21st September

In comes Ronnie
1979 - Ronnie Whelan arrived from Irish side Home Farm on a free transfer. He went on to make 493 reds appearances, scoring 73 times and winning six League titles, one European Cup, two FA Cups, three League Cups and three FA Charity Shields before joining Southend United on a free transfer in September 1994.

Births and death
1891 - Reds boss George Kay was born in Manchester. He arrived at Anfield in August 1936 and led us to our first League title in 24 years in 1947, and the FA Cup Final three years later. He was forced to retire due to illness in February 1951, and sadly died just three years later. Amongst the players who joined the club during his tenure were the great Billy Liddell and Bob Paisley. He had led us to a total of 140 victories in 354 matches in charge.

1883 – Forward Jack Parkinson was born in Bootle. He joined the reds in 1910, turning pro in October 1911. He struck 128 times in 219 games, moving on to Bury in August 1914.
1987 – Left-winger Peter Kippax died. He left his hometown club Burnley to join the reds as an amateur in 1948, having helped Great Britain to fourth place in the Olympics football competition that summer. He made one League outing, against Birmingham City in March 1949, having already netted in a Wartime League fixture for the reds against Bolton Wanderers in August 1945, before moving on to Preston North End in 1950.

For King Billy
1960 - A testimonial match for Billy Liddell was staged. The reds beat an International XI 4-2 at Anfield. Liddell appeared for both sides, scoring for the Internationals. Dave Hickson netted a brace for the reds, with Jim Harrop and Alan A’Court also on target. Other stars in action for the international side included Jimmy Armfield, Tom Finney, Nat Lofthouse, Stanley Matthews, Don Revie and Bert Trautmann.

Goalscoring debuts
1929 - Forward Jimmy Smith netted a brace on his reds bow, to hand us a 2-1 win at Manchester United. Joe Spence struck the last of his five goals against the reds.
1968 - New record signing Alun Evans scored on his debut in our 4-0 win at home to Leicester City, with all four goals coming in the opening twelve minutes, courtesy also of Ron Yeats, a Tommy Smith penalty and Ian Callaghan.

1999 - Young midfielder Layton Maxwell scored on his only senior reds appearance as we beat Hull City 4-2 in the second leg of our Worthington Cup Second Round tie, with Karl-Heinz Riedle netting a brace in his 76th and last appearance, and Danny Murphy also on the scoresheet. Stéphane Henchoz, Frode Kippe and Jon Newby all also made their senior bows, with keeper Lee Bracey sent off in the first half with the score 1-0 to the reds. Hull fought back from two goals to draw level through a John Eyre penalty and Colin Alcide before the reds restored order to proceedings.

Jürgen’s European record
2023 - Jürgen Klopp secured his fiftieth European win in charge, a new club record, as we beat LASK 3-1 at the Raiffeisen Arena despite falling behind to a Florian Flecker strike. Darwin Núñez equalised from the spot after the break, with Luis Díaz putting us ahead. Mohamed Salah added a late third.

More recent reds firsts
2021 – Joe Gomez skippered the reds for the first time as we won a League Cup Third Round tie 3-0 on our way to claiming the trophy for the ninth time. Right-back Conor Bradley and midfielders Kaide Gordon and Tyler Morton all debuted, with keeper Caoimhín Kelleher saving a spot-kick to maintain our lead before the break. Takumi Minamino struck either side of a Divock Origi header.

Bells toll again
2011 – Craig Bellamy struck the first goal in his second spell at Anfield as we won 2-1 at Brighton & Hove Albion in the Third Round of the League Cup, also smashing the crossbar with a 35-yard free-kick. A new record attendance of 21,897 at the American Express Community Stadium was set. Dirk Kuyt added a second goal late on, before Ashley Barnes converted a last-minute spot-kick for the home side. Ex-reds reserve Alan Navarro featured for the Seagulls.

Other debutants
1935 - Forward Jack Balmer made his first reds appearance as we lost 1-0 at Leeds United.
1901 - Left-half George Fleming made his reds bow as we drew 1-1 at Sunderland, with Jack Cox on target. George Bowen made his second and final reds appearance in this game.

First and last strikes
1895 - Centre-forward George Allan bagged the first of his 56 reds goals as we won 4-2 at Loughborough Town in a Second Division fixture. Davy Hannah bagged a brace with Jimmy Ross also on target.
1974 - Phil Boersma netted his thirtieth and final goal for the reds in our 3-0 top-flight defeat of Stoke City at Anfield. Steve Heighway rounded off the scoring, with the ball having been set rolling by a John Ritchie own goal.
1994 – John Scales netted his first reds goal as we beat Burnley 2-0 in the first leg of our League Cup Second Round tie at Anfield. Robbie Fowler also scored.

Macca off the mark
1985 - Kenny Dalglish scored at Goodison inside twenty seconds, to become the only ever Player/Manager to net in this fixture. Ian Rush equalled Harry Chambers’ club record for derby strikes with his eighth against the Blues before Steve McMahon nabbed his first reds goal from 25 yards, as we raced into a three-goal half-time lead. Graeme Sharp struck one of his seven derby goals after the break before Gary Lineker scored one of his six goals against us late on, but we hung on to win 3-2 with Lineker also rattling the crossbar. Phil Neal came on as a substitute, and so equalled Ian Callaghan’s record of 29 consecutive derby appearances, while Steve Nicol reached a century of reds outings.
1946 - Our other derby match on this day ended in a goalless draw at Anfield.

Future reds on target
1991 - Gary McAllister scored the only goal of the game as we lost 1-0 at Leeds United.
2013 – Centre-back Dejan Lovren headed in as Southampton won 1-0 at Anfield, with fellow future reds Nathaniel Clyne, Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert also featuring.

Kenny at Hampden
Kenny Dalglish twice turned out for the Scots at Hampden Park on this day.
1977 - He scored in their 3-1 World Cup qualifying defeat of Czechoslovakia.
1983 - He played alongside captain Graeme Souness, and ex-red Frank McGarvey and John Wark, as Scotland beat Uruguay 2-0 in a friendly.

Robbo for Ireland
1983 - Michael Robinson won his first cap as a reds player, netting his final goal for the Republic of Ireland in their 3-0 European Championships qualifying win in Iceland. Clubmate Mark Lawrenson also played. Future red Glenn Hysén played for Sweden as the beat Czechoslovakia 1-0 in another qualifier in Solna the same day.

Reserve keepers loaned out
1990 - Mike Hooper joined Leicester City on loan. He played fifteen times for them, before returning to our second string.
1985 - Bob Bolder moved to Sunderland on a temporary basis, going on to join them permanently for £100,000 the following month.

English reds beaten at home
1983 - Phil Neal won his fiftieth and final cap in England’s 1-0 European Championships qualifying defeat by Denmark at Wembley, which meant they missed out on the Finals in France. Sammy Lee and future red John Barnes also played, while Ajax’s Jan Mølby came off the bench for the Danes. On the same day, Ian Rush and ex-red Joey Jones both played as Wales held Norway to a goalless draw in their qualifier in Oslo.

Young England red debuts
1982 - Future reds John Barnes, Barry Venison and Paul Walsh all made their debuts for England Under-21’s as they won 4-1 in a European Championships qualifier in Denmark, with fellow future red Steve McMahon also playing. On the same day, another England Under-21’s side was winning the first leg of their European Championships Final 3-1 at Bramall Lane. Sammy Lee and future red David Hodgson both played against West Germany. England eventually won 5-4 on aggregate.

2022 – Bobby Clark won his first cap for England Under-18’s in their 1-0 friendly defeat of the Netherlands in Spain. James Balagizi and Harvey Davies both debuted for England Under-20’s as they beat Chile 3-0 in the Costa Cálida Supercup in the same stadium, with Melkamu Frauendorf appearing for Germany Under-19’s for the first time as they thumped Armenia 5-0 in a European Championships qualifier in Gifhorn. Oakley Cannonier debuted for England Under-19’s in their 2-0 qualifying win over Montenegro in Denmark, with Luke Chambers also featuring. Trent Kone-Doherty won his first Under-17’s cap for the Republic of Ireland as a reds player in their 1-1 friendly draw with the Netherlands, with the Irish triumphing in a penalty shoot-out. Ex-reds coach Steve Clarke took charge of Scotland as they beat Ukraine 3-0 in a UEFA Nations League group game at Hampden Park.
2021 – Future red Kone-Doherty netted for the Irish Under-16’s while debuting in their 3-0 friendly win in Malta.

Also on the move
1991 - Ex-red John Wark signed for Ipswich Town for the third time, this time on a free transfer from Middlesbrough. He spent another six seasons at Portman Road, helping them back into the top flight in 1992 and taking his total appearances for the Blues to 678.
2012 - Stephen Warnock joined Bolton Wanderers on loan from Aston Villa, playing fifteen times for the Trotters.
2020 - Mikel San José signed for Birmingham City, playing 28 times before terminating his contract by mutual consent the following May.
2021 – Former Academy Manager Steve Cooper was appointed Head Coach of Nottingham Forest. He took them from the bottom of the Championship into the Premier League in his first season, leading them to 42 wins in 108 games in charge before being sacked in December 2023.

Big wins
1907 – Forward Joe Hewitt nabbed a brace as we won 4-0 at Bolton Wanderers with James Bradley and Robbie Robinson also on the scoresheet.
1996 - Patrik Berger netted twice to add to strikes from John Barnes and Robbie Fowler and an Andy Myers own goal, when he knelt down to head back towards his keeper as we beat Chelsea 5-1 at Anfield. Frank Leboeuf struck the visitors’ late consolation. This game was the 129th consecutive reds game Robbie had played in, but he sat out the next one, our return meeting with Finnish side Myllykosken Pallo-47 in the European Cup Winners’ Cup.

Bennett’s treble
1918 - Thomas Bennett grabbed a hat-trick as we trounced Preston North End 8-0 in a Wartime League game at Anfield. Donald McKinlay nabbed a brace, while Arthur Metcalf, Harry Lewis and Harold Wadsworth all also scored.
1940 - We also met the Lilywhites in a wartime fixture, this time losing 5-0 at Deepdale.

Other reds games
1963 – We lost 3-0 at Sheffield United.
1957 – We beat Leyton Orient 3-0 in a Second Division encounter in L4 with Johnny Wheeler, Tony Rowley and Brian Jackson all on the scoresheet.
1914 – Arthur Metcalf and Jimmy Nicholl netted as we lost 4-2 at Blackburn Rovers. Danny Shea struck the last two of his ten goals against the reds, with Eddie Latheron also bagging a brace.
1912 – Manchester City beat the reds 2-1 at Anfield, with Billy Lacey nabbing our goal.

Also in international action
1969 – Future red Peter Cormack played for Scotland as they drew a friendly with the Republic of Ireland 1-1 in Dublin.
1988 – Future red István Kozma featured for Hungary in their 3-0 friendly win in Iceland.
1993 – Future red Bjørn Tore Kvarme played for Norway Under-21’s as they beat Poland 3-1 in a European Championships qualifier in Stavanger.
2007 – Future red Danny Wilson represented Scotland Under-17’s as they thrashed Liechtenstein 8-0 in a European Championships qualifier in Livingston.

2011 – Future reds keeper Danny Ward played for Wales Under-19’s in their 3-0 defeat by Belgium in a European Championships qualifier in Slovenia.
2016 – Rafael Camacho featured for Portugal Under-17’s in their 1-0 defeat by Scotland in a European Championships qualifier.
2022 - Bernard Diomède took charge of France Under-18’s as they beat Estonia 3-0 in the Tournoi International de Limoges.