16th May

Completing another treble
2001 - We clinched the third leg of our cup treble, beating Deportivo Alavés 5-4 after a pulsating match in Dortmund. Markus Babbel and Steven Gerrard put us 2-0 up after a quarter of an hour, with the German grabbing his sixth and final reds goal. Ivan Alonso pulled one back before a Gary McAllister penalty restored our two-goal cushion before half-time. After the break, two goals from Javi Moreno levelled the match, before Robbie Fowler scored his fiftieth cup goal to regain the lead. Jordi Cruyff sent the Final into extra-time, before a golden own-goal from Delfi Geli, from a Gary Mac free-kick, finally won us the UEFA Cup for the third time.

Ali on target
2021 – Alisson Becker headed in a stoppage-time winner at West Bromwich Albion to become the first goalkeeper to ever score for the reds as Roberto Firmino skippered the side for the first time. Hal Robson-Kanu gave the Baggies an early lead with Mohamed Salah equalising before half time. Xherdan Shaqiri came off the bench to make his 63rd and last reds appearance as we won 2-1.

Anfield testimonials for reds legends
2000 – The reds beat Celtic 4-1 in a testimonial for Ronnie Moran. He had struck seventeen times in 379 games for us before joining the coaching staff. The game was also special in that Erik Meijer grabbed a rare brace, with the other goals coming from Titi Camara and David Thompson.
1988 - The reds beat an England XI 3-2 to win the Fosters Challenge Cup, in a testimonial match for Alan Hansen at Anfield. Mick Harford’s header put England in front, before Ronnie Whelan and Ian Rush put the reds ahead. Chris Waddle equalised and then Rush added his second. Long before the end the Kop were chanting “Ian Rush come back home”, a wish that was granted just three months later.

Farewell to heroes
1959 - Elisha Scott died. He had played 468 games in goal across his 21 years with us, winning two League championship medals in his time at Anfield.
2012 – Kenny Dalglish was sacked as Manager, despite having won the League Cup and reached the FA Cup Final in his one full season back in charge. However, he paid the price for a disappointing League campaign.

Fijne verjaardag
2002 – Dutch midfielder Ryan Gravenberch was born in Amsterdam. He signed from Bayern München for a reported €40m in September 2023.

Also recently
2015 - Steven Gerrard bid an emotional farewell to Anfield as we tamely lost 3-1 to Crystal Palace. Glen Johnson played his 200th and last reds game, with Raheem Sterling also making his final appearance for the club. Adam Lallana opened the scoring against his former club, but Jason Puncheon equalised just before half time. Wilfred Zaha’s free-kick put the Eagles ahead before Glenn Murray converted the rebound after his penalty was initially saved by Simon Mignolet.

On the same day, future red Sadio Mané broke the record for the fastest Premier League hat-trick when he netted three times in two minutes and 56 seconds for Southampton against Aston Villa. Meanwhile, Herbie Kane played for England Under-17’s as they lost 1-0 to Russia in a European Championships Finals group game in Bulgaria.

Other games on this day
We have only played three other first-class games on this day, winning two of them.
1977 - We lost 2-1 at Bristol City, with David Johnson netting our consolation in our final League game of the season. Chris Garland struck twice for the home side as left-back Alec Lindsay made his 248th and final reds outing.
1989 - John Aldridge and Ronnie Whelan scored as we beat Queens Park Rangers 2-0 at Anfield.
1999 – Karl-Heinz Riedle, Patrik Berger and Paul Ince were all on target as Wimbledon left L4 after our last game of the season on the wrong end of a 3-0 scoreline. Phil Babb made his 170th and final reds appearance in this game, with Ince playing for the 81st and last time, Steve McManaman appearing for the 364th and final time and Øyvind Leonhardsen turning out for the 49th and last time.

International arrivals
2009 - Pep Segura was appointed Academy Technical Manager having led Olympiacos to the League and Cup double. He had previously spent many years working with Barcelona’s youth players.
2002 - Bruno Cheyrou signed from Lille OSC Métropole for £3.7m, although he had to wait two months for his international clearance. He struck five times in 48 reds games before joining Stade Rennais in June 2006 after two previous loan spells back in his native land.

International recognition
1931 - Left-half Jimmy McDougall made his Scotland debut at centre-half as they lost 5-0 to Austria in a friendly in Vienna. Meanwhile, future reds defender Ernie Blenkinsop featured in England’s 4-1 friendly win in Belgium.
1934 - Ex-reds defender Tom Gardner won the first of his two England caps as they lost 2-1 to Czechoslovakia in a friendly in Prague. Future reds right-back Tom Cooper captained the English.

Unlucky break
1951 – Left-back Eddie Spicer broke his leg in our 4-1 friendly defeat of Malmö FF in Solna. Cyril Done nabbed a brace, with Billy Liddell and Kevin Baron also scoring.

On the move
1992 - Ex-reds midfielder Jimmy Case joined Conference side Halifax Town from Bournemouth on a free transfer. He played 23 times for The Shaymen, netting twice.
2010 - Markus Babbel was appointed Manager of Hertha BSC Berlin, leading them back into the top flight in his first campaign in charge, but was sacked last December.

2011 - Kevin Keen was re-appointed Caretaker Manager of West Ham United, following the sacking of Avram Grant.
2018 – Sammy Lee left as Assistant Manager of Everton, at the same time as his boss Sam Allardyce moved on.
2022 – Paul Ince was appointed permanently as Manager of Reading after three months in interim charge. He was sacked in April 2023.

God signs on again
2006 - Robbie Fowler signed a new one-year contract, having impressed with five strikes in sixteen matches since his return. He went on to net seven times in 23 outings in his second season, moving on to Cardiff City in July 2007.

2008 – Second string keeper David Martin signed a new contract until June 2010, though he returned to MK Dons in May 2010, having spent much of his time away from Anfield on loan.
1902 – Defender Thomas Hunter was sold to Preston North End after appearing just four times since arriving from Scottish side Beith in September 1899.
2017 – Winger Paul Anderson signed for Mansfield Town from Northampton Town on a free transfer, having struck seven times in 39 outings for the Cobblers since signing from Bradford City in August 2016.

Reds on target against Northern Ireland
1978 - Phil Neal netted his first England strike, the only goal of a British International Championships fixture at Wembley. Emlyn Hughes captained his country, with fellow clubmate Ray Clemence also playing.

1973 - Future red Kenny Dalglish was on target as Scotland lost 2-1 in the same tournament at Hampden.
1980 - He also turned out for his country, alongside clubmate Graeme Souness, as the Scots beat the same opposition 1-0 at Windsor Park. On the same day, Steve Heighway featured as the Republic of Ireland lost 1-0 to Argentina at Lansdowne Road.
1983 – Dalglish controversially played for the reds, scoring as we lost a friendly 4-3 to the Israeli national side in Tel-Aviv, despite having withdrawn from the Scottish squad for the upcoming British International Championships earlier that day. Beni Tabak scored all four for the home side, with centre-half John McGregor scoring our other two goals.

Jan the Dane
1984 - Jan Mølby won his final cap as an Ajax player, and his eighth in total, as a substitute in Denmark’s 1-0 defeat by Czechoslovakia in a friendly in Prague.
1986 - He won his twentieth cap in a 1-0 friendly win over Poland in Copenhagen.

More international marksmen
1991 - Future red Jari Litmanen scored as Finland beat Malta 2-0 in a European Championships qualifier in Helsinki.
1990 - He also played for his country as they drew 1-1 with the Republic of Ireland in a friendly in Dublin. The Irish goal was scored by ex-reds reserve Kevin Sheedy, while Ray Houghton, Steve Staunton and ex-red John Aldridge all also featured. On the same day, Gary Gillespie won his ninth cap in Scotland’s 3-1 friendly defeat by Egypt at Pittodrie.

2007 - Future red Krisztián Németh netted his last goal as an MTK Hungaria player for Hungary Under-19’s as they drew 1-1 with Bulgaria in a European Championships qualifier in Dublin.
2008 – Future red Thiago Alcântara scored for Spain Under-17’s as they thumped France 4-0 in the European Championships Final in Turkey.

For the university
1995 - We took part in a friendly in celebration of University College Dublin’s centenary season in 1994-95, winning 3-1 at Lansdowne Road. Robbie Fowler struck twice, with Jamie Redknapp also on target.

Also in international action
1981 – Ex-red Joey Jones played for Wales as they beat Scotland 2-0 in the British International Championships in Swansea.
1989 – Future red Paul Stewart turned out for England B as they beat their Swiss counterparts 2-0 in Winterthur.
2002 – Future reds Steve Finnan and Robbie Keane, and ex-reds Jason McAteer and Steve Staunton all featured as the Republic of Ireland lost a friendly 2-1 to Nigeria at Lansdowne Road. Meanwhile, Milan Baroš played as the Czech Republic Under-21’s lost 2-0 to France in the European Championships Finals in Switzerland.

2006 – Carl Medjani captained France Under-20’s in their 1-1 draw with Mexico in the Toulon Tournament.
2017 – Future red Ozan Kabak played for Turkey Under-17’s as they lost 2-1 to England in their European Championships Semi-final in Croatia, with ex-Academy Manager Steve Cooper in charge of England and Rhian Brewster also in action.
2019 – Ki-Jana Hoever featured as the Dutch Under-17’s beat Spain 1-0 in their European Championships Semi-final in Dublin.