15th March

The start of it all
1892 - Everton voted to move from Anfield. John Houlding was therefore left with an empty ground, but no team to play in it. Within six months, Liverpool FC had been formed and was on its way to taking the Lancashire League by storm.

God strikes again
2006 - Robbie Fowler struck the first goal of his second reds spell, opening the scoring against Fulham at Anfield. Collins John equalised before an own goal from Michael Brown put us 2-1 ahead at the break. Fernando Morientes and Peter Crouch scored late on before Stephen Warnock grabbed his only ever goal for the club as we triumphed 5-1.

1997 – Fowler grabbed the opener at Nottingham Forest, but Ian Woan equalised as this League encounter ended 1-1, with Steve McManaman playing his 200th League game for the reds while Jamie Redknapp appeared for the reds for the 200th time in total.

Masch off the mark
2008 - Javier Mascherano scored his first reds goal, a thunderous strike as we came from behind to beat Reading 2-1 at Anfield. Fernando Torres headed in a Steven Gerrard free-kick to net in his fourth consecutive game, to become the first red to score twenty League goals in a season since Robbie Fowler in 1995/96. This was our seventh straight victory in all competitions.

Alberto off the mark
2010 - Alberto Aquilani scored his first reds goal as we thumped Portsmouth 4-1 at Anfield. Fernando Torres and Ryan Babel had already struck in the first half before the Italian netted our third goal in a six-minute spell. Torres added his second after the break with Nadir Belhadj nabbing a late consolation.
1947 – Albert Stubbins nabbed a brace as we won 2-1 at Fratton Park in a top-flight meeting, with right-half Harry Eastham playing his 68th and final reds game. Full-back Jim Harley reached a century of reds games.

Happy birthdays
1946 - David Moores was born in Liverpool. He became Chairman in August 1991, remaining in charge until he sold his 51.5% of the shares in The Liverpool Football Club and Athletic Grounds Plc to George Gillett Jr. and Tom Hicks in February 2007. He resigned from the Board of Directors in June 2009.
1869 – Outside-left John Drummond was born in Edinburgh. He signed from Sheffield United in August 1894, scoring once in eighteen outings before moving on to Barnsley St. Peter’s the following year.

Most recently
2021 – Diogo Jota netted the only goal behind closed doors at his former club Wolverhampton Wanderers.
2023 – We lost the second leg of our UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie 1-0 at Real Madrid, to crash out 6-2 on aggregate. Karim Benzema struck the most recent of his seven goals past us to date as the Spanish side ended our hopes in the competition for the third consecutive season.

Seeing off the Portuguese
We have twice on this day overcome Portuguese opposition to progress in European competition.
1978 - We defeated SL Benfica 4-1 at Anfield in the European Cup Third Round to go through 6-2 on aggregate, with Ian Callaghan scoring his 68th and final reds goal and Kenny Dalglish, Terry McDermott and Phil Neal also netting as Nené scored one of his three goals for Benfica against us. McDermott reached a century of reds games that evening.
2001 - We followed up a goalless away draw with a 2-0 home win over Porto in the UEFA Cup Quarter-final, thanks to Danny Murphy and Michael Owen both grabbing their first Anfield goals in Europe during a five-minute first-half spell.

Goddard’s first
1902 - Outside-right ‘Graceful’ Arthur Goddard netted the first of his 77 reds goals in only his second game, as we drew 1-1 at Grimsby Town in a top-flight match.

First and last games
1924 - Outside-right Archie Rawlings made his reds bow as Blackburn Rovers held us to a goalless draw at Anfield. He went on to net ten times in 67 reds games.
1930 - Outside-left Gordon Gunson debuted in our 2-0 win at Bolton Wanderers, with Jimmy Smith bagging both goals.
1950 - Defender Frank Christie made the first of his four reds appearances in a goalless draw at Manchester United.
1958 – Outside-right Tony McNamara played his tenth and last game as Billy Liddell netted the only goal of our Second Division trip to Lincoln City.

Signing on
1930 – Keeper Andrew Aitken signed from Wallsend. He only ever made one senior reds appearance, in our 3-3 draw at Blackburn Rovers in December of that year, returning to amateur football with Mickley in April 1931.
1934 – Left-back Ernie Blenkinsop signed from Sheffield Wednesday for £6,500, having already earned 26 England caps. He played 71 reds games without scoring. He moved on to Cardiff City in November 1937.

1938 – Left-half Jimmy McInnes signed from Third Lanark for £5,500. He struck once in 48 outings, joining the administrative staff after retiring from playing in 1946, taking over as Club Secretary in 1955. He stayed in this role until May 1965, when he sadly hanged himself above the Archway Stile, the old turnstile between the Kop and Kemlyn Road stands, just four days after we had claimed the FA Cup for the first time.
2024 – Forward Jayden Danns signed a new contract, having netted twice in four senior outings to that point.

Red centurions
1952 - Inside-forward Kevin Baron made his hundredth reds appearance in a 3-3 draw at West Bromwich Albion. Billy Liddell, Bob Paisley and Albert Stubbins all struck, with Ronnie Allen netting two of his five goals against us and Reg Ryan also on target for the Baggies.

1975 – Kevin Keegan played his 200th game for the club with Phil Thompson reaching a century as Sheffield United held us to a goalless draw at Anfield with Emlyn Hughes guilty of a lame dive in an attempt to win a late penalty.
1913 – Right-back Ephraim Longworth reached a century of League games for the reds as we beat Middlesbrough 4-2 at Anfield, with half-back Harry Lowe bagging his second and final goal for the club and defender Ernest Peake netting for the sixth and last time. Arthur Metcalf also netted, with Jack Parkinson converting a penalty. Jackie Carr bagged two of his five strikes past us.

Berry passes on
1953 - Forward Arthur Berry died on this day in 1953. Arthur won Olympic gold in both 1908 and 1912 but only made four senior reds appearances across two spells at Anfield. He was the son of Edwin Berry, who was reds Chairman in the late 1900’s.

Cally for the League
1967 - Ian Callaghan played for the Football League as they beat a Scottish League side 3-0.

Other birthdays
1910 - Jack ‘Nipper’ Roberts was born in Blundellsands. He only made one first team appearance after signing from Southport in May 1933, moving on to Wigan Athletic in June 1934. 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!
1928 - Keeper Dave Underwood was born in London. He signed from Watford for £7,000 in December 1953, playing fifty reds games before returning to Vicarage Road in July 1956.

Michael misses
2000 - Michael Owen saw his penalty crash back off the bar but not over the line as Aston Villa held us to a goalless draw at Anfield. Jamie Carragher was playing his hundredth reds game.

Backing out
1948 - Left-back Barney Ramsden left Anfield to join Sunderland. He had arrived on a free transfer from Sheffield Victoria in March 1935, helping us to claim the first post-war League title in 1947, making a total of 63 first-team appearances without notching.
1935 – Right-back Willie Steel was sold to Birmingham City for £5,000. He failed to score in 128 reds games after signing from St. Johnstone in September 1931.

Fred’s treble
1890 – Future reds forward Fred Geary reportedly struck a hat-trick on his England debut, as they trounced Ireland 9-1 in the British International Championships in Belfast.

Poland for Wales
1939 - Future reds keeper George Poland made his senior debut for Wales, playing in their 3-1 British International Championships defeat of Ireland in Wrexham. He only won two full caps, plus a further four in wartime while on our books.

Mixed fortunes against the Seasiders
We have twice faced Blackpool in Wartime League matches on this day in history.
1919 - Harry Lewis struck a brace as we won 3-1 at Anfield, with Donald McKinlay also on target.
1941 - Willie Fagan netted twice from the spot as we lost 6-4 at Bloomfield Road, with Bob Paisley and Cyril Done also on target.

Parry for Wales
Reds right-half Maurice Parry twice played for Wales in the British International Championships on this day in history.
1902 - They thrashed Scotland 5-1 in Greenock, with future red Richard Morris also playing.
1909 - He played alongside clubmate Ernest Peake as they lost 2-0 to England at the City Ground in Nottingham. Clubmate Sam Hardy was in the England goal. On the same day, future red Billy Lacey played for Ireland in their 5-0 thumping by Scotland in Glasgow.
1920 - Hardy also represented his country as they lost 2-1 to Wales at Highbury in another British International Championships match, by which time he was playing for Aston Villa.

Other reds games
1986 – We came from behind to win 2-1 at Southampton thanks to goals from John Wark and Ian Rush.
1980 – We beat Bristol City 3-1 at Ashton Gate. Ray Kennedy scored early on, with Kenny Dalglish then bagging a brace.
1969 – Ian St. John and Alun Evans stuck as we won 2-0 at Sunderland.
1939 – We held Huddersfield Town to a 1-1 draw at Leeds Road with Berry Nieuwenhuys on target.

Newell departs
2007 - Mike Newell was sacked as Manager of Luton Town after publicly asking the Board of Directors where the money received from player sales had gone.

American tie-up
2007 - The club announced an affiliation with the Long Island Junior Soccer League in New York.

Also in international action
1899 – Ex-red Harry Bradshaw played for and England XI as they lost 2-1 to a Scottish side in a Players’ Union International at Crystal Palace.
1977 – Glenn Hysén played for the Swedish Under-18’s as they lost 2-1 in a European Championships qualifier in Denmark.
2015 – Future red Bobby Adekanye played for the Dutch Under-16’s in their 3-1 defeat of the USA.
2017 – Rafael Camacho played for Portugal Under-17’s as they lost 2-0 to Spain in a European Championships qualifier in Rio Maior.