Gérard Houllier became Liverpool’s sole manager on this day in 1998, when Roy Evans left Anfield after more than three decades at the club and the joint-management experiment came to an end.
Exactly four years later, in 2002, Houllier’s side clawed their way back from 3-0 down in Basel and still went out of the Champions League. Gary McAllister scored his first Liverpool goal against his old club Coventry City in 2000, and Kenny Dalglish won his final Scotland cap in 1986.
1998: Houllier goes it alone
It was 1998, and the arrangement that had paired Evans with Houllier since the summer had run its course. Evans’s departure, by mutual consent, was announced at a news conference at Anfield, and his assistant Doug Livermore left with him.
Evans was offered another role at the club but chose to make a clean break. “The speculation has been very difficult to live with,” he had admitted. Houllier insisted the problem had never been personal. It was the set-up, which left players and staff unsure who the boss was.
Many saw it as the end of the Boot Room line. Evans had served Liverpool as a player, coach and manager, and his time in charge had brought the League Cup in 1995.
Phil Thompson came in as Houllier’s assistant, and the Frenchman took sole charge for the first time against Leeds United at Anfield that Saturday. By the end of the 2000-01 season he had delivered a cup treble of the League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup, and the Charity Shield and UEFA Super Cup followed later in 2001. He left in 2004.
2002: Brave, but not enough
In 2002, on the fourth anniversary of Houllier taking sole charge, Liverpool went to Basel for their final match of the Champions League’s first group stage and found themselves 3-0 down inside half an hour.
Hakan Yakin ran the show. Julio Hernán Rossi scored inside two minutes, Christian Giménez made it two, and Timothée Atouba stabbed in the third after Jerzy Dudek had parried a Yakin free-kick.
Steven Gerrard was replaced by Salif Diao at half-time, and the fightback began on the hour. Danny Murphy finished from the edge of the box and, moments later, Vladimír Šmicer made it 3-2 after neat work from substitute Milan Baroš.
Late on, Murat Yakin handled and Michael Owen’s penalty was saved by Pascal Zuberbühler, only for Owen to put away the rebound. The winner never came. The 3-3 draw sent Basel through and dropped Liverpool into the UEFA Cup.
2000: Macca’s first
Twenty-six years ago today, in 2000, Gary McAllister scored his first goal for Liverpool, and it came against Coventry City, the club he had left that summer. Aged 35, he was partnering Steven Gerrard in central midfield for the first time, and he swept in the opener in a 4-1 win at Anfield.
McAllister’s delivery then set up Gerrard’s header early in the second half. Former Red David Thompson pulled one back with a spectacular long-range strike, and Chris Kirkland, a future Liverpool keeper, kept Coventry in it for long spells.
Emile Heskey finally settled it, heading in after Markus Babbel flicked on a McAllister corner and then chipping Kirkland from the edge of the area. The win took Liverpool back up to third in the Premier League.
1986: The King’s last cap
On this day in 1986, Kenny Dalglish won the 102nd and last of his Scotland caps in a 3-0 win over Luxembourg, a European Championship qualifier at Hampden Park.
He had brought up his century against Romania at Hampden that March, and he finished with 30 goals for his country.
Also on this day
- 1898: Hugh Morgan scored twice and George Allan added another in a 3-1 win over Preston North End at Anfield.
- 1910: Ronald Orr, Jack Parkinson and Sam Bowyer scored in a 3-0 win over Preston North End at Anfield.
- 1921: Dick Forshaw scored in a 1-1 derby draw with Everton at Anfield.
- 1927: Tom Reid scored a hat-trick and Gordon Hodgson twice in a 5-2 win over The Wednesday at Anfield.
- 1938: Berry Nieuwenhuys scored twice in a 2-2 draw with Arsenal at Anfield.
- 1949: Billy Liddell scored twice, once from the spot, and Cyril Done added another in a 3-1 win at Charlton Athletic.
- 1960: Roger Hunt and Jimmy Harrower scored in a 2-1 Second Division win over Norwich City at Anfield.
- 1966: Ian St John and Roger Hunt scored in a 2-0 win at Newcastle United.
- 1969: Liverpool lost 1-0 at Vitória Setúbal in the first leg of a Fairs Cup second-round tie.
- 1974: Willie Maddren scored the only goal as Middlesbrough won a League Cup fourth-round tie at Anfield.
- 1983: Michael Robinson and Ian Rush scored in a 2-2 draw at Tottenham Hotspur.
- 1988: Steve Nicol scored in a 1-1 draw with Millwall at Anfield.
- 2004: John Toshack was appointed Wales manager for the second time.
- 2008: Damien Plessis and Sami Hyypiä scored, but Tottenham Hotspur won a League Cup fourth-round tie 4-2 at White Hart Lane.
- 2022: Darwin Núñez scored twice and Roberto Firmino once in a 3-1 win over Southampton at Anfield.
- 2023: Mohamed Salah scored twice and Diogo Jota added a third in a 3-0 win over Brentford at Anfield.
