26th October

In comes Nicol
1981 - Steve Nicol signed from Ayr United for £300,000. He played 468 times across the defence and midfield, scoring 46 times and helping us to four League titles, European Cup, three FA Cups and an FA Charity Shield, as well as being named the Football Writers’ Player of the Year in 1989. He left the club to sign for Notts County on a free transfer in January 1995.

A win at the Bridge
2008 - Xabi Alonso’s deflected strike was the only goal of our trip to Stamford Bridge, handing Chelsea their first home League defeat since February 2004, ending an 86-game unbeaten run. Alonso also hit the post with a second-half free-kick.

Happy birthday Willie
1939 - Left-half Willie Stevenson was born in Leith. He signed from Rangers for £20,000 in October 1962 and missed just nine League games in his first four seasons, making a total of 241 appearances and netting eighteen times. He helped us to two League titles and our first FA Cup triumph in 1965 before moving on to Stoke City in December 1967.

Ton up for Didi
2002 - Dietmar Hamann played his hundredth reds League game as we beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 at Anfield, with Jamie Redknapp making his first appearance back at Anfield since his transfer. Danny Murphy scored a beautifully curled shot, before Michael Owen’s penalty restored our lead following Dean Richards’ equaliser.

Luis at the treble
2013 - Luis Suárez scored a hat-trick, his first at Anfield, as we thumped West Bromwich Albion 4-1, with James Morrison pulling one back from the spot before Daniel Sturridge completed the scoring.

Heading towards Wembley
2011 – We won our League Cup Fourth Round tie 2-1 at Stoke City. Kenwyne Jones struck just before half-time, with Luis Suárez bagging a brace after the break.

Into the Lions’ den
2004 - We won 3-0 at Millwall in a Third Round Carling Cup match as we headed towards a record tenth Final in the competition on our first visit to The New Den. Jerzy Dudek skippered the reds for the first time, while future Lion Zak Whitbread was making his reds bow. Salif Diao netted his third and final reds goal in the first half, with Milan Baroš adding a brace. Unfortunately, the game was marred by sick chants from the home fans that led to confrontations between the two sets of supporters.

A rarity for Sami
2000 - Sami Hyypiä sat on the reds bench for the only time in his first five seasons at Anfield as a late Emile Heskey goal handed us victory over Czech side Slovan Liberec at Anfield in the first leg of our UEFA Cup Second Round tie. Robbie Fowler spurned a number of good chances, including a penalty. Sami did not reappear on the bench until March 2005. Robbie’s poor form could be partly explained by the fact that his future wife Kerrie had given birth to their second daughter, Jaya, earlier that day.

A blooming treble
1912 - Rams legend Steve Bloomer bagged a hat-trick as we lost 4-2 to Derby County at the Baseball Ground, the last of his fourteen strikes past us. Arthur Metcalf netted both our goals, with Harry Leonard also on target for the home side.
1977 - We also faced the Rams when a David Fairclough brace handed us a 2-0 League Cup Third Round victory at Anfield.

1927 – Outside-left Fred Hopkin scored a hat-trick as we won a Lancashire Senior Cup game 5-2 at Southport, with Gordon Hodgson and Tom Reid also netting.

On the move
2000 - Stan Collymore joined Bradford City from Leicester City on a free transfer. He struck twice in eight games, before joining Real Oviedo in Spain.
2003 - Academy Chief Scout Dave Moss was sacked as Manager of Macclesfield Town, his only time in the hot seat. He had led them to 33 victories in his 102 games since taking over in November 2001, leading them to mid-table finishes in consecutive seasons in the basement division before being dismissed after a poor start to the following campaign. He joined the reds in February 2006.
2015 – Young midfielder Cameron Brannagan signed a new contract. He has so far made nine senior reds appearances.

Beating the Blues
We have twice seen off Ipswich Town on this day in history.
1963 - Jimmy Melia and Roger Hunt netted as we won a First Division match 2-1 at Portman Road.
1982 - Ronnie Whelan and Mark Lawrenson were on target as we won a League Cup Second Round tie 2-0 at Anfield.

Taking the Heighway again
1974 - Steve Heighway grabbed the only goal of our home League meeting with Leeds United for the second successive season, with each goal coming mid-way through the second half of the game. Leeds were at this time the reigning champions.

First and last
1895 – Half-back William Keech played the first of his six reds games as we beat Notts County 3-0 at Anfield on the way to the Second Division title. Fred Geary and Jimmy Ross added to an early headed goal from Harry Bradshaw.
1907 – Harold Fitzpatrick struck his second and final reds goal as we beat The Wednesday 3-0 at Anfield, with brothers Joe and Charlie Hewitt both also netting.

International firsts
1985 - Future red Ronnie Rosenthal started his first senior international while winning his eighth cap as Israel lost 3-1 in a World Cup qualifier in New Zealand. Ex-red Avi Cohen also played.
2013 – Sheyi Ojo scored his first goal for England Under-17’s as they beat Gibraltar 4-0 in a European Championships qualifier in Armenia.

Stalemates with the Trotters
We have twice drawn with Bolton Wanderers on this day in history.
1901 - Andy McGuigan was on target in a First Division fixture at Anfield
1918 - Thomas Bennett and Donald Mackinlay netted at Burnden Park as we travelled for a Wartime League match.

Thumped at home
1929 - Jim Smith grabbed our consolation as early as the first minute as Manchester City thrashed us 6-1 at Anfield in a First Division meeting. This remains City’s biggest ever win on our home turf, with Eric Brook scoring the first two of his nine goals past us, Tommy Johnson scoring two of his eight and Tommy Tait bagging the first two of his four goals against the reds. Outside-left Fred Hopkin made his 300th reds appearance in this game.

Early caps
1980 - Future red Bruce Grobbelaar won his second cap for Zimbabwe as they won the first leg of an African Cup of Nations qualifier 1-0 in Malawi.
1994 - Sami Hyypiä also made his sophomore appearance as Finland trounced Lithuania 7-0 in a friendly in Tallinn.
1977 – Future reds centre-half Glenn Hysén won his seventeenth and last Under-18’s cap in Sweden’s 4-2 defeat by Czechoslovakia in a European Championships qualifier in Trelleborg.