Ian Rush ran riot at Anfield on this day in 1983, scoring five times as Luton Town were swept aside 6-0.
Nick Barmby scored against his old club in a Merseyside derby win in 2000, Liverpool’s players held up Luis Díaz’s shirt during a 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest in 2023, and the club recorded what is still its biggest FA Cup win back in 1892. It is also the birthday of Ned Doig, still the oldest man ever to play for Liverpool.
1983: Rush hits five
Joe Fagan’s first season in charge was barely two months old when Luton came to Anfield, and Rush did not keep them waiting. He opened the scoring from close range after just 75 seconds and had doubled Liverpool’s lead inside five minutes.
Steve Nicol’s cross from the left brought the hat-trick, headed in after 36 minutes, and Kenny Dalglish made it 4-0 before half-time.
Ten minutes after the break, Rush met Alan Kennedy’s cross to make it 5-0, and with two minutes left he followed up after Graeme Souness had been denied to complete his five. The 31,940 inside Anfield had seen something special: he is one of only five players to score five in a single game for Liverpool.
There was plenty more to come. Rush finished the season with 47 goals, still a club record, as Liverpool won the league title, the League Cup and the European Cup.
2000: Barmby’s derby day
Nick Barmby could hardly have picked a better occasion for his first Merseyside derby in red. He had crossed Stanley Park in a £6m move from Everton that summer, the first player to go straight from Goodison to Anfield since Dave Hickson in 1959.
He needed only 12 minutes to make his mark on a soggy afternoon, meeting Christian Ziege’s deflected shot with a diving header. Kevin Campbell equalised five minutes later, but early in the second half Emile Heskey, after Barmby had helped set it up, drove a long-range shot into the bottom corner for his sixth goal in four games.
With 13 minutes left, Thomas Gravesen was sent off for bringing down substitute Vladimír Šmicer as he broke clear, and Patrik Berger smashed home the penalty. Gérard Houllier’s side won 3-1 in front of 44,718, and the season ended with the FA Cup, the League Cup and the UEFA Cup all heading to Anfield.
2023: A shirt for Lucho
Three years ago today, a 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest at Anfield was about far more than the points. Luis Díaz was missing after his parents had been kidnapped in his home town of Barrancas in Colombia. His mother was freed within hours, but the search for his father was still going on.
When Diogo Jota put Jürgen Klopp’s side ahead after 31 minutes, he held up Díaz’s No. 7 shirt, surrounded by his team-mates. Darwin Núñez added a second four minutes later from Dominik Szoboszlai’s cut-back, and Mohamed Salah wrapped it up in the second half.
The story had a happy ending, as Díaz’s father was released on 9 November, ending nearly two weeks of anguish for the family. Jota’s gesture means even more now, after his death in July 2025.
1892: Nine past Newtown
Liverpool were still in the opening months of their very first season when they played their first FA Cup tie at Anfield, and Welsh side Newtown were beaten 9-0.
Tom Wyllie scored a hat-trick, Malcolm McVean got two and the visitors even put one past their own keeper. Brothers Hugh and Matt McQueen both made their debuts in front of a crowd of 4,000.
More than 130 years on, it remains the club’s record win in the FA Cup.
2008: Gerrard keeps Liverpool top
Rafa Benítez’s side came into the game top of the league after winning at Chelsea at the weekend. Tony Adams, in his first game as Portsmouth manager, left Jermain Defoe on the bench and played Peter Crouch on his own up front.
Papa Bouba Diop wasted a free header for the visitors in the first half and then, with 14 minutes left, handled Fabio Aurelio’s corner. Steven Gerrard scored from the spot, and the 1-0 win kept Liverpool three points clear at the top.
Born on this day
Born on this day in 1866, Ned Doig won four league titles in goal for Sunderland before joining Liverpool in 1904. Aged 37, he became the oldest player ever to make his Liverpool debut, and he helped them win promotion at the first attempt.
He even played on his 38th birthday, in a 5-0 win over Grimsby Town at Anfield on this day in 1904, when Tom Chorlton and Sam Raybould scored twice each. His last game, in April 1908, came at the age of 41 years and 165 days, and nobody older has played for the club since. He died in 1919, aged 53, a victim of Spanish flu.
Also on this day
- 1898: George Allan and an Andrew McCowie penalty beat Sheffield United 2-1 at Anfield.
- 1910: Joe Brough scored, but Tottenham Hotspur won 2-1 at Anfield.
- 1921: Harry Lewis scored in a 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield.
- 1927: Tommy Reid scored twice in a 4-2 win over Blackburn Rovers at Anfield.
- 1932: Archie McPherson scored in a 1-1 draw at Manchester City.
- 1938: Jack Balmer, Willie Fagan from the spot and Harman van den Berg scored in a 3-3 draw with Huddersfield Town at Anfield.
- 1949: Billy Liddell scored the only goal at Fulham.
- 1955: Billy Liddell and Alan Arnell scored in a 2-0 Second Division win over Rotherham United at Anfield.
- 1960: Jimmy Harrower’s penalty earned a 1-1 draw with Sunderland at Anfield.
- 1966: Liverpool lost 2-0 at Stoke City.
- 1973: John Toshack scored the only goal of a League Cup second-round replay against West Ham United at Anfield.
- 1977: David Fairclough scored in a 3-1 defeat at Manchester City.
- 1985: Paul Walsh hit a hat-trick and Kenny Dalglish also scored in a 4-0 League Cup win over Brighton & Hove Albion at Anfield.
- 1986: Forty years ago today, Steve McMahon hit a hat-trick and Dalglish scored again in a 4-1 League Cup win over Leicester City at Anfield.
- 1988: Ian Rush and Peter Beardsley scored in a 2-0 win at West Ham United.
- 1989: John Barnes scored the only goal against Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield.
- 1991: Steve McManaman and Ian Rush scored in a 2-2 League Cup draw with Port Vale at Anfield.
- 1994: Robbie Fowler scored twice and John Barnes once in a 3-1 win at Ipswich Town.
- 2003: Emile Heskey scored twice and missed a penalty that would have completed his hat-trick in a 4-3 League Cup win at Blackburn Rovers, where Danny Murphy, from the spot, and Harry Kewell were also on target and Lucas Neill was sent off.
- 2005: Xabi Alonso and Bolo Zenden scored in a 2-0 win over West Ham United at Anfield.
- 2011: Charlie Adam, from the spot, and Andy Carroll scored in a 2-0 win at West Bromwich Albion.
- 2016: Emre Can, Dejan Lovren, Joël Matip and Roberto Firmino scored in a 4-2 win at Crystal Palace.
- 2022: Mohamed Salah scored, but Leeds United won 2-1 at Anfield.
- 2025: Crystal Palace won 3-0 in the League Cup fourth round at Anfield, where Amara Nallo was sent off.
