The birth of the Kop
1906 - Work was begun on what became the most famous football terrace in the world, shortly after our second League title win. The Kop started life as a tinder bank, with Liverpool Echo journalist Ernest Edwards being responsible for comparing it to the Spion Kop, site of a famous battle in the Boer War. The name stuck!
Strikers in and out
2017 – Forward Mohamed Salah agreed to sign from Roma for an initial €42m. He has scored a stunning 211 goals in 349 games across his first seven campaigns, helping us to claim the Premier League title, UEFA Champions League, FA Cup, League Cup, FIFA Club World Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FA Community Shield.
1973 – Forward Alan Waddle signed from Halifax Town for £40,000. He only made 22 appearances in his four years at Anfield, netting just once, at Goodison Park in December 1973, as his route to the first team was usually blocked by Kevin Keegan and John Toshack, although he was on the bench for the European Cup Final in 1977. He moved on to Leicester City that September. His cousin Chris went on to great things with Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, Olympique de Marseille and England.
2022 - Sadio Mané was sold to Bayern München for an initial €32m, having struck 120 times in 269 outings and won the Premier League title, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup, FA Cup and League Cup since arriving from Southampton for an initial £30m in June 2016. On the same day, left-back Adam Lewis joined Newport County on loan and keeper Jakub Ojrzynski moved temporarily to Radomiak Radom.
Happy birthdays
1993 – German keeper Loris Karius was born in Biberach an der Riss. He signed for £4.7m from 1. FSV Mainz 05 in July 2016, taking over the number one shirt. He made 49 first-team appearances, keeping 22 clean sheets but making several high-profile errors, with his contract expiring in the summer of 2022.
1993 – Recent third-choice keeper Danny Ward was born in Wrexham. He signed from his hometown club for an initial £100,000 in January 2012, making three senior appearances as well as sitting on the first-team bench on 53 occasions before moving to Leicester City for £12.5m in July 2018.
1898 - Centre-forward Albert Whitehurst was born in Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent. He signed from Rochdale in May 1928, having struck 116 goals in 168 outings in the Third Division North. He scored twice in eight reds games, moving on to Bradford City in February 1929.
Bellers on his way
2006 - Craig Bellamy signed from Blackburn Rovers for £6m. His one season in his first spell in L4 was only a partial success, as he grabbed nine goals in 42 games, with his finest moment coming in the Camp Nou as he scored a crucial goal in our 2-1 victory to help us progress towards Athens. He moved on to West Ham United for £7.5m in July 2007, the Hammers’ record fee paid. However, he rejoined the reds in a free transfer from Manchester City in August 2011 for another season.
2013 – Luis Alberto signed from Sevilla for £6.8m, for whom he had only played nine first-team games, although he had spent the previous campaign on loan with Barcelona B. He only played twelve times in his first season, with only two of these appearances being from the start, as he struggled to break through to the first team. He spent two seasons on loan back in Spain, before joining S.S. Lazio for €4m in August 2016.
1934 – Forward Jack ‘Nipper’ Roberts moved on to Wigan Athletic. He only made one first team appearance after signing from Southport in May 1933. He was an all-round sportsman, even playing baseball for England. He became famous when he escaped from a prisoner-of-war camp in Italy, walking 400 miles to freedom despite a broken neck!
1898 – Keeper Willie Donnelly re-signed for Clyde, having played just eight senior reds games since arriving from the same club in May 1896.
World Cup strikes
1998 - Michael Owen scored his first World Cup goal to draw England level against Romania in Toulouse. He later hit a post after England had gone behind again, but could not prevent them losing 2-1. Fellow red Paul Ince also played.
2014 – Future red Divock Origi scored his first senior goal in Belgium’s 1-0 defeat of Russia in a group game in Rio de Janeiro. Raul Meireles won his 76th and last cap for Portugal in their 2-2 draw with the USA in Manaus, while fellow ex-red Carl Medjani featured for Algeria as they beat South Korea 4-2 in Porto Alegre.
2018 – Xherdan Shaqiri netted as Switzerland beat Serbia 2-1 in a group game in Russia, his last goal for his country before joining the reds. On the same day, ex-red Philippe Coutinho scored in his third consecutive international as Brazil bet Costa Rica 2-0. Roberto Firmino, future red Alisson Becker and ex-red Victor Moses also featured in the World Cup that day, with future red Ozan Kabak playing for Turkey Under-18’s.
Scotch heartbreak
1982 - Scotland were eliminated from the World Cup Finals in Spain after failing to win their last group game in Malaga, despite leading for 45 minutes. Skipper Graeme Souness scored a late equaliser in their 2-2 draw with the USSR. Alan Hansen and future red John Wark also featured.
1974 - Future red Kenny Dalglish played in Scotland’s 1-1 draw with Yugoslavia in Frankfurt as they were eliminated on goal difference.
1973 - He also appeared for his country as they beat Switzerland 1-0 in a friendly in Berne.
International first and last
2010 – Ex-red Alou Diarra captained France for the first time as they lost 2-1 to host nation South Africa in their final game at the World Cup Finals, with fellow ex-red Djibril Cissé winning his last cap while with Panathinaikos. Future red Luis Suárez netted the only goal of Uruguay’s meeting with Mexico in Rustenburg, while Sotirios Kyrgiakos skippered Greece for part of their 2-0 defeat by Argentina in Polokwane, with his clubmate Maxi Rodríguez lining up against him.
2019 – Future red Federico Chiesa scored while winning his thirteenth and last cap for Italy Under-21’s as they beat Belgium 3-1 in a European Championships Finals group game in Reggio Emilia.
Also at the World Cup
2002 - Salif Diao and El-Hadji Diouf were disappointed as Senegal lost 1-0 to Turkey in their World Cup Quarter-final in Osaka thanks to a golden goal. These were their final caps before joining the reds. Meanwhile, Dietmar Hamann missed training after damaging knee ligaments during Germany’s Quarter-final win over the USA two days earlier. He was now the reds’ sole representative at the World Cup, although future red Fernando Morientes featured in Spain’s penalty shoot-out defeat by South Korea, after the match ended goalless.
1986 - Future reds John Barnes and Peter Beardsley both appeared in England’s 2-1 defeat by Argentina in the World Cup Quarter-final at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, a game famous for Diego Maradona’s ‘hand of God’.
1994 – Roy Hodgson took charge of Switzerland as they beat Romania 4-1 in a group game in Detroit.
1997 - Gérard Houllier and Christian Damiano took charge of France Under-20’s as they beat South Africa 4-2 in a World Championships Finals group game in Malaysia. On the same day, future reds goalkeeping coach Cláudio Taffarel played for Brazil as they beat Paraguay 2-0 in their Copa América Quarter-final in Bolivia.
2006 - Harry Kewell netted a crucial goal as Australia held Croatia to a 2-2 draw in Stuttgart to reach the Second Round. This game saw referee Graham Poll give three yellow cards to Croatia’s Josip Šimunić, while two other players were dismissed. Milan Baroš played on the same day as the Czech Republic lost 2-0 to Italy in Hamburg, as they too had a player sent off.
2008 – Kewell skippered Australia while winning his final cap as a reds player as they lost 1-0 to China in a World Cup qualifier in Sydney.
Reds progressing on penalties
1992 – Future red Torben Piechnik was in the Denmark side that reached the Euro ’92 Final by beating the Netherlands 5-4 in a penalty shoot-out after the game in Gothenburg ended 2-2.
1996 - Robbie Fowler, Steve McManaman and future red Nick Barmby all played as England were held to a goalless draw by Spain at Wembley, before reaching the Semi-final 4-2 on penalties.
2008 – Fernando Torres and future red Alberto Aquilani played as Spain beat Italy 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out after their European Championship Finals Quarter-final ended goalless in Vienna. Arsenal’s Kolo Touré played for Ivory Coast as they thumped Botswana 4-0 in a World Cup qualifier in Abidjan on the same day.
2013 – Ex-red Aquilani represented his country again as they lost 4-2 to host nation Brazil in a Confederations Cup group game, with future red Mario Balotelli also in action.
2017 – Emre Can featured as Germany were held to a 1-1 draw by Chile in the Confederations Cup in Russia.
On the move
1926 – Outside-right Archie Rawlings left the reds to join Walsall, having struck ten times in 67 reds games since signing from Preston North End in March 1924, where he had won one England cap.
1984 - Steve Ogrizovic left Shrewsbury Town for Coventry City for £72,500. He went on to play over six hundred times for the Sky Blues, making his final appearance at the grand old age of 42.
2011 – Midfielder Lee Peltier signed for Leicester City from Huddersfield Town, after three strikes in 103 outings for the Terriers.
2015 – Centre-half Danny Wilson re-joined Rangers from Heart Of Midlothian on a free transfer.
Off to foreign climes
1995 - Future red Paul Ince signed for Internazionale from Manchester United for £7m after six seasons at Old Trafford. He bagged thirteen goals in 73 games in his two seasons at the San Siro, helping them to win the UEFA Cup in 1997.
2002 - Ex-red Rigobert Song joined Racing Club de Lens from West Ham United for £1m. He had only played 27 times for the Hammers since moving from Anfield in November 2000.
Ince in charge
2008 - Paul Ince was appointed Manager of Blackburn Rovers. He led them to just six victories in his 21 fixtures before being sacked the following December.
Other international goalscorers
2021 – Ex-red Raheem Sterling netted the only goal of England’s European Championship Finals group encounter with the Czech Republic at Wembley, with Jordan Henderson also featuring. On the same day, Andy Robertson captained Steve Clarke’s Scotland as they lost 3-1 to Croatia at Hampden Park with ex-red Dejan Lovren also in action.
2019 – Roberto Firmino scored as Brazil thumped Peru 5-0 in a Copa América group game in São Paulo. Alisson Becker, Kamil Grabara, Naby Keïta, future red Arthur Melo and ex-red Philippe Coutinho all also played in internationals that day.
2005 - Ryan Babel scored for Netherlands Under-20’s as they beat Chile 3-0 to reach the Quarter-finals of the World Championships Finals in his homeland. Meanwhile, fellow future red Gabriel Paletta appeared as Argentina beat Colombia 2-1 at the same stage.
2003 - Djibril Cissé netted in France’s 5-0 thumping of New Zealand in the Confederations Cup at the Stade de France. This was his third and final international goal as an Auxerre player. Meanwhile, future red Kolo Touré played for the Ivory Coast in their 2-1 defeat in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in South Africa.
1983 – Future reds centre-half Glenn Hysén scored as Sweden drew 3-3 with Brazil in Gothenburg.
Anfield in action
1996 - Anfield hosted a Euro ’96 Quarter-final, with France and the Netherlands playing out a sterile goalless draw before the Dutch crashed out 5-4 on penalties, with Clarence Seedorf missing the decisive kick.
Also in Euro action
2016 – Christian Benteke won his last cap as a reds player, with Divock Origi also featuring as Belgium beat Sweden 1-0 in Nice, with ex-red Krisztián Németh playing in Hungary’s 3-3 draw with Portugal in Décines.
2004 – Future red Christian Poulsen played in Denmark’s 2-2 draw with Sweden in Porto.
2011 – Future red Thiago Alcântara played for Spain Under-21’s in their 2-1 extra time defeat of Belarus in a group game in Denmark.
2022 - Luke Chambers and Jarell Quansah both featured for England Under-19’s as they thumped Serbia 4-0 in a group game in Slovakia.
2023 – Harvey Elliott and Curis Jones faced Vítězslav Jaroš as England Under-21’s beat Czechia 2-0 in a group stage encounter in Georgia.
Bowing out
2012 – Ex-red Milan Baroš announced his retirement from international football after winning his 93rd cap the night before as the Czech Republic were knocked out of the European Championship Finals at the Quarter-final stage.
Also in international action
1997 – Future red Rigobert Song played for Cameroon as they drew 2-2 with Gabon in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Yaoundé.
1993 – Future red Brad Friedel featured in the USA’s 3-3 draw with Venezuela in a Copa América group game in Ecuador.
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