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Shanks departs 1974 - Bill Shankly resigned as Manager after fifteen years in charge, leaving reds fans bemused and shocked. He had led us to three League titles, UEFA Cup, two FA Cups and the Second Division championship. His final significant act as boss was to sign Arsenal forward Ray Kennedy for a club record fee of £180,000, announced the very same day. Razor went on to net 72 times in 393 reds games, helping us to claim six League titles, three European Cups, UEFA Cup, UEFA Super Cup, League Cup and three FA Charity Shields before joining John Toshack’s Swansea City in January 1982. The Wright signing 1991 - Mark Wright arrived from Derby County for £2.2m. With Alan Hansen retired, Glenn Hysén soon to go and Gary Gillespie moving on to Celtic, we were in dire need of a quality centre-back, and Wright was drafted in after his impressive displays for England at the 1990 World Cup. He notched nine times in 210 reds appearances and lifted the FA Cup at Wembley in 1992 before retiring from playing in August 1998. Yossi signs on 2007 - Yossi Benayoun signed from West Ham United for £5m. He bagged 29 goals in 134 reds games, including hat-tricks against Beşiktaş JK, Havant & Waterlooville and Burnley, leaving for Chelsea for the same fee in July 2010. On the same day, second string winger Adam Hammill joined Southampton on loan. He made 28 appearances for the Saints that season, half of them from off the bench, without getting on the scoresheet. Meanwhile, ex-red Vladimír Šmicer signed for SK Slavia Praha. He helped his new club won their first title in twelve years, with Vlad once again suffering with injuries as he struck five times in 23 League games before retiring in May 2010. Heading off 2005 - Grégory Vignal signed for Portsmouth after just twenty senior reds games. He played seventeen times for Pompey, before moving on to Racing Club de Lens in May 2006. 2013 – Suso signed for Unión Deportiva Almería on loan. He scored three goals in 35 games, as well as providing nine assists. 2022 – Centre-half Tom Clayton left the reds to sign for Swindon Town, netting once in 35 outings during his first campaign with the Robins. On the same day, ex-reds winger Rafael Camacho joined Aris Thessaloniki on loan from Sporting Clube de Portugal, scoring three times in 32 games while in Greece. 2006 - Djibril Cissé joined Olympique de Marseille on loan. He had bagged 24 goals in 79 reds games following his club record signing for £14m two years earlier. He was recovering from a second leg break at the time but recovered to notch sixteen times in 29 outings in his first campaign with L’OM, signing on permanently for £6.3m a year later. On the same day, Dietmar Hamann joined Manchester City from Bolton Wanderers for £300,000 after just one day at the Reebok Stadium! He played 71 times for City, getting on the scoresheet just once before joining Milton Keynes Dons as Player/Coach in May 2010. 2011 - Cissé moved to S.S. Lazio from Panathinaikos for €5.8m, having helped the Greek side to a League and Cup double while netting 51 times in 89 outings. Happy birthdays 1958 - Former reds forward Michael Robinson was born in Leicester. Joe Fagan brought the Irish international to Anfield in August 1983 from Brighton & Hove Albion for £200,000. In his first season at the club he won the League title and European Cup, bagging a total of thirteen goals in 52 games before moving to Queens Park Rangers for £100,000 in December 1984. 1979 - Midfielder Danny Williams was born in Wrexham. He never broke through to the first team at Anfield and signed for his hometown club on a free transfer in March 1999. Best ever Aussie 2012 – Ex-reds left-winger Harry Kewell was named as Australia’s greatest ever player in a vote by Australian fans, players and media, having struck seventeen times in 58 senior internationals. He signed from Leeds United for £5m in July 2003, but his time at Anfield was somewhat disappointing due to a series of niggling injuries, as he bagged sixteen goals in 139 reds games before moving to Galatasaray as his contract expired in July 2008. He helped us to claim the Champions League and FA Cup in his reds career, although he limped out of both finals. Debutants galore 2008 - Keeper Diego Cavalieri, right-back Philipp Degen, centre-half Martin Kelly and forward Dani Pacheco all played their first reds games, as Yossi Benayoun bagged the only goal of our opening pre-season friendly at Tranmere Rovers. 2017 – Midfielder Pedro Chirivella struck his first reds goal as we thumped Tranmere Rovers 4-0 in our opening pre-season friendly at Prenton Park, with Marko Grujic also scoring as James Milner and Ben Woodburn both converted penalties. Keeper Kamil Grabara and forward Dominic Solanke both made their first senior appearances. 2022 – Midfielder Stefan Bajcetic, forward Fábio Carvalho, left-back Luke Chambers, forward Bobby Clark, right-back Isaac Mabaya and forward Darwin Núñez all appeared for the first time as we were thumped 4-0 by Manchester United in the Bangkok Century Cup in the Thai capital. On the world stage 2014 – Future red Gini Wijnaldum struck for the Netherlands as they beat host nation Brazil 3-0 in the World Cup Third Place Play-off in Brasilia, with ex-red Dirk Kuyt also featuring. 2007 - Young reds left-back Emiliano Insúa played for Argentina Under-20’s as they beat Poland 3-1 in Toronto to reach the Quarter-finals of the World Championship Finals. 1998 – Future reds goalkeeping coach Cláudio Taffarel won his 101st and final cap for Brazil in their 3-0 defeat by France in the World Cup Final in the Stade de France. 1989 – Taffarel also played as Brazil beat Argentina 2-0 in a Copa América final round game in Rio de Janeiro. More arrivals 2002 - Bruno Cheyrou was confirmed as a reds player after receiving international clearance, joining from Lille OSC Métropole for £3.7m. He struck five times in 48 reds games before moving to Stade Rennais in June 2006, after previous loan spells with Olympique de Marseille and Girondins de Bordeaux. 2009 – Reserves left-back Chris Mavinga signed from Paris Saint-Germain. He failed to make the first team, being sold to Stade Rennais for £1m in July 2011. Mixed Euro fortunes 2012 - Suso was on the winning side as Spain Under-19’s beat France on penalties to reach the European Championships Final in Estonia. On the same day, Jack Robinson featured as England lost out to Greece at the same stage. 2015 – Future red Kostas Tsimikas played for Greece Under-19’s in their 2-0 home defeat by France in a group encounter. 2016 – Future red Dominic Solanke scored for England Under-19’s as they beat France 2-1 in a group game in Germany. Sheyi Ojo and Jordan Rossiter both also featured. Bowyer on his way 2002 - It was announced that a fee had been agreed with Leeds United for the controversial capture of midfielder Lee Bowyer. He was expected to sign on at Anfield the following week, although the deal fell through after Gérard Houllier grew uncomfortable with the player’s attitude and level of commitment to Liverpool. Red learnings 2000 - Liverpool’s ground-breaking Study Support centre in the Kop stand was officially opened by Professor Michael Barber, Head of the Government’s Standards & Effectiveness Unit for Education. The Centre’s goal is to provide youngsters with opportunities to improve skills in literacy, numeracy, ICT and independent learning, as well as improving their self-esteem and confidence. 2010 – The club announced the appointment of five new staff to the Sports Science and Sports Medicine department. Phil’s sad day 2006 - The funeral of former player, Coach and Manager Phil Taylor’s wife Maisey was held at Thornton crematorium. Also on the move 2019 – Peter Crouch announced his retirement from playing. He had arrived at Anfield for £7m in July 2005, striking 42 times in 134 reds games, despite not notching in his first nineteen outings, helping us to claim the FA Cup and FA Community Shield, but was sold to Portsmouth for a fee of up to £11m in July 2008. 2017 – Ex-reds midfielder Gary Mackay-Steven joined Aberdeen from Celtic, netting sixteen goals in 72 games before moving to New York City on a free transfer in June 2019. 2015 – Right-back Glen Johnson signed for Stoke City, having been released at the end of the previous season. On the same day, ex-reserves midfielder Jordan Lussey moved to Bolton Wanderers. 2006 - Mike Marsh joined the coaching staff at Southport, one of his former clubs. 2004 - Ex-reserves keeper Ian Dunbavin joined Halifax Town on a free transfer from Shrewsbury Town. He turned out 56 times for the Shaymen before joining Accrington Stanley in the summer of 2006. 1996 – Current Chief Scout Barry Hunter joined Reading from Wrexham for £400,000 after six goals in 120 games for the Dragons. Signing on 2021 – Left-back Owen Beck signed a new contract. He has so far made two senior appearances, also sitting on the bench on another four occasions. Also in international action 2011 – Luis Súarez and future red Sebastián Coates both played for Uruguay as they beat Mexico 1-0 in a Copa América group game in Argentina. Future red Mohamed Salah featured for Egypt Under-20’s on the same day in their 1-1 friendly draw in Costa Rica. 2021 – Future reds midfielder Wataru Endō played for Japan Under-23’s in their 3-1 defeat of Honduras in Osaka. 1988 – Future red Øyvind Leonhardsen featured for Norway Under-17’s as they lost a tournament game 2-0 to Denmark in Poland. Young reds on trial 2002 - Three of the club’s Under-19’s were invited for trials at Third Division Torquay United. Brian McIlroy, Neil Prince and David Chambers had all recently been released from Melwood. Prince was the only one to be taken on, signing on permanently the following month.