12th May

One-nil down, two-one up
2001 - Michael Owen won the cup! A glorious day in our recent history saw us clinch the FA Cup in Cardiff, the second leg of the treble, despite going behind to a Freddie Ljungberg goal after surviving repeated Arsenal attacks, sometimes through dubious means! Two late, late Michael Owen goals won us the cup, and the Millennium Stadium was awash with overjoyed reds. This was the first time we had won an FA Cup Final while wearing an away kit.

Clinching three in a row
1984 - We clinched our fifteenth League title by holding Notts County to a goalless draw at Meadow Lane. This was our third consecutive championship, and the second part of a glorious treble claimed by Joe Fagan in his first season in charge. Left-back Alan Kennedy was playing his 300th reds game.

Inter trouble
1965 - We suffered our first ever defeat in the European Cup as we lost 3-0 at Internazionale, going out at the Semi-final stage 4-3 on aggregate. The match was highly controversial with Inter’s first goal coming direct from a contentiously-awarded indirect free-kick, and the second coming after the ball was kicked out of Tommy Lawrence’s hands. Ian St. John also had a goal mysteriously disallowed. Reds stalwart Ronnie Moran played his 379th and final reds game in this match.

Finishing second
2019 – We beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0 at Anfield to secure a club record 97 points, a total only bettered twice in top-flight history, including Manchester City who ended the day on 98. Sadio Mané struck twice to end the campaign on 22 goals, sharing the Golden Boot with Mohamed Salah and Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Alisson Becker kept his 21st League clean sheet of the season to claim the Golden Glove with a total only bettered once in Premier League history.

Danny at the treble
2013 – Daniel Sturridge bagged his only reds hat-trick as we won 3-1 at Fulham, with Jonjo Shelvey playing his 69th and last reds game. Dimitar Berbatov had put the home side in front with the last of his five goals past us.

Managers rewarded
2011 - Kenny Dalglish was re-appointed Manager permanently, leading us to a League Cup triumph at Wembley and 36 wins in 74 games until being sacked a year later. First-team coach Steve Clarke signed a new three-year contract on the same day.
2014 - Brendan Rodgers was named as LMA Manager of the Year after leading the reds to a second-place finish in the League.

Beaten in Manchester
1969 - We lost at reigning champions Manchester City, our only other first-class game on this day over the years. Francis Lee struck the only goal of the game, one of his six past us.
1923 – We lost the Lancashire Senior Cup Final 1-0 to City at Bolton Wanderers’ Burnden Park.

The English silent knight
1971 - Chris Lawler scored on his full international debut as England thumped Malta 5-0 in a European Championships qualifier at Wembley. Clubmate Emlyn Hughes also played.
1992 – Future reds Academy coach Mike Sheron won his first cap for England Under-21’s as they drew a friendly 2-2 in Hungary.

Captain Clem
1981 - Ray Clemence captained England for the only time, in their 1-0 friendly defeat by Brazil at Wembley. Terry McDermott and Phil Neal both also played.

Happy birthdays
1996 – Greek left-back Kostas Tsimikas was born in Thessaloniki. He signed from Olympiacos for an initial £11.75m in August 2020, playing 59 reds games before his 27th birthday, with his decisive spot-kick securing the FA Cup at Wembley in May 2022.
1900 - Defender Bert Shears was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He played sixteen reds games without notching after arriving from Aberdare Athletic in September 1924, moving to Tranmere Rovers in May 1930.

Three for Davey
1978 - David Fairclough scored a hat-trick as we drew 5-5 with Bolton Wanderers in a testimonial for ex-red Peter Thompson at Burnden Park. Toffee Duncan Mackenzie added a brace while guesting for the reds.

Taylor on target again
1945 - Future reds boss Phil Taylor scored in his third consecutive game, bagging a brace as we trounced Oldham Athletic 7-0 in a Wartime League match at Boundary Park. Bill Kinghorn, George Paterson, Jack Westby, Jack Pilling and Berry Nieuwenhuys also struck.

Reg signs on
1959 - Forward Reginald Bore signed a professional contract. He only made one senior appearance for the reds, later that year aged just seventeen, going on to enjoy much greater success at Oldham Athletic, for whom he made over 200 League appearances in midfield.

Departures
1911 – Keeper Augustus Beeby left for Manchester City. He joined the club in December 1908, but only made sixteen senior appearances.
1937 – Forward Jimmy Collins was sold to Cardiff City, for whom he bagged forty goals in 75 League outings. He had signed from Walsall in January 1936, failing to score in seven reds games.
2010 – Reserves custodian David Martin re-signed for MK Dons, having failed to make the first team at Anfield.

2016 - Sami Hyypiä was sacked as Manager of Zürich, having been in charge since the previous August, with the club heading towards relegation.
2022 – Midfielder Philippe Coutinho joined Aston Villa from Barcelona for €20m after a successful four-month loan spell. On the same day, former reds winger Mark Kennedy resigned as Assistant Manager of Birmingham City to take over as Lincoln City boss. He led them to 25 wins in 73 games before being sacked in October 2023.

Internationals on target
1993 - Future red Sami Hyypiä netted his first goal for Finland Under-21’s as they beat Austria 2-0 in a European Championships qualifier in Pori. On the same day, Ronnie Rosenthal struck as Israel drew 2-2 with Bulgaria in a World Cup qualifier in Sofia.
2009 - András Simon scored for Hungary Under-19’s as they lost a friendly 3-2 to Austria in Telki, with Péter Gulácsi also in action.
2014 – Future red Dominic Solanke bagged a brace as England Under-17’s beat Turkey 4-1 in a European Championships Finals group game in Malta, with fellow future red Joe Gomez also in action.
2019 – Ki-Jana Hoever netted as the Dutch Under-17’s beat Belgium 3-0 in their European Championships Quarter-final in the Republic of Ireland.

Brucie replaced
2002 - Bruce Grobbelaar was replaced as coach of South African side Hellenic, after just five months in charge.

Also in international action
1973 – John Toshack faced future red Kenny Dalglish as Scotland beat Wales 2-0 in the British International Championships in Wrexham.
2002 – Ex-red Brad Friedel played for the USA as they beat Uruguay 2-1 in a friendly in Washington DC.

2011 – Adam Morgan, Brad Smith and future red Emre Can all featured at the Semi-final stage of the Under-17’s European Championships Finals in Serbia. Germany beat Denmark 2-0, with England losing out 1-0 to the Netherlands.
2016 – Ex-Academy Manager Steve Cooper took charge of England Under-17’s as they beat Denmark 3-1 in a European Championships Finals group game in Azerbaijan. On the same day, Bernard Diomède managed France as they lost 1-0 to Sweden in the same tournament.
2017 – Future reds Ozan Kabak and Dominik Szoboszlai faced each other as Turkey Under-17’s beat Hungary 1-0 in their European Championships Quarter-final in Croatia.