23rd June

Bienvenida Iago!
2013 – Spanish forward Iago Aspas signed from Real Club Celta de Vigo for £7.7m. However, he only struck once in fifteen largely uninspiring outings, nine of those coming from off the bench. He returned to Spain with Sevilla on loan for a season before returning to Vigo for €5m in June 2015.
1955 – Right-back John Molyneux signed from Chester for £5,500. He bagged three goals in 249 games, but did not survive Bill Shankly’s early clear-out, returning to his former club in August 1962.

Ryan the champion
2007 - Future red Ryan Babel scored and had a penalty saved for the Netherlands Under-21’s in the European Championships Final in Groningen, with the Dutch beating Serbia 4-1.

Alou goodbye
2005 - Alou Diarra left the reds to join Racing Club de Lens for £2m. He had arrived on a free transfer from Bayern München in July 2002, but spent all three seasons while on our books on loan back in France.
2006 - He won his tenth senior cap, as a substitute in France’s 2-0 defeat of Togo in the World Cup Finals in Cologne.

Off for a Song
1998 - Future red Rigobert Song was sent off for the second World Cup in a row, in Cameroon’s 1-1 draw with Chile in Nantes as they ended up bottom of their group. He was winning his final cap as a Metz player.

Youngsters on target
1997 - Michael Owen netted the only goal of the game as England Under-20’s beat Mexico in a World Championships Finals group game in Malaysia.
2001 - Daniel Sjölund struck as Finland lost 2-1 to Egypt in the same tournament in Argentina, while future red Maxi Rodríguez came off the bench as Argentina thumped Jamaica 5-1 in the same group.

Burkinshaw born
1935 - Centre-half Keith Burkinshaw was born in Barnsley. He only made one senior reds appearance after signing from Denaby United in November 1953, against Port Vale in April 1955. The rest of his playing career was also fairly inconsequential, but he found greater success as a Manager, notably with Tottenham Hotspur between 1976 and 1984.

At Euro 96
1996 - Future reds Patrik Berger and Vladimír Šmicer both featured as the Czech Republic beat Portugal 1-0 at Villa Park to reach the Semi-final of Euro ‘96, where they were to face France. On the same day, future reds Markus Babbel and Christian Ziege both played as Germany beat Croatia 2-1 at Old Trafford to set up a Semi-final clash with the host nation.
1995 - Ziege also played for his country as they beat Roy Hodgson’s Switzerland 2-1 in a SFV Centenary Tournament game in Bern. Stéphane Henchoz won his final cap as a Neuchâtel Xamax player in the same game.

2015 – Future red Emre Can played for Germany Under-21’s as they were held to a 1-1 draw by the Czech Republic in Prague in the European Championships Finals.
2017 – Future red Diogo Jota was sent off as Portugal Under-21’s beat Macedonia 4-2 in a European Championships Finals group game in Poland.

Xabi’s century
2012 – Xabi Alonso struck twice while winning his hundredth cap, with one coming from the spot as Spain beat France 2-0 in the European Championships Finals Quarter-final in Donetsk. Fellow ex-reds Álvaro Arbeloa and Fernando Torres both also featured.

More internationals on target
2013 – Luis Suárez became Uruguay’s all-time top scorer with 36 goals, netting twice while playing his 67th game as they trounced Tahiti 8-0 in a Confederations Cup group game in Brazil, with team-mate Sebastián Coates also featuring. Meanwhile, ex-red Fernando Torres came off the bench to net in Spain’s 3-0 defeat of Nigeria in the same section, with ex-red Álvaro Arbeloa also in action. On the same day, skipper Conor Coady scored while winning his first cap for England Under-20’s as they drew 2-2 with Iraq in a World Championship Finals group game in Turkey, with Jon Flanagan also making his debut at this level.

2004 - Milan Baroš scored in his fifth consecutive international, coming off the bench to net in a 2-1 defeat of Dietmar Hamann’s Germany in a group game in Euro 2004 in Lisbon.
2021 – Roberto Firmino scored his last goal as a reds player as Brazil beat Colombia 2-1 in a Copa América group game in Rio de Janeiro, with future red Luis Díaz also on target. Thiago Alcântara, Diogo Jota and ex-red Péter Gulácsi all featured in the European Championship Finals group stage that day.

Seb’s bow
2011 – Sebastián Coates made his senior international debut as Uruguay beat Estonia 3-0 in a friendly in Montevideo, with Luis Suárez also featuring. On the same day, Adam Morgan netted for England Under-17’s in a World Championship Finals group game in Mexico, as they drew 2-2 with Canada. Jack Dunn and Raheem Sterling both also played, with Tom King turning out for Australia in the same competition, while Emre Can captained a Germany side that also included fellow future red Samed Yeşil.

In charge
2003 - Mike Newell was appointed Manager of Luton Town, following an unprecedented public vote! He led them to the League One title in his second campaign and tenth in the Championship in their first season back but was sacked in March 2007 after a series of controversial comments, as well as a much tougher third year.
2010 – Antonio Gómez Pérez was appointed Head Coach of Real Valladolid, having just left the reds as Reserves team coach. He was dismissed just five months later with the side sitting seventh in the Segunda División table.

2017 - Ex-red Mauricio Pellegrino was appointed Manager of Southampton. He was sacked the following March after winning just eight of his 34 games in charge.
2020 – Future reds scout Jonathan Woodgate was sacked as Head Coach of Middlesbrough, having led them to just nine wins in 41 games in charge.
2023 - Rafael Benítez was appointed Manager of Real Club Celta de Vigo but was sacked the following March after leading them to nine victories in 33 matches.

At the World Cup
Stig Inge Bjørnebye and Øyvind Leonhardsen have both twice played for Norway in World Cup group games on this day in history.
1994 - They lost 1-0 to Italy in New York City, with Dino Baggio grabbing the goal.
1998 - They played in a 2-1 win over Brazil in Marseille which was enough to secure them second place in the group, setting up a Second Round meeting with Italy. Future reds goalkeeping coach Cláudio Taffarel won his last cap as an Internacional player in this game.

2006 - Future red Fernando Torres played as Spain beat Saudi Arabia 1-0 in their final group game in Kaiserslautern, while Bayer 04 Leverkusen’s Andriy Voronin featured in the Ukraine’s 1-0 defeat of Tunisia in the same group. Meanwhile, future red Philipp Degen played in Switzerland’s 2-0 defeat of South Korea in Hanover.
2010 – Milan Jovanović won his last cap as a Standard de Liège player as Serbia lost 2-1 to Australia in Nelspruit to ensure neither side made it out of the group stage. Meanwhile, Steven Gerrard captained England to a 1-0 victory over Slovenia in Port Elizabeth to set up a Round of 16 clash with Germany. Glen Johnson, future reds Joe Cole and James Milner and ex-reds Emile Heskey and David James all also featured.
2019 – Liam Millar featured for Canada as they trounced Cuba 7-0 in their CONCACAF Gold Cup group game in the USA, while future red Luis Díaz played for Colombia as they beat Paraguay 1-0 in a Copa América group game in Brazil.

Final caps
2014 – Pepe Reina won his 33rd and last cap as a reds player as Spain beat Australia 3-0 in a World Cup group game in Curitiba, with Xabi Alonso winning his 114th and last cap for his country. Fellow ex-red Fernando Torres struck. Meanwhile, Dejan Lovren played his last international while with Southampton as Croatia lost 3-1 to Mexico in Recife. Future reds Joël Matip and Gini Wijnaldum and ex-reds Charles Itandje and Dirk Kuyt were also in action that day.

Stadium underway?
2008 - Enabling works officially began on the new stadium. However, work quickly ground to a halt and were subsequently shelved in favour of an expanded Anfield.

Kenny at the Maracanã
1977 - While still a Celtic player, Kenny Dalglish won his 47th cap as Scotland lost 2-0 to Brazil in a friendly.

On the move
2011 – Midfielder Darren Potter joined MK Dons on a free transfer from Sheffield Wednesday, after nine strikes in 106 games for the Owls.
2012 - Fabio Borini joined Roma from Parma for €5.3m, moving on to Anfield the following month for £10.4m.
2014 – Midfielder Lee Peltier re-signed for Huddersfield Town on a free transfer from Leeds United, after one goal in 75 games for the Whites.

2015 – Reserves keeper Danny Ward signed a new contract, going on to make three senior appearances the following season, as well as sitting on the bench 53 times before moving to Leicester City for £12.5m in July 2018. On the same day, ex-red Pepe Reina re-signed for SSC Napoli after a year at Bayern München.
2021 – Ex-reserves defender Corey Whelan signed for Carlisle United, playing 41 times in his first campaign with the Cumbrians.
2022 – French centre-half Billy Koumetio joined Austria Wien on loan, although he was recalled the following January after eleven senior outings. On the same day, ex-reds reserves defender Ki-Jana Hoever joined PSV Eindhoven on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers, playing eight senior games while back in his native Netherlands.

Reserves off to Chester
2002 - It was announced that the second string would play their home matches at Chester City’s Deva Stadium, moving from Southport’s Haig Avenue ground. Chester chairman Stephen Vaughan said, “This is a tremendous coup for Chester City Football Club, and it is an honour to have a working relationship with one of the leading club sides in European football.” They have since moved on to play in several other venues in the North West.