LFC Timelines

1892 Malcolm McVean

A young winger with Glasgow club Third Lanark, he was one of 13 Scottish professionals acquired by joint-managers John McKenna and William Barclay when Liverpool FC was founded. The 'Team of the Macs', as it was dubbed, played their first game against Rotherham Town on 1 September 1892, and skipper McVean scored the first goal in a 7-1 victory. A year later he got Liverpool FC's first goal in their debut season in the Football League, in a 2-0 win at Middlesbrough Ironopolis on 2 September 1893.

1898 Alex Raisbeck

Liverpool FC's first superstar, he was poached from Stoke City and gave the Reds eleven seasons of sterling service. The Scottish international defender (one of his shirts is held at The Liverpool FC Story), captained LFC to a first top-flight title in 1901, and another in 1906.

1900 Sam Raybould

Joined from neighbours New Brighton and went on to become the first player to score 100 League goals for Liverpool FC – a feat he achieved in 170 matches between January 1900 and December 1905.

1904 Joe Hewitt

Chester-born Joe joined from Sunderland and blasted Liverpool FC to their second top-flight title, in 06. Upon retiring he stayed at Anfield in various capacities, including trainer, steward and press-box attendant, until his death in 1971.

1912 Elisha Scott

One of the football's finest-ever goalkeepers, Elisha was brought over from Belfast for an LFC career which would span 22 years, and he was reportedly the subject of the first-ever player chant at Anfield. In 2013, a century after his debut, he was honoured with a special hour-long documentary on LFCTV.

1919 Tom Bromilow

“I should think that it is one of the luckiest signings I have made.” So said club secretary George Patterson after Tom, fresh from military service, had wandered into Anfield looking for a trial in 1919. Local lad Tom became a virtual ever-present for a decade, winning two titles with the team.

1925 Gordon Hodgson

Snapped up after starring for a South African touring side in the 1920s, he became Liverpool FC's answer to Dixie Dean. With 241 goals he remains third in the all-time LFC scorers list behind only Ian Rush and Roger Hunt, and his total of 17 Liverpool FC hat-tricks is yet to be broken.

1930 Tom Bradshaw

Arguably the first great Liverpool FC central defender, he was acquired from Bury for a then club-record transfer fee of £8,000. Two years later 'Tiny' (he was physically huge) became Liverpool's 150th different league scorer when he found the net in a game against Newcastle United.

1933 Berry Nieuwenhuys

One of six South Africans signed by Liverpool FC in the 1930s, he endeared himself to the fans with a first goal against Everton in the Anfield derby of September 1933. His career was interrupted by the Second World War but he returned to a First Division medal with the Reds in 1946/47.

1937 Willie Fagan

Cost the Reds £8,000 – then a record for a teenager – when he arrived from Preston North End. A strong and skilful inside-forward, flame-haired Fagan was a key figure at Anfield either side of the Second World War and skippered the side to that 1946/47 title.

1938 Billy Liddell

With Dalglish and Gerrard, he's one of the (pretty-much) undisputed triumvirate of Liverpool FC's greatest-ever players. The Reds have Matt Busby, once on their books and later to manage Manchester United, to thank: it was his recommendation that led to Billy's arrival from Fifeshire club Lochgelly Violet. A thrilling two-footed winger with a thumping shot, Liddell gave LFC everything for the best part of two decades before the Shankly era kicked in.

1939 Bob Paisley

Such is his pedigree as one of world football's greatest managers, it's easy to forget the wonderful service Bob gave Liverpool FC as a player too. Left-half was his position and he made over a quarter-century of appearances between 1946 and 1954, acquiring a First Division winner's medal along the way. He was actually signed from Bishop Auckland just before war broke out in 1939, from under the noses of Sunderland.

1961 Ron Yeats

Ian St John had arrived at Anfield eight weeks earlier, and fellow forward Roger Hunt had been there for three years, but it was the signing of centre-half Ron Yeats, from Dundee United, that symbolised everything that Bill Shankly was bringing to Liverpool FC. It was Big Ron who first modelled the new all-red kit, and Big Ron who lifted that first-ever FA Cup.

1963 Peter Thompson

Liverpool's first flying left-winger, paving the way for Heighway and Fairclough in future seasons. Peter joined from Preston North End and thrilled football grounds up and down the country with his touchline-hugging wizardry.

1967 Emlyn Hughes

'Crazy Horse' was the backbone of Bill Shankly's second great side. Famously, when Shanks was driving his 19-year-old signing from Blackpool back to Anfield he was stopped for having a defective rear-light and told the traffic policeman: “Don't you know who I've got in this car? The captain of England!” The policeman said he didn't recognise the youngster, to which Shankly replied: “No, but you will.” And Emlyn did of course go on to skipper his country.

1968 Alun Evans

The boy with the Mod hairstyle became Britain's most expensive teenager when Liverpool paid Wolves £100,000 or him. His other claim to fame was a hat-trick against Bayern Munich in the 1970/71 Fairs Cup (precursor to the Europa League).

1971 Kevin Keegan

The ultimate LFC impact signing, Keegan had just turned 20 when he joined from Scunthorpe United, and straightaway he set Anfield alight with his fearless pocket-dynamo performances. In the six years he wore a red shirt he scored 100 goals and won three League titles, the European Cup, the FA Cup and two UEFA Cups – and became a Seventies footballing superstar to boot.

1974 Ray Kennedy

His signing from Arsenal passed under the radar amid the shock of Shankly's retirement, but what an addition he was to the team which new boss Bob Paisley would lead to even greater glory – converting from striker to midfielder with Liverpool reaping the rewards.

1977 Kenny Dalglish

Liverpool's greatest-ever signing, surely. In the summer of Star Wars and Saturday Night Fever, he arrived from Celtic for a British transfer-fee record of £440,000, just after fellow Scot Alan Hansen and six months before Graeme Souness. “I felt comfortable the very first time I walked into the place. That was the thing that struck me in training. They’d just come straight off two trophies the year before – European Cup, the League – and got to the FA Cup final. And they just said, ‘You get nothing for last year’. The attitude was magnificent.”

1980 Ian Rush

Signed for a whopping £300,000 (at the time) as a skinny young Welsh striker from Chester City, eight months after a fresh-faced midfielder called Ronnie Whelan had joined from Irish club Home Farm. Left sixteen years later, after two spells at Anfield, having scored a club-record 346 goals. Liverpool's greatest goalscorer, bar none.

1984 Jan Molby

With super-skipper Graeme Souness leaving Liverpool for foreign climes, in came 21-year-old Danish midfielder Jan Molby from Ajax. It took him a year or two to find his feet – but what great feet. Part of the 1985/86 Double-winning team and a cult hero among Kopites.

1987 John Barnes

The first piece in player-manager Kenny Dalglish's new Liverpool jigsaw for season 1987/88 (Peter Beardsley and Ray Houghton would soon follow). He joined from Watford for a fee of £900,000 and spent the next few seasons tearing teams apart and delighting audiences with his grace, pace and sublime skills – first on the wing and then in a more central midfield position. A joy to watch.

1991 Dean Saunders

A big-money buy from Derby County, from whom he joined the Reds, under new boss Graeme Souness, along with central defender Mark Wright. In his first season the Welsh striker scored two hat-tricks in Europe.

1995 Stan Collymore

Signed by manager Roy Evans for a British transfer-fee record of £8.5million, having starred at Nottingham Forest and just made his senior England debut. Developed a formidable partnership with Robbie Fowler in 1995/96 and perhaps most famous for his last-minute winner in the first 4-3 win over Newcastle United.

1999 Sami Hyypia

Joined as a relative unknown from Dutch club Willem II and posed for a group photo-shoot with manager Gerard Houllier, assistant Phil Thompson and five other new arrivals (Erik Meijer, Sander Westerveld, Vladimir Smicer, Titi Camara and Stephane Henchoz). Became the defensive rock upon which Liverpool’s trophy triumphs of the Noughties were built.

2004 Xabi Alonso

Unveiled at Anfield on the same August day as fellow Spaniard Luis Garcia, as new Reds manager Rafael Benitez made a statement of intent. From his very first game Xabi dazzled the Reds faithful with his exquisite touch, awareness and range of passing.

2007 Fernando Torres

Anfield was abuzz when, aged 23, he signed from Atletico Madrid for a club-record fee of £20.2million. He took the price tag and the new environment in his stride, destroying Chelsea's defence with a superbly-taken goal on his Anfield debut.

2011 Luis Suarez

Signed from Ajax on the same day that Torres departed, 31 January 2011, and Andy Carroll arrived for a headline-grabbing transfer fee. Three-and-a-half years, 82 goals and plenty of incidents – good and not so good – later, the Uruguayan joined Messi and Neymar as part of a formidable front-three at FC Barcelona.

2016 Georginio Wijnaldum

A typically exciting acquisition for Jürgen Klopp's Liverpool FC. The Dutch attacking ace joined in the summer from Newcastle United, having made history as a youngster back in the Netherlands: he made his debut with Feyenoord aged 16 and was Dutch footballer of the year with PSV before moving to the Premier League.