1996-2019
Robbie Fowler
21st birthday: 09.04.1996
Before Michael Owen burst onto the scene, Robbie Fowler became the first ever Liverpool FC player to make 100 league appearances before he was 21. But it is goals, rather than appearances, where Fowler is untouchable. He was 18 when netting a debut goal against Fulham FC at Craven Cottage in a League Cup second round first leg game and a fortnight later followed it up by hitting all five in a 5-0 second leg win at Anfield. Those strikes were six of an astonishing 84 goals that Fowler netted for the Reds before his 21st birthday in April 1996. That haul included 64 Premier League goals and all competition totals of 31 in 1994/95 and 36 (35 of them scored before he turned 21) in 1995/96, earning the Scouse striker the PFA Young Player of the Year award in both seasons. Fowler scored 183 goals in two spells at LFC – only five players have got more.
Jamie Carragher
21st birthday: 28.01.1999
Jamie Carragher was a central midfielder in the Liverpool FC U18s side that won a first-ever FA Youth Cup in 1996 and played in that position, when making his first senior start against Aston Villa FC at Anfield in the Premier League, 10 days before his 19th birthday in January 1997. Bootle-born Carragher got booked after 20 seconds for a shuddering challenge on Andy Townsend, then headed in the opening goal of a 3-0 win at the Kop end in the 50th minute. It was in defence where Carra would become a regular, though, appearing 58 times before turning 21 in 1999 and going on to make 737 appearances before his retirement in 2013. Only Ian Callaghan (857) has played for the Reds more.
Michael Owen
21st birthday: 15.12.2000
Michael Owen is the only 17-year-old to ever score for Liverpool FC in Europe. He's one of only two 17-year-olds (along with Raheem Sterling) to score a league goal for LFC and one of only five in total (Jordan Rossiter, Ben Woodburn and Ki-Jana Hoever being the others) to find the net before turning 18. He holds the record for playing 100 league games for the Reds at the youngest age (20 years and 269 days old), is the Club's third youngest scorer in the FA Cup and fourth youngest in the League Cup, netted 67 goals before his 21st birthday and won two Premier League Golden Boots at the ages of 19 and 20. Owen's debut goal against Wimbledon FC in 1997 also means he remains Liverpool FC's youngest Premier League goalscorer while he is eighth on the overall top goalscorers list with 158.
Steven Gerrard
21st birthday: 30.05.2001
A growth spurt causing injuries meant that Steven Gerrard only played 20 games of football between the ages of 14 and 16 while at the LFC Academy, but when he broke into the first-team aged 18 there was no holding him back. Two goalline clearances, while playing at right-back, in a 3-2 Merseyside derby win against Everton FC in 1999 endeared the local lad to the Anfield crowd, and in December of that year he scored his first goal against Sheffield Wednesday FC. It was the 2000/01 treble-season when Gerrard's Liverpool FC career truly took off. He scored 10 goals – including a spectacular long-range effort against Manchester United FC and one against Deportivo Alaves in the UEFA Cup final – in 50 appearances and was named as PFA Young Player of the Year. Gerrard turned 21 at the end of that season, having made 94 appearances in total, and went on to captain the Reds in more games than any other player, including a special night in Istanbul.
Ryan Babel
21st birthday: 19.12.2007
Virgil van Dijk and Gini Wijnaldum's Dutch international team-mate Ryan Babel was five months shy of his 21st birthday when Reds boss Rafa Benitez brought him to Merseyside from AFC Ajax in July 2007. He was used largely as a substitute before he turned 21, but that didn't stop him from getting amongst the goals with five of his six strikes coming after he was brought on. Two of them came in an 8-0 UEFA Champions League group win against Beşiktaş JK – the joint highest win in the competition's history – and another in a 4-0 victory away to Olympique de Marseille eight days before he was 21. Babel scored against the Reds for Fulham FC last season and now plays for Galatasaray SK.
Raheem Sterling
21st birthday: 08.12.2015
Raheem Sterling revealed last year that while he may now be a rival at Manchester City FC, his daughter Melody Rose is a Liverpool FC fan. “She’s Liverpool through and through,” he said. “She’s running through the halls like Raheem Sterling, and you know what she’s singing? Mo Salah! Mo Salah! Mo Salah! Runnin’ down the wing! Salahhhhh la la la la la la la! Egyptian King! Can you believe that?” Signed from Queens Park Rangers FC in 2010, Sterling was under the age of 21 for his entire 129-game LFC career. He scored 23 goals during that time, made his 100th Reds appearance six days after his 20th birthday and remains the second youngest player to appear for Liverpool FC in Europe, doing so aged 17 years, seven months and five days old against FC Gomel in the UEFA Europa League in 2012.
Trent Alexander-Arnold
21st birthday: 07.10.2019
Since making his Liverpool FC debut against Tottenham Hotspur FC in the League Cup less than three weeks after his 18th birthday in October 2016, Trent Alexander-Arnold has packed a lot into his Reds career. He scored on his European debut against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in 2017 – the first time he'd ever played with a UEFA Champions League match ball – and the following May became the only teenager to ever play for Liverpool FC in a UEFA Champions League final. That match in Kiev ended in defeat, but in June 2019 20-year-old Trent made history in Madrid as LFC's youngest European Cup winner having also set a new Premier League record for the most assists (12) by a defender. He was also named in the 2018/19 PFA Team of the Year.
