The summer of 2004 brought a sea of change at Liverpool that has rarely been seen in a relatively small amount of time.
Prior to that summer, the Reds finished fourth in the 2003/04 campaign to secure another season of Champions league football, after they won the play-off tie against Grazer AK. On this day in 2004, came the decisive final day fixture against top four rivals Newcastle United.
Going into that game, Liverpool knew that they had already secured a top four place. Newcastle were four points adrift in fifth and could not catch the Reds even if they won at Anfield.
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In the end, the match ended 1-1 thanks to a Michael Owen strike cancelling out Shola Ameobi’s earlier goal. While that game may seem meaningless, it was significant for other reasons.
For starters, that match was Gerard Houllier’s final game in charge at Liverpool. After initially joining the Reds in 1998, his six-year association with Liverpool came to an end that summer after being sacked by the club.
In his place came Rafael Benitez, who had proved himself to be a success at Valencia. Change was coming at Anfield, and not just in the dugout.
With a new manager at the helm, a change in the playing staff is likely to follow. That draw with Newcastle proved to be the final game for three Liverpool players.
Emile Heskey was sold to Birmingham City for an initial fee of £3.5 million, potentially rising to £6.25m. He ended his Liverpool career with 60 goals to his name in 223 appearances, along with four major trophies.
That was also the final game for Danny Murphy, who spent seven years on the books at Anfield before being sold to Charlton Athletic for £2.5m. He was also a key player who helped the club win the famous treble in 2000/01, and became renowned for his free-kicks and goals against Manchester United.
And if that wasn’t enough, that draw against Newcastle was also a final appearance for Liverpool for Michael Owen, who scored that day. The Reds sold the Ballon d’Or winning striker to Real Madrid in a part exchange deal worth £8m plus Antonio Nunez.
Benitez responded that summer by bringing the likes of Djibril Cisse, Xabi Alonso, Luis Garcia, Josemi and later Fernando Morientes to Anfield. A revolution was happening on Merseyside that didn’t take long to kickstart.
Of course, after Benitez’s first season in charge he would guide Liverpool to their fifth European Cup triumph with the historic win over AC Milan in Istanbul. A memorable night provided by a team coached by Benitez, but had the foundations laid by Hoillier’s work before his exit a year previously.
