18th September

Happy birthdays
1958 - John Aldridge was born in Liverpool. He signed from Oxford United for £750,000 in January 1987 and struck 63 times in 104 reds appearances, including one in the 1989 FA Cup Final. He also won a League title and FA Charity Shield in his time at Anfield, before moving on to Real Sociedad for £1.1m in September 1989.
1987 – French left-back Aly Cissokho was born in Blois. He arrived on loan from Valencia in August 2013 for a season, making nineteen appearances.

1917 - Phil Taylor was born in Bristol. He signed from Bristol Rovers in March 1936 in exchange for outside-right Billy Hartill plus £5,000. He made 345 appearances at right-half before and after the war, scoring 34 times and winning one League title and captaining the side. He joined the coaching staff when he retired from playing in July 1954, and became Manager in May 1956, staying in the job for three years, but has the unhappy distinction of being the only reds boss never to manage the side in the top flight.

A derby record
1948 - The record attendance at a Merseyside derby was set as 78,299 witnessed a 1-1 draw. Willie Fagan grabbed our goal before Jock Dodds converted a penalty for the Blues after a Bill Shepherd handball, the first spot-kick they had ever been awarded in a derby. This remains the biggest crowd for any League match at Goodison.

Four for Deano
1991 - Dean Saunders scored four goals in our 6-1 thumping of Finnish side Kuusysi Lahti in the opening game of our UEFA Cup campaign. Ray Houghton scored the other two in our first game back in Europe after the ban following the Heysel disaster.

Nine in a row
2021 - Sadio Mané scored in his ninth consecutive game against Crystal Palace, a Premier League record, which was also his hundredth reds goal. We won 3-0 at Anfield as Jordan Henderson captained the side for the 200th time, while Virgil van Dijk reached a century of League outings for us. Centre-half Ibrahima Konaté made his reds bow as Mohamed Salah and Naby Keïta also struck.

Signing on
2020 – Midfielder Thiago Alcântara signed from Bayern München for an initial £20m. He scored three goals in 98 reds appearances, helping us claim the League Cup and FA Community Shield, before retiring in the summer of 2024.
1929 – Scottish centre-forward Jimmy Smith signed from Ayr United for £5,500. He still holds the British seasonal scoring record, having bagged 66 for Ayr in 1927/28. He struck 38 goals in 62 reds games including two on his debut against Manchester United. He moved into amateur football with Tunbridge Wells Rangers in June 1932.

Red trebles
1909 - Jack Parkinson bagged a hat-trick as we won 4-1 at Nottingham Forest, with ‘Wee’ Ronald Orr also on the scoresheet and Enoch West grabbing one of his eight goals against the reds.
1954 - Billy Liddell scored three times, including two penalties, in our 4-1 Second Division defeat of Fulham at Anfield. John Evans netted the other, with future England boss Bobby Robson on target for the visitors. Liddell’s goal from open play was struck so hard that it rebounded off the stanchion and flew back out onto the pitch, while his second, late spot-kick was his hundredth League goal for the reds.

Multiple centurions
1971 – Full-back Chris Lawler played his 400th reds game in our 1-0 defeat at Leeds United thanks to a Peter Lorimer goal.
1920 – Right-back Ephraim Longworth made his 200th League appearance for the club as we were held to a goalless draw at Oldham Athletic, with winger Jackie Sheldon reaching a century of League outings for the reds.
1897 – Right-half John McCartney played his hundredth League game for the reds in our 4-2 defeat at The Wednesday, with Willie Walker and Frank Becton netting.

Off, off, off!
2011 - Sebastián Coates made his reds bow as a first-half replacement for the injured Daniel Agger just before Charlie Adam was sent off after two cautions with the reds 1-0 down at Tottenham Hotspur thanks to a Luka Modrić strike. We eventually crashed to a 4-0 defeat, Kenny Dalglish’s worst ever as reds boss, as Martin Škrtel was also dismissed for a second yellow card, shortly before Jermain Defoe doubled Spurs’ lead, one of his six strikes against us to date. Emmanuel Adebayor then added a late brace, the most recent of his five goals past us.

2007 - Jermaine Pennant was dismissed, the first red card of his club career, as we held Porto to a 1-1 draw in their Estádio do Dragão, with Dirk Kuyt heading our goal after we had gone behind to a Lucho González penalty.
1999 - David Thompson and Leicester City’s Frank Sinclair were both sent off as we drew 2-2 at Filbert Street, with both our goals coming from Michael Owen, including one from the spot. Tony Cottee had opened the scoring early on with one of his eight goals against us, with Muzzy Izzet bagging a late equaliser for the Foxes.

Also in Europe
2018 – Brazilian midfielder Fabinho made his reds bow as we beat Paris Saint-Germain 3-2 in our opening UEFA Champions League group game at Anfield as we started on the road to winning the cup for the sixth time. His compatriot Roberto Firmino bagged the winner in injury time, scoring in his third consecutive reds game. Daniel Sturridge headed us in front, with James Milner doubling the lead from the spot before Thomas Meunier pulled a goal back before the break. Kylian Mbappé bagged a late equaliser, but Bobby gave the reds the last laugh.

1968 - We lost 2-1 at Athletic Bilbao in the first game of our Fairs Cup campaign, with Roger Hunt grabbing our consolation. We eventually went out at this opening stage, on a coin toss!
1982 - Ian Rush struck a brace with Craig Johnston also on target as we beat Swansea City 3-0 at the Vetch Field in a First Division fixture, with Kenny Dalglish playing his 300th reds game.

Dicks starts out
1993 - Full-back Julian Dicks made his reds bow in our 2-0 defeat at Everton, the most recent red to make his debut in a derby. Bruce Grobbelaar, playing his 600th reds game, and Steve McManaman came to blows in this game, with ex-red Gary Ablett skippering the Blues for the only time in a derby. Mark Ward and Tony Cottee struck for the Toffees.

Czech mates on target
1996 - Euro ‘96 runners-up Czech Republic thumped Malta 6-0 in a World Cup qualifier in Teplice. Patrik Berger grabbed a brace while winning his first cap as a red. Future clubmate Vladimír Šmicer was also on the scoresheet, while making his first appearance as a Racing Club de Lens player.

International bow
2018 – Future red Mateusz Musiałowski debuted for Poland Under-16’s in their 2-0 defeat by the Czech Republic.

Sami on the mark
1991 - Future red Sami Hyypiä scored as Finland Under-18’s won 2-0 in a European Championships qualifier in Austria.

Mixed fortunes against the Potters and Spurs
1915 - We drew 2-2 with Stoke at the Victoria Ground in a Wartime League match, with Ephraim Longworth and Fred Pagnam on the scoresheet.
1935 - Gordon Hodgson netted twice as we beat Stoke City 2-0 in a top-flight match at Anfield.

1965 - Geoff Strong nabbed our late consolation as we lost 2-1 at White Hart Lane. Alan Gilzean and Eddie Clayton netted for the home side.
1976 - David Johnson and Steve Heighway were on target as we beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 at Anfield in another top-flight meeting. Ray Clemence saved a Keith Osgood penalty to maintain his clean sheet.

Emlyn honoured
2008 – Reds hero Emlyn Hughes was inducted into the National Football Museum’s Hall of Fame in a ceremony at the Millennium Mayfair Hotel in London.

Other moves
2018 – Ex-reds right-back Stephen Darby announced his retirement from football at the age of 29 after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease.
2015 – Centre-half Mamadou Sakho signed a new five-year contract. He notched three times in eighty reds outings before falling out with boss Jürgen Klopp, moving on to Crystal Palace in August 2017 after a successful loan spell.

2010 - Gary McAllister was appointed Assistant Manager of Aston Villa under Gérard Houllier. He took charge of three games at the end of the season after Houllier’s illness but left the club in June 2011.
1995 - Ex-reserves forward Paul Jewell re-joined Grimsby Town on loan from Bradford City. He struck once in his three games in this second spell at Blundell Park.
1992 - Future loanee keeper Alec Chamberlain joined Chelsea on loan from Luton Town, although he did not play for their first team in his time at Stamford Bridge.

Other reds games
2005 - We were held to a fairly uneventful goalless draw at Anfield by Manchester United.
1937 – Jack Balmer and Berry Nieuwenhuys netted as we beat Grimsby Town 2-1 at Anfield.
1926 – We lost 2-0 at Arsenal, with Jimmy Brain scoring the first of his eight goals against the reds and Sid Hoar also on target.

Bruce blessed
1983 - Bruce Grobbelaar’s marriage to Debbie was blessed in Ubley, near Bristol. In typical Brucie fashion, both the happy couple had worn tracksuits on their actual wedding day!

Also in international action
1938 – Ex-red Matt O’Mahoney played for the Republic of Ireland as they thumped Switzerland 4-0 in a friendly in Dublin.
1988 – Future red goalkeeping coach Cláudio Taffarel played as Brazil thrashed Nigeria 4-0 in an Olympics Finals group game in South Korea.

2002 – Future red Glen Johnson represented England Under-19’s in their 3-1 defeat of Hungary in a friendly in Budapest.
2003 – Michael Foley-Sheridan featured as the Irish Under-19’s drew 1-1 with Bulgaria in a European Championships qualifier in San Marino.
2016 – Rafael Camacho skippered Portugal Under-17’s in their 5-0 trouncing of Malta in a European Championships qualifier.