GERRARD ALL OVER

Football On This Day – 24th May 2015 

Steven Gerrard made his first-team debut for Liverpool on November 29th 1998, in a Premier League match against Blackburn Rovers at Anfield and on 24th May 2015 he played his 504th and last League match for the club. In this game, he scored Liverpool's only goal at Stoke City but it wasn't a memorable last game for the Reds' legend. In fact the match ended in a scoreline he hadn't experienced in any of his previous 503 League matches for the club (and hadn't happened in his lifetime) - a 6-1 defeat! 

For Liverpool, the end-of-season meeting with Stoke City was supposed to be one of those 'the score doesn't matter' occasions, especially as it was Steven Gerrard's final game for the Reds. However, losing 6-1 was definitely not in the script. Stoke were 5-0 up by half-time, after which Gerrard did manage to get himself on the scoresheet, but the damage was well and truly done.

Gerrard had already experienced defeat in his final home game against Crystal Palace (1-3) when Alan Pardew's side turned over the Reds at Anfield, but his final game in Liverpool colours was to end in even more embarrassing fashion. 

What was supposed to be a pleasant send-off for an Anfield legend on his way to LA Galaxy turned into a complete and utter nightmare. Stoke absolutely battered Brendan Rodgers' side and were 5-0 up at half-time through goals from Mame Biram Diouf (2), Jon Walters, Charlie Adam, and Steven N'Zonzi.

https://twitter.com/premierleague/status/1131905353774501888

At then of his 17 year reign at Liverpool Steven Gerrard made his 710th and final appearance for Liverpool and scored his 186th goal for the Reds. He later moved to the LA Galaxy club in the Major League in the USA.

In the heaviest defeat of his career, before this match, he had never lost a Premier League game by more than four goals. Stoke City were now the first team to score five goals against Liverpool in a league game since they suffered a 5-1 defeat at Coventry City on 19 December 1992 (the first season of the Premier League). The last time Liverpool conceded six or more goals in a game was on Easter Monday in 1963 (15 April) when Bill Shankly's newly-promoted Reds were beaten 7-2 at top-of-the-table Tottenham Hotspur in League Division One. Jimmy Greaves scored four for Spurs while Roger Hunt claimed Liverpool's goals.

Only Ian Callaghan and Jamie Carragher had made more apps than Gerrard and only Ian Rush, Roger Hunt, Gordon Hodgson and Billy Liddell had scored more.

Gerrard had scored 69 Premier League goals at Anfield; a total only bettered by Robbie Fowler with 85.

It was a much better day three days earlier (Good Friday) for Shanks' charges as they beat the same opponents 5-2 at Anfield. They had not been trailing by a five goal or more margin at half-time since a 6-1 defeat at Cardiff City on 28 December 1957 in League Division Two. In the top flight, this amount of defeat had not occurred since a 6-0 defeat at Arsenal on 28 November 1931.

There had now been 100 goals this season in Premier League matches involving Liverpool (52 for and 48 against). In the previous season, they scored 101 goals in the Premier League.

Liverpool-some records.....

• Record defeat: 1–9 against Birmingham City (Second Division) 11 December 1954.
• Record defeat at Anfield: 0–6 against v Sunderland First Division, 19 April 1930.
• Record-scoring defeat: 2–9 against Newcastle Utd in First Division, 1 January 1934.
• Record Premier League defeat: 1–6 against Stoke City, 24 May 2015, 0–5 against Manchester City, 9 September 2017, 2–7 against Aston Villa, 4 October 2020.
• Record FA Cup defeat: 0–5 against Bolton Wanderers in fourth round, first leg, 26 January 1946.
• Record League Cup defeat: 0–5 against Aston Villa in quarter-finals, 17 December 2019.
• Most league defeats in a season: 23 defeats from 42 games (during the 1953-4 season).
• Fewest defeats in a season: Unbeaten during the 28-game 1893-4 season.

Gerrard addressed Liverpool's fans before joining his team-mates on a lap of honour and then leaving the Anfield turf for the final time after a 17-year career that has brought the Champions League victory against AC Milan that he inspired in Istanbul in 2005, as well as the Uefa Cup, two FA Cups and three League Cup triumphs.