31st May

Edging towards the title
1947 - We moved to within touching distance of our fifth League title as our 2-1 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers took us one point clear of both Wolves and Manchester United, in our final game of the season. Jack Balmer and Albert Stubbins bagged our goals before the break while Wolves legend Stan Cullis, who had guested for the reds during the war, played his final ever game for the club. Jimmy Dunn scored the first of his four goals past us in the second half. Curiously Manager George Kay was absent as he was on a five-day scouting mission in Ireland. However, we had to wait a further two weeks to know for sure if the title was ours, as fellow championship challengers Stoke City had one final game, which they lost at Sheffield United.

First and last caps
2000 - Steven Gerrard made his England debut as Kevin Keegan’s side beat the Ukraine 2-0 in a friendly at Wembley with Robbie Fowler on target. Emile Heskey won his first cap as a reds player in this game, with future red Nick Barmby and ex-red Steve McManaman also featuring.
1989 - Future red Stig Inge Bjørnebye won his first cap for Norway as they beat Austria 4-1 in a friendly in Oslo. On the same day, Ian Rush, future reds player Dean Saunders and Assistant Manager Colin Pascoe faced future red Karl-Heinz Riedle in a goalless World Cup qualifier between Wales and West Germany in Cardiff. On the same day, Glenn Hysén won his last cap as a Fiorentina player as Sweden beat Algeria 2-0 in a friendly.

1994 - Dominic Matteo made his England Under-21’s debut as a substitute in their 3-0 defeat by France in the Toulon Tournament in Aubagne. Fellow reds Robbie Fowler and Jamie Redknapp both also played.
1998 – Future red Frode Kippe won his third and last cap for Norway Under-23’s in their 2-0 tournament defeat of the Netherlands in Romania.
1999 – Future reds Sporting Director Richard Hughes debuted for Scotland Under-21’s as they beat the Republic of Ireland 1-0 in a friendly in Inverness, with future reds recruiter Mark Burchill also featuring.

1977 - Kevin Keegan won his final cap as a reds player, skippering England in their 1-0 defeat to Wales in the British International Championships at Wembley. Fellow reds Emlyn Hughes, Joey Jones, Ray Kennedy and Phil Neal all also featured.
1994 - Ronnie Rosenthal won his last cap as a reds player, and 37th in total, as Israel lost 3-0 to Argentina in a friendly in Tel-Aviv.
2008 – Future red Andy Carroll won his seventh and final cap for England Under-19’s as they held Belarus to a goalless draw in Minsk, so qualifying for the European Championships Finals.

2014 – Young defender Ryan McLaughlin made his senior debut for Northern Ireland in their 1-0 friendly defeat in Uruguay. Sebastián Coates, future red Lazar Marković and ex-reds Alberto Aquilani, Carl Medjani and Gabriel Paletta all also represented their countries that day.
2021 – Future red Ibrahima Konaté won his thirteenth and last cap for France Under-21’s, skippering them as they lost their European Championships Quarter-final 2-1 to the Netherlands in Budapest. Future red Ozan Kabak played for Turkey as they were held to a goalless draw by Guinea in Antalya on the same day.

Goals galore in the US
We have twice racked up hefty scores in US tour games on this day.
1953 - We trounced Toledo All Stars 10-3 with Kevin Baron, Jimmy Payne and Billy Liddell all bagging braces, and Alan A’Court, Bob Paisley and Jack Smith all also on target.
1946 - We thumped St. Louis All Stars 5-1 in the Walsh Stadium, with Willie Fagan netting twice this time around, and Bob Priday, Jack Balmer and Cyril Done also netting.

A new trophy
1919 – We claimed the Lancashire Senior Cup, under its temporary tile of the Lancashire Section Subsidiary Competition, as we beat Oldham Athletic 3-0 in the Final at Old Trafford. Harold Wadsworth and John Miller netted either side of a Harry Lewis penalty.

Derby stalemate
1941 - We drew 2-2 with Everton in a Wartime League game at Anfield with Billy Liddell and Cyril Done on target.

Sal on target
2003 - Salif Diao netted in Senegal’s 2-1 friendly defeat of Cape Verde in Dakar, his first goal as a reds player and last strike for his country, with clubmate El-Hadji Diouf also featuring.
2002 - They both also featured as Senegal beat France 1-0 in the opening game of the World Cup Finals, with fellow future red Djibril Cissé appearing from the bench.

Birth and death
1981 - Ex-reserves defender Alan Navarro was born in Liverpool. He never made a first-team appearance for us and moved to Tranmere Rovers for £225,000 in January 2002.
1954 – Defender Bert Shears died. He played sixteen reds games without notching after arriving from Aberdare Athletic in September 1924, moving to Tranmere Rovers in May 1930.

Venison to Turkey
1995 - Barry Venison joined Galatasaray from Newcastle United for £750,000. He was signed by ex-reds boss Graeme Souness, but only remained in Turkey for five months, playing eight League games.

Mighty Mouse on target
1976 - Kevin Keegan bagged a brace as England beat Team America 3-1 in the US Bicentennial Tournament in Philadelphia. Ray Clemence and Phil Thompson both also played for England, while ex-red Tommy Smith appeared for the Americans.

On Song again and again
Rigobert Song has played for Cameroon three times on this day in history.
2008 – He netted as skipper in their 2-0 defeat of Cape Verde Islands in a World Cup qualifier in Yaoundé. Xabi Alonso, Nabil El Zhar, Fernando Torres, future reds Ragnar Klavan and Raul Meireles and ex-reds Nicolas Anelka and El-Hadji Diouf also represented their countries that day.
2001 - He featured in their 2-0 defeat by Brazil in the Confederations Cup in Japan. Meanwhile, Grégory Vignal and future red Alou Diarra both played as France lost 2-1 to Colombia in the Semi-final of the Toulon Tournament.
1998 - Cameroon won a friendly 2-0 in Luxembourg.

Internationals on target
2013 – Alberto Aquilani bagged his first strike as a Fiorentina player as Italy beat San Marino 4-0 in a friendly in Bologna, with future red Mario Balotelli also in action, while future red Tiago Ilori played as Portugal Under-20’s beat Belgium Under-21’s 2-0 in a friendly in France.
2005 - Djibril Cissé struck in France’s 2-1 friendly defeat of Hungary in Metz.
2006 - He also featured for his country in a 2-0 friendly defeat of Denmark in Lens, with Christian Poulsen winning his final cap as a Schalke 04 player. Ragnar Klavan struck his first senior goal and only one as a Heracles Almelo player as Estonia drew 1-1 with New Zealand in Tallinn. Future reds Philipp Degen and Nuri Şahin were also in international action that day.

2005 - Ex-red Michael Owen bagged a treble to become England’s all-time fourth top goalscorer as he struck his final goals as a Real Madrid player. England beat Colombia 3-2 in New Jersey, with Peter Crouch making his senior bow, winning his only cap as a Southampton player. Ex-red David James and future reds Joe Cole and Glen Johnson also played. On the same day, future red Besian Idrizaj played for Austria Under-19’s as they lost 3-2 to Scotland in a European Championships qualifier in Vöcklamarkt.
2019 – Future red Cody Gakpo netted for the Dutch Under-21’s in their 5-1 friendly defeat of Mexico in Doetinchem. On the same day, Bernard Diomède took charge of France Under-20’s as they beat Mali 3-2 in a World Cup Finals group game in Poland.

Management moves
2005 - Mark Wright was appointed Manager of Peterborough United. He was only in charge until the following January, winning twelve of his 35 games in charge.
2018 – Former First Team Coach Paco Herrera was appointed Manager of Greek side Aris Thessaloniki, remaining in charge for six months.

Conal on the move
2006 - Former reserves forward Conal Platt signed for Bournemouth having been released by the reds at the end of the season. He only made one senior appearance for the Cherries and is now playing for Stalybridge Celtic in the Conference North.
2015 - Ex-reserves defender Gareth Roberts signed for Conference North side Stockport County, having been released by Chester.

John a Rover again
2007 – Future reds goalkeeping coach John Achterberg signed a new two-year playing/coaching contract with Tranmere Rovers. He went on to play 312 times in total for Rovers.

Youngsters in action
1981 – Sammy Lee played for England Under-21’s as they held Switzerland to a goalless draw in a European Championships qualifier in Neuenburg.
1991 – Future red David James played for England Under-21’s in their 2-1 defeat of the CIS in the Toulon Tournament.
2011 – Five reds featured for England Under-19’s as they beat Montenegro 1-0 in a European Championships qualifier in Switzerland. Andre Wisdom skippered a side that also included Conor Coady, Tom Ince, Michael Ngoo and Jack Robinson, with future red Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain making his debut at this level.

2012 – Danny Wilson played for Scotland Under-21’s in their 2-2 draw in a European Championships qualifier in Bulgaria.
2015 – Future red Diogo Jota played for Portugal Under-19’s as they won a European Championships qualifier in Georgia, while future red Marko Grujić featured for Serbia Under-20’s in their 1-0 defeat by Uruguay in a World Championships Finals group game in New Zealand.
2017 – Future red Dominic Solanke played as England Under-20’s beat Costa Rica 2-1 in the World Championship Finals in South Korea.
2018 – Liam Millar represented Canada Under-23’s as they beat Turkey Under-20’s 1-0 in a friendly in France.

Also in international action
1909 – Sam Hardy was between the sticks for England as they trounced Hungary 8-2 in a friendly in Budapest.
1980 – Kenny Dalglish featured for Scotland as the beat Hungary 3-1 in a friendly in Budapest, with future reds coach Joe Corrigan in goal as England beat Australia 2-1 in Sydney.
1983 – Ex-red Joey Jones played for Wales in their 1-0 defeat of Northern Ireland in the British International Championships in Belfast.
1997 – Future red Paul Ince featured in England’s 2-0 World Cup qualifying win in Poland.
2012 – Ex-red Yossi Benayoun played as Israel lost a friendly 2-0 to Germany in Leipzig, while ex-red Alou Diarra featured in France’s 2-0 win over Serbia in Reims.
2016 – Marko Grujić appeared for Serbia as they beat Israel 3-1 in Novi Sad.