16th July

Le Boss arrives
1998 - The reds tried a bold move as Gérard Houllier was appointed joint Manager alongside Roy Evans. The partnership only lasted four months before Uncle Roy stepped aside. Ged remained in charge until May 2004, leading us to the UEFA Cup, FA Cup, two League Cups, UEFA Super Cup and FA Charity Shield.
2010 - Brendan Rodgers was appointed Manager of Swansea City. He guided them to promotion from the Championship via the play-offs in his first campaign, and eleventh in the Premiership the following year before moving to Anfield in June 2012.

Adios Luis
2014 - Luis Suárez was sold to Barcelona for a club record £75m, having struck 82 times in 133 reds games since his arrival from Ajax for a club record fee of £22.8m in January 2011, capturing the hearts of all reds. He helped us to claim the League Cup the following season, helping the Catalans to the UEFA Champions League and four La Liga titles amongst many honours before joining Club Atlético de Madrid in September 2020.

The final piece of the jigsaw
1997 - Paul Ince was signed by Roy Evans from Internazionale for £4.2m. His Anfield career started well, but then faded, and he was moved on by Gérard Houllier as he had become a disruptive influence in the dressing room. He struck seventeen times in 81 reds games during his two years at Anfield.

Sir Roger at the World Cup
1966 - Roger Hunt was on target at Wembley as England beat Mexico 2-0 in their second group game at the World Cup Finals.

Brian’s farewell
2015 – Midfielder Brian Hall died. He signed for the reds in July 1968 fresh from graduating university, and scored 21 goals in 224 games, helping us to claim a League title, UEFA Cup, FA Cup and FA Charity Shield. His most memorable moment came when he bagged his first reds goal, the FA Cup Semi-final winner against Everton at Old Trafford in March 1971, also scoring at the same stage against Leicester City three years later. He moved on to Plymouth Argyle in July 1976, later finishing his playing career with Burnley, but he returned to Anfield in 1991 to take up the post of Public Relations Manager, a position he held until retiring in 2012.

Debuting against the Germans
2003 - Harry Kewell played his first reds game as we won a friendly 3-1 at 1. FC Köln. Michael Owen nabbed a brace, with Emile Heskey also on target. The game was played to commemorate their redeveloped RheinEnergie Stadion.
2005 - Momo Sissoko had his first reds outing as we beat Bayer 04 Leverkusen 3-0 in Lustenau, Austria. Djibril Cissé struck twice, with Milan Baroš also on target.

Willkommen Didi
1999 - It was announced that Newcastle United midfielder Dietmar Hamann had agreed to join the reds, after a possible move to Arsenal had broken down. He signed a week later, and made 283 first-team appearances, acting as a sturdy bulwark in front of the defence, and scoring just eleven times. He moved on to Manchester City in July 2006, having helped us to claim the Champions League, UEFA Cup, two UEFA Super Cups, two FA Cups, two League Cups and the FA Charity Shield.

A divine treble
1999 - Robbie Fowler netted a hat-trick as we thumped a German XI 8-0 in St. Gallen, at the end of our Swiss training camp. Titi Camara scored in his first appearance for the reds, while Sander Westerveld also made his Liverpool bow. Patrik Berger added a brace, with Vegard Heggem and Danny Murphy also on the scoresheet.
2008 – We also played a friendly in Switzerland, beating Luzern 2-1 in Grenchen, thanks to goals from Lucas and Andriy Voronin.

Off the mark
2014 – Winger Kristoffer Peterson struck for the club for the first time as we lost 2-1 at Brøndby IF, with centre-halves Tiago Ilori and Lloyd Jones, midfielders Adam Phillips and Jordan Rossiter, and defender Kevin Stewart all playing their first games for the reds.
2011 – Charlie Adam bagged his first goal for the reds, converting a twice-taken penalty as we beat a Malaysia XI 6-3 in front of 84,000 fans in the Stadium Nasional Bukit Jalil in Kuala Lumpur. David N’Gog and Maxi Rodríguez bagged a brace each, with Dirk Kuyt also on target.

Singapore sling
2001 - The reds played their first ever match in Singapore, beating a Singapore League Select XI 2-0 thanks to goals from strike partners Emile Heskey and Michael Owen.

Auf wiedersehen
2004 - Markus Babbel signed for VfB Stuttgart on a free transfer. He helped them to finish fifth in the Bundesliga in his first season and played a total of 46 League games for them before stepping down as a player in May 2007 to become assistant coach.

Keepers on the move
2008 - Ex-red Tony Warner signed for Hull City. He played just twice for the Tigers before being released in February 2010.
2005 - Chris Kirkland joined West Bromwich Albion on loan after just 45 first-team games for the reds since his £6m signing from Coventry City in August 2001. He could only play twelve times for the Baggies as they were relegated, as he was once again cursed by injuries.

Happy birthday Ben
2001 – Keeper Ben Winterbottom was born in Preston. He was an unused substitute in our League Cup Quarter-final thumping at Aston Villa in December 2019, having joined the club from Blackburn Rovers nine months earlier. He moved on to Brentford in January 2021.
1987 - First Team Opposition Analyst James French was born in Portugal. Having worked under Brendan Rodgers at Swansea City, he joined the reds in July 2012.

International beginning and ends
2000 – Titi Camara netted his last goal as a reds player in Guinea’s 2-0 defeat of Gambia in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Conakry. On the same day, reds youngster John Welsh won his second Under-16’s cap for England in their 2-1 defeat by Brazil in a Nationwide-sponsored tournament at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light. Welsh played at right-back in front of a record Under-16’s crowd of 21,061.

2003 - Javier Mascherano made his senior international debut, before he had even played a first-team game for River Plate. Argentina were held to a 2-2 draw by Uruguay in a friendly in La Plata.
2015 – Future red Kostas Tsimikas won his thirteenth and final cap for Greece Under-19’s as they lost their European Championships Semi-final 4-0 to Russia in Larissa.

Ex-reds on the move
1993 - Peter Beardsley re-signed for Newcastle United from Everton for £1.4m. He had been at St. James’ Park for four years immediately before arriving at Anfield, and his second spell lasted as long, netting 56 times in 157 outings as he helped the Toon to back-to-back second-place finishes in the Premiership.

1996 - Dean Saunders left Galatasaray for Nottingham Forest in a £1.5m deal. He could only grab nine goals in 51 games while at the City Ground, as Forest were relegated from the top flight in his only full season there.
2003 - Andy Parkinson, who was in the victorious FA Youth Cup squad in 1996, joined Sheffield United on a free transfer from Tranmere Rovers after 25 goals in 203 games for Rovers.
2013 – Centre-half Jack Hobbs joined Nottingham Forest on loan from Hull City, making the move permanent the following January.

More internationals on target
2011 - Luis Suárez scored in a penalty shoot-out as Uruguay beat Argentina 5-4 after their Copa América Quarter-final ended 1-1 in Santa Fe. Ex-red Mascherano was sent off for the home side.
2007 - Harry Kewell came off the bench to grab one of Australia’s goals in their 4-0 thumping of Thailand in an AFC Asian Cup group game in Bangkok.
2003 – Future red Alberto Aquilani bagged the only goal of the game from the spot as Italy Under-19’s beat Norway in a European Championships Finals group game in Liechtenstein. John Welsh featured in the same competition as England lost 2-1 to Austria.

Also in international action
1987 – Future red Stig Inge Bjørnebye featured as Norway Under-19’s thumped Finland 5-0 in a tournament game in Denmark.
1989 – Future reds goalkeeping coach Cláudio Taffarel played as Brazil beat Uruguay 1-0 in a final round game in the Copa América in Rio de Janeiro, with this result ensuring they won the tournament.
2007 - Future reds Damien Plessis and Mikel San José both played in the European Championships Finals in Austria. France Under-19’s beat Serbia 5-2 in Ried im Innkreis, while Spain defeated host nation Austria 2-0 in Linz.

Signing on
2021 – Polish left-winger Mateusz Musiałowski signed pro terms with the reds, having joined the Academy the previous August. He made his only senior appearance in our 6-1 thrashing of Sparta Praha in the second leg of our UEFA Europa League Round of 16 tie at Anfield in March 2024, being released at the end of that season.

On the move
1987 - Future reds centre-half John Scales signed for Wimbledon from Bristol Rovers for £70,000. He made 288 appearances for the Dons, scoring fifteen times, before coming to Anfield in a £3.5m deal in September 1994.
2009 – Winger Stewart Downing joined Aston Villa from Middlesbrough for £12m after 22 strikes in 234 games for his hometown club.
2015 - Downing re-joined Middlesbrough from West Ham United for £5.5m after seven goals in 79 outings for the Irons.

Reserves off on loan
2008 – Left-back Robbie Threlfall re-joined Hereford United on loan, playing four times in this spell.
2007 - Winger Paul Anderson joined Swansea City on loan, going on to bag nine goals in 41 outings and be named their Young Player of the Year.
2000 - Forward Haukur Ingi Gudnason joined Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur on loan. He had not managed to break into the reds first-team since his arrival in December 1997, rejoining them three years later.

Nando El papa
1999 - Fernandito was born in Madrid, son of future red Fernando Morientes and Victoria.