1899-1966

Alex Raisbeck

21st birthday: 26.12.1899

Scottish centre-half Alex Raisbeck is widely regarded as Liverpool FC's first 'superstar' footballer. Signed from Hibernian FC for £350 in May 1898, he was just 19 at the time, but commanded so much respect that manager Tom Watson appointed him as Club captain in 1900 when he was 21. By the time Raisbeck had celebrated his 21st birthday on Boxing Day 1899 he'd made 56 appearances, scoring five goals. He later ended the 1900/01 campaign as the first man to ever captain Liverpool FC to a league title. An Official Hall of Fame member, he also skippered the Redmen to the title in 1906 (after causing a sensation by shaving off his moustache!), made 341 appearances in total and worked as a club scout from 1939 until his death in 1949.

Alan A'Court

21st birthday: 30.09.1955

Rainhill-born A'Court made his Liverpool FC debut aged 18 in 1953 and the teenager was so highly regarded that the legendary Billy Liddell was switched to centre-forward to accommodate him on the left wing. Unfortunately for A'Court his breakthrough came in an era when the Reds were struggling and he was part of the side relegated to the Second Division in 1954. He scored seven goals in 32 games for LFC before his 21st birthday, the most famous coming in Second Division Liverpool FC's FA Cup 4th round win against First Division Everton FC in January 1955. A'Court went on to net 63 goals in 381 appearances for the Reds and, along with Ronnie Moran, was one of only two members of LFC's relegated team to still be in the side when they won promotion under Bill Shankly in 1962.

Jimmy Melia

21st birthday: 01.11.1958

Between 1955 and 1997 Jimmy Melia held the record for being Liverpool FC's youngest ever debut goalscorer. A local lad who came from the city's famous Scotland Road area, it was a little over a month after his 18th birthday when he scored one and created another on his debut in a 5-2 Anfield win against Nottingham Forest FC in the Second Division. Melia became a regular in the team after Phil Taylor was appointed manager in May 1956 and netted his 19th LFC goal on his 21st birthday in a 2-0 win at Stoke City FC in November 1958. He remained in the team when Bill Shankly took over in 1959 and was a member of both the Reds' 1962 promotion-winning side and the team that won Division One in 1963/64.

Ian Callaghan

21st birthday: 10.04.1963

It will be 60 years in April since Ian Callaghan made his Liverpool FC debut as an 18-year-old against Bristol Rovers FC, launching arguably the most remarkable career in our history. The Toxteth-born winger had turned 18 just six days earlier and caught the bus to Anfield. “They were queuing at the bus-stop to go the match. Several of them said: 'Let Cally get on the bus, he's playing.'” Callaghan performed so well in a 4-0 win that he received a standing ovation and by the time he turned 21 had made 59 appearances and helped the Reds win promotion back to Division One in 1962. Incredibly he was still in the LFC team that won the European Cup in 1977 (and was an unused substitute at the 1978 European Cup final) with his Club appearance record of 857 games unlikely to ever be broken.

Gordon Wallace

21st birthday: 13.06.1965

An Anfield apprentice who signed his first Liverpool FC contract a month after his 17th birthday in 1961, it was August 1964 when the Scottish forward broke into the first-team and scored five goals in eight remarkable days. His first came in the Charity Shield against West Ham United FC at Anfield (league champions Liverpool FC hosted the game) before 20-year-old Wallace made history by scoring the Reds' first-ever goal in European football during a 5-0 European Cup win away to Icelandic champions Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur. He then bagged a double in a 3-2 win against Arsenal FC at Anfield – the first game ever shown on BBC Match of the Day – on the opening day of the league season. Sadly, a succession of injuries stalled his LFC career and Wallace eventually moved to Crewe Alexandra FC in 1967 after six goals in 22 games for the Redmen.

Bobby Graham

21st birthday: 22.11.1965

Motherwell-born striker Bobby Graham was a prolific goalscorer as a teenager during three seasons in Liverpool FC Reserves and exploded into the first-team at the age of 19 in September 1964. After scoring on his debut in a 6-1 win against Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur in the first-ever European game at Anfield, he netted a hat-trick on his league debut in a 5-1 victory against Aston Villa FC. “I used to stand on the terraces at Motherwell as a boy watching Ian St John,” he said. “Today I played with him in a First Division game. I feel happy.” He scored again versus Sheffield United FC, but with champions Liverpool FC struggling (the Reds were 19th going into November) he lost his place and it was 1969/70 before he became a regular, scoring 42 goals in a 137-game LFC career.

Tommy Smith

21st birthday: 05.04.1966

Nicknamed the 'Anfield Iron' and known for being one of the hardest players in football, Tommy Smith was born in the Anfield area. He was with Liverpool FC from the age of 15 and made his first-team debut a month after his 18th birthday in 1963. A no-nonsense defender, Bill Shankly initially played him in the number 10 shirt in European games to confuse opponents about his position. A first-team regular from 1964/65 onwards, he was part of LFC's maiden FA Cup winning side in 1965, less than a month after his 20th birthday. Smithy's first league title came 25 days after he turned 21 in 1966, but by then he had made 84 appearances for the Reds and scored in wins against Everton FC and Manchester United FC at Anfield. He played 638 games for LFC in total and captained the Reds to a league/UEFA Cup double in 1973.