31st July

A Fab return
2010 – Left-back Fábio Aurélio re-signed for the club, having been released at the end of the previous season, after four goals in 110 reds games since his free signing from Valencia in July 2006. He made only a further 24 appearances before joining Grêmio in his native Brazil in May 2012.

Recent departures
2023 – Brazilian midfielder Fabinho was sold to Saudi Arabian side Al-Ittihad for a reported £40m. He had signed from Monaco for an initial £39m in July 2018, scoring eleven times in 219 outings as he helped us to claim the Premier League title, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, League Cup and FA Community Shield. On the same day, Virgil van Dijk was appointed club captain, with Trent Alexander-Arnold named as his deputy.

2015 – Centre-forward Rickie Lambert was sold to West Bromwich Albion after just three goals in 36 reds games since arriving from Southampton for £4m in June 2014.

Stewart off the mark
1992 - Paul Stewart scored his first reds goal, the winner in our 2-1 friendly win in Tromsø, with Ian Rush also on the scoresheet. His time at Anfield was a failure, as he scored just three times in 42 first-class appearances in nearly four seasons. He eventually left for Sunderland on a free transfer in March 1996.

Most recently
2019 – We beat Olympique Lyonnais 3-1 in a friendly in Geneva, with Roberto Firmino and Harry Wilson netting either side of a Joachim Andersen own goal. On the same day, Dutch defender Ki-Jana Hoever signed his first professional contract with the reds, while centre-half Rhys Williams joined Kidderminster Harriers on loan, scoring once in just three games.
2022 - Left-winger Mateusz Musiałowski played his first reds game as Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace beat a very young reds side 3-0 in a pre-season friendly at Anfield.

Up against Norway
We played a Norway XI in Vålerenga on this day in consecutive years as part of our pre-season campaigns.
1996 - Robbie Fowler scored as we drew 1-1 with the match being decided by a penalty shoot-out. Welsh reserves striker Lee Jones missed our fifth and final spot-kick as we lost 5-4.
1997 - We won 3-1, thanks to a brace from Robbie Fowler and a strike from the young Michael Owen.

Reds in Ireland
1970 - Bobby Graham and Peter Thompson were both on the scoresheet as we beat a League Of Ireland Select side 2-1 at Dalymount Park in Dublin.
1998 - Patrik Berger, Karl-Heinz Riedle and Danny Murphy grabbed our goals as we beat St. Patrick's Athletic 3-2 in the Carlsberg Belfast Challenge at Lansdowne Road.

Twice at Ewood Park
1971 - John Toshack netted to give us a 1-0 victory over Blackburn Rovers in a pre-season friendly.
1999 - Robbie Fowler and Jamie Redknapp were on target as we drew 2-2.

Red births
2003 – Right-back Calvin Ramsay was born in Aberdeen, signing from his hometown club for an initial £4.2m in June 2022. He only made two senior appearances in an injury-hit first campaign with the reds.

1895 – Right-half Francis Checkland was born in Seaforth. He arrived from junior football during the 1918/19 season but only made five senior appearances before joining Tranmere Rovers in October 1923.
1883 – Keeper Don Sloan was born in Rankinston, Ayr. He signed from Everton for £300 in May 1908, failing to keep a clean sheet in six reds games before becoming Player/Manager of his old club Distillery in Belfast in July 1909.

Other friendlies
2004 - We lost 1-0 to Porto, the reigning European champions, in a ChampionsWorld Series game in Toronto.
1994 - We helped the German town of Fulda celebrate its 1,250th anniversary, losing 2-0 to Bayern München in the Firestone International Challenge Cup at Das Stadion der Stad.
1993 - John Barnes bagged a brace, with Stig Inge Bjørnebye and Ian Rush also on target as we won 4-3 at Tranmere Rovers.

England reds on target
1996 - Michael Owen and future red Emile Heskey both netted for England Under-18’s in Besançon as they beat Belgium 3-2 to claim third place in the European Championship Finals. Reds reserve Jamie Cassidy also played.
2009 - Conor Coady, Jack Robinson and Andre Wisdom all featured as England Under-17’s beat host nation Norway 1-0 in a Nordic Tournament group game in Trondheim.

Also on the move
1996 - Mark Walters joined Swindon Town from Southampton on a free transfer, just six months and nine appearances after arriving at The Dell. He scored 32 times in 130 appearances, as the Robins struggled to survive in the First Division.
1999 - Christian Ziege joined Middlesbrough from AC Milan for £4m. He scored six times in 29 League games while at the Riverside, before moving to Anfield in a rancorous transfer the following summer.

2009 – Steve Finnan signed for Portsmouth, having been released by R.C.D. Espanyol four days previously. He played 25 times for Pompey before being released at the end of the season. On the same day, reserves right-back Stephen Darby and midfielder Jay Spearing both signed new contracts to tie them to the reds until 2012. Darby moved on at the end of his contract while Spearing moved on to Bolton Wanderers in August 2013 after a season on loan there.
2013 – Keeper Tyrell Belford joined Swindon Town on a free transfer, so far making just twelve senior appearances for the Robins. On the same day, future loanee centre-half Steven Caulker joined Cardiff City from Tottenham Hotspur for a club record fee of more than £8m, going on to score five times in 39 outings before moving to Queens Park Rangers a year later.
2019 – Keeper Lawrence Vigouroux signed for Chilean side Everton de Viña del Mar, leaving after five months having failed to play a senior game as the season there was cancelled due to social unrest.

Other internationals in action
2021 – Future red Wataru Endō played for Japan as they beat New Zealand on penalties in their Olympics Finals Quarter-final in Kashima, after the game had ended goalless after extra time.
2014 – Trent Alexander-Arnold captained England Under-17’s as they lost 3-0 to Sweden in a Nordic Tournament group game in Denmark, with Herbie Kane also featuring.

2011 - Dani Pacheco featured as Spain Under-20’s beat Costa Rica 4-1 in a World Championship Finals group game in Colombia.
2007 – Future reds reserves forward Nikola Sarić played for Denmark Under-17’s in their 2-0 defeat of the Faroe Islands in a tournament game in Ikast.
1988 – Future reds goalkeeping coach Cláudio Taffarel played for Brazil as they drew 1-1 with a Sweden Olympics XI in Stockholm.