the third consecutive year.
2017 – Ex-red Suárez was named in the FIFPRO World11.