Luis the champion
2011 – Luis Suárez was on target as Uruguay beat Paraguay 3-0 in the Copa América Final in Buenos Aires, with future red Sebastián Coates winning his fifth and last cap as a Nacional player.
Jordan the best
2020 – Club captain Jordan Henderson was named Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year, having just lifted the reds’ first League title since 1990, as well as leading the Premier League captains’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the same day, midfielder Leighton Clarkson signed a new contract, having already featured for the first-team twice.
In comes David
2008 – Forward David N’Gog signed from Paris Saint-Germain for £1.5m. He struck nineteen times in 94 reds outings, although he only started on 41 of those occasions. He was sold to Bolton Wanderers for £4m in August 2011.
Treble debutants
1999 - Dietmar Hamann, Sami Hyypiä and goalscorer Vladimír Šmicer all played their first reds games as we beat Feyenoord 2-0 to claim the Carlsberg Belfast Challenge trophy. The other goal came from Titi Camara, with his second reds strike.
Happy birthday Harry
1870 - Keeper Harry Storer was born in Butterley, Derbyshire. He signed from Woolwich Arsenal for £75 in December 1895, taking over from the versatile Matt McQueen between our sticks. He made a total of 121 reds appearances before retiring in 1901. Unfortunately, he died in April 1908 aged just 37.
Justice denied
2000 - The jury in the Hillsborough disaster trial was discharged after failing to reach a verdict on manslaughter charges against retired Chief Superintendent David Duckenfield, the police officer in charge on the day. The jury spent 25 hours deliberating the charges, but were unable to come to an agreement. The judge eventually ruled against a retrial.
Reds in the Far East
2015 – Midfielder Pedro Chirivella, centre-back Daniel Cleary and winger Sheyi Ojo all made their first senior appearances as we were held to a 1-1 draw by a Malaysia XI in Kuala Lumpur. Jordon Ibe was on target for the reds.
2007 - We beat South China Athletic Association 3-1 in Hong Kong in the Semi-final of the Barclays Asia Trophy. John Arne Riise and Daniel Agger were on target, with Xabi Alonso converting a penalty.
2003 - Patrice Luzi and Zak Whitbread both made their senior reds debuts as we beat the Thailand national side 3-1 in the Rajamangala National Stadium in Bangkok. Emile Heskey added to a Vladimír Šmicer brace in a game billed as a GSM Advance Nokia Exclusive Match.
Reds in Australia
2013 – We played our first ever game in Australia with more than 95,000 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground to see Steven Gerrard and Iago Aspas net in a 2-0 defeat of Melbourne Victory.
More reds starting out
2023 – Brazilian keeper Marcelo Pitaluga played his first reds game as we drew 4-4 at SpVgg Greuther Fürth behind closed doors. Luis Díaz scored in the first half, with Darwin Núñez adding a second-half brace before Mohamed Salah also struck.
2019 – Dutch centre-half Sepp van den Berg featured for the first team for the first time as we drew 2-2 with Sporting Clube de Portugal to share the Western Union Cup in the Yankee Stadium in New York. Future Red Devil Bruno Fernandes opened the scoring, but Divock Origi and Gini Wijnaldum both netted to hand us a half-time lead, but Wendel levelled matters after the break.
2010 - Milan Jovanović played his first reds game as we lost 1-0 at 1. FC Kaiserslautern in the Fritz-Walter-Stadion.
Charnock impresses
1996 - Midfielder Phil Charnock scored the only goal of the game as we beat Crewe Alexandra in a pre-season friendly at Gresty Road. He was to join the Alex on a free transfer just five months later.
1998 - The reds kicked off another pre-season campaign at Crewe, with both Sean Dundee and Vegard Heggem making their reds bows. We won 3-0, with goals from Danny Murphy, Dominic Matteo and Bjørn Tore Kvarme coming in a three-minute flurry.
Czech mates
2001 - It was confirmed that the reds were about to secure the signature of young Czech striking sensation Milan Baroš from Baník Ostrava. The deal was finally completed in December of that year.
2002 – The reds announced that Vladimír Šmicer had agreed an extension to his contract that would keep him at Anfield until 2005. He then left the club to join Girondins de Bordeaux, although he returned to his homeland with SK Slavia Praha in July 2007.
Famous Emlyn
2008 - It was announced that Emlyn Hughes was to be inducted into the National Football Museum’s Hall of Fame later in the year, joining the other former reds players John Barnes, Peter Beardsley, Kenny Dalglish, Alan Hansen, Roger Hunt, Kevin Keegan, Ian Rush and Graeme Souness who had already been included.
Dani on target
2010 – Dani Pacheco netted as Spain Under-19’s beat Italy 3-0 in a European Championships Finals group game in France, with Fabio Borini winning his ninth and last cap at this level and fellow future red Thiago Alcântara also in action. Meanwhile, future reds Steven Caulker and Nathaniel Clyne both played in England’s 1-1 draw with the host nation in the same competition.
Youngsters battling for the final
2007 - Future reds Mikel San José and Damien Plessis faced each other in the Semi-final of the Under-19 European Championships in Austria. The game ended goalless even after extra time, with Spain eventually beating France 4-2 on penalties, with both of our boys converting their spot-kicks.
On the move
2021 – Harry Wilson was sold to Fulham for a reported £12m after a successful loan spell. He made his reds bow in January 2017 in our FA Cup Third Round replay win at Plymouth Argyle, but only made one further first-team appearance.
2018 – Keeper Shamal George joined Tranmere Rovers on loan, only making three senior appearances during the season. On the same day, ex-red Tom Ince joined Stoke City from Huddersfield Town for an initial £10m, bagging six goals in 41 games during his first campaign with the Potters.
2016 - Centre-half Kolo Touré signed for Celtic, being reunited with his former boss Brendan Rodgers. He made seventeen appearances before joining the coaching staff in September 2017.
2012 – Centre-half Zak Whitbread signed for Leicester City, having been released by Norwich City at the end of the previous season. He netted once in 21 outings for the Foxes before joining Derby County in June 2014 after a successful loan spell with the Rams.
2003 - Former loanee keeper Mark Prudhoe joined basement side Macclesfield Town from Bradford City on a free transfer. He has since retired from playing and is now coaching at Sunderland’s Academy.
1992 – Recent Assistant Manager Colin Pascoe re-joined Swansea City on loan from Sunderland, bagging four goals in seventeen appearances before re-signing for the Swans permanently a year later.
First and last caps
2002 – Jon Otsemobor and future reds coach Gary O’Neil both played for England Under-19’s as they drew 1-1 with Belgium in a European Championship Finals group game in Norway, with future reds Glen Johnson and Jermaine Pennant also featuring.
2018 - Jarell Quansah debuted for England Under-18’s in their goalless friendly draw in Croatia.
Brian’s farewell
2015 – The funeral of Brian Hall took place at St Lawrence’s Church in Longridge, Lancashire. 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.
Also in international action
1988 – Future red Stig Inge Bjørnebye played for Norway Under-18’s as they drew 1-1 with Denmark in a tournament in the Czech Republic.
1997 – Future red Haukur Ingi Guðnason featured for Iceland Under-19’s in their 1-1 draw with Spain in the European Championship Finals in his homeland.
2017 – Ex-red Bernard Diomède took charge of France Under-19’s as they beat Quebec 3-0.
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