Youngest And Oldest Players to Play for the Reds

Liverpool is a club where excellence is put at the top of the agenda. Players need to be at their very best to have any hope whatsoever of making it into the starting lineup, such is the level of quality that the club is abler to boast. What it means for younger players is that they must really have a wealth of ability if they are selected to play for the Reds.

As you might imagine, the majority of players get their debuts in the likes of the League Cup and FA Cup, given that they are the tournaments that can most be sacrificed at the alter of success in the top-flight or the Champions League. That isn’t always the case, of course, but usually is.

Similarly, a player needs to be full of talent if they are to keep playing for Liverpool beyond the point that footballers would normally be moved on at a top club. Whilst there have been times in the past that the club has struggled and therefore the standards might have dropped slightly, it is generally fair to say that Liverpool have performed in such a way that players have been moved on when the time is right.

As with the younger players, a lot of the older lads will have seen their game time limited in the competitions that really matter and are therefore most likely to bow out in one of the cup tournaments rather than the league.

The Top 5 Youngest

Jerome Sinclair

Born in Birmingham and of Jamaican descent, Jerome Sinclair spent the initial part of his youth at West Bromwich Albion. He arrived at Liverpool’s Academy when he was 14-years-old in the summer of 2011, with staff there making comparisons between him and Raheem Sterling.

He played for the under-16s for most of his first season, but showed enough promise to mean that Mike Marsh was happy to give him a few games playing with the under-18s before the end of the campaign. Although he failed to find the back of the net, he did impress and went on to score a hat-trick against Exeter City in a pre-season game for the under-18s.

Jerome Sinclair goal vs Chelsea U-21s to make it 2-0pic.twitter.com/Mi7KFxoDA0

— Red (@TaintlessRed) March 2, 2015

That caused Rodolfo Borrell to call him up for the NextGen Series, whilst the manager at the time, Brendan Rodgers, had included him in the club’s Europa League squad. When Liverpool played Sinclair’s boyhood club in the League Cup, Rodgers brought him off the bench on 81 minutes to make him the club’s youngest ever player.

In spite of his obvious promise, including coming on against Chelsea in a Premier League game against Chelsea and scoring in the FA Cup against Exeter City, he was never quite good enough to make it at Anfield. In the end, he ran down his contract and moved to Watford for a compensatory fee of £4 million.

Harvey Elliott

It says a lot about Liverpool’s work at the Academy that two of the names on this list are current players for the club. In the case of Harvey Elliott, he grew up a Liverpool fan as a young lad in Surrey, doing the Academy of Queens Park Rangers as a youngster after Chelsea felt that he was ‘too small’.

He signed for Fulham’s Academy in 2018 and soon found himself getting first team appearances. One such appearance came in the Premier League, becoming the youngest ever player to appear in the competition. In the July of 2019, Elliott made the decision to move to his boyhood club, signing for the Reds for an undisclosed fee.

@_liverpool_to_glory_

#CapCut Harvey Elliott🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | #HarveyElliott #Liverpool #fyppppppppppppppppppppppp

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Although Jürgen Klopp was keen not to rush Elliott into action, he was also aware of the talent that he had at his disposal. He made his debut in the League Cup against Milton Keynes Dons and, in doing so, became the youngest to ever start a match for the Reds. Sinclair is the only player ahead of him in terms of age when making an appearance in any form.

Elliott later became the youngest ever player to start a match for Liverpool at Anfield. He needed experience, so he was sent on loan to Blackburn Rovers, returning to the Reds a more rounded player and becoming a key player for Klopp and his successor, Arne Slot.

Jack Robinson

Born in Warrington, it was perhaps inevitable that Jack Robinson spent at least some of his career at one of the Merseyside or Manchester clubs. It was Liverpool who he signed for as a youngster, making his way through the Academy system in order to make his debut for the club under Rafa Benítez. That came in the Premier League in what would turn out to be the Spanish manager’s last game in charge of the Reds.

At the time, he was the youngest player to have made a first team appearance, breaking a previous record that had stood for 36 years. Playing at left-back, there was a hope from supporters that a solution to a problem position might have been found.

Robinson was registered as an under-21 player for the 2010-2011 campaign, making an appearance against Arsenal as a replacement for the regularly injured Fábio Aurélio, starting an appearance against Birmingham City a week later. When the Reds signed José Enrique in the left-back spot, however, it was clear that Robinson was going to struggle to find a place in the Liverpool side.

He was sent on a number of loans, but the feeling inside Anfield was that he wasn’t going to make it in the long-term. As a result, a decision was taken to sell the player to Queens Park Rangers, who immediately sent him on loan to Huddersfield Town.

Trey Nyoni

Joining Harvey Elliott on the list of current Liverpool players who got their debut at a young age is Trey Nyoni. Born in Leicester, he joined the youth system of Leicester City as a midfielder and was so good that he played for the club’s under-18 side when he was just 15-years-old. Scoring twice in the Under-18 Premier League during the 2022-2023 campaign, he caught the attention of Liverpool’s scouts who wanted to sign him.

They did exactly that, with Nyoni joining the Reds in the September of 2023. As the two clubs couldn’t agree a fee, one had to be decided for them by a tribunal. He delighted Liverpool fans when scoring against Everton’s under-18s not long after signing.

Trey Nyoni aged 16 years, 243 days, is the 3rd-youngest debutant in the club's history, after Jerome Sinclair (16y 6d) & Harvey Elliott (16y 174d). 👊❤️ pic.twitter.com/BjvRzf0vZH

— IG ‘Trust In KLOPP’ (@imran_IGG) February 28, 2024

After around a month at the club, Nyoni began training with the first time under Jürgen Klopp. He made his Under-21s debut in Premier League 2 in the November of 2023 and what he did was enough to convince the manager that he was ready to join up with the first team squad. He did exactly that on the 12th of November 2023, although he was an unused substitute.

When his debut eventually did come, it was as a sub for Harvey Elliott in the club’s 3-0 win over Southampton in the FA Cup, becoming the youngest ever player to appear in the tournament for Liverpool and the fourth-youngest to appear in any competition for Liverpool.

James Norris

The third player that is, at the time of writing, still on Liverpool’s books is James Norris. The player himself began life at Tranmere Rovers and was sent on a season-long loan there at the start of September 2023. He made 16 appearances for the team local to Liverpool, but his debut for the club actually came well before then.

He was just a scholar with the club when he came on as a substitute in a League Cup game against Aston Villa on the 17th of December 2019. There was a need for a number of youth players to play in the game, on account of the fact that the senior squad was in Qatar to take part in the Club World Cup.

It is perhaps not a coincidence that two of the players on the list of youngest lads to make an appearance for Liverpool are left-backs. The position is one that has long been difficult to fill, so it is a part of the squad that will often get filled by talented youngsters. Whether Norris has what it takes to make a strong claim for the position remains to be seen, but it is certainly the case that the Reds would be delighted if he does.

Ultimately, of course, the job of the Academy is as much about creating players that the club can sell for a profit as it is about making first team players, so Norris looks likely to fulfil that role in one way or the other.

Top 5 Oldest Players

Ned Doig

It is not hugely surprising that the oldest player ever to play for Liverpool Football Club did so at the turn of the century. That was a time when players could go on for much longer in their careers, especially in the instances where they were a goalkeeper. That is precisely what Ned Doig was, beginning his life as an outside right before moving to goalkeeper when he signed for Arbroath.

The Scot broke into the first team in 1886 and three years later signed for Blackburn Rovers. After just a single game he had a disagreement with the club and wanted to return home, instead signing for Sunderland, spending 14 seasons there.

Random Goalkeeper Fact of the Day (65): Ned Doig, who kept goal for Sunderland, Liverpool and Scotland at the end of the 19th Century, was self-conscious about his hair loss so always wore a cap when playing to hide his baldness. pic.twitter.com/UYgwIIbn4X

— GoaliesAreDifferent (@goalkeepersdiff) September 5, 2023

He played 290 top-flight appearance in the 19th century and didn’t concede a goal in 87 of them, which was a record. It might well have been one of the things that attracted Liverpool to his signature after the club had been relegated to the Second Division, paying £150 for him. It proved to be a wise choice by the Reds, with Doig being part of the squad that immediately gained promotion back into the First Division.

The arrival of Sam Hardy into the Liverpool squad saw Doig lose his place, with his final appearance coming in the April of 1908. It set a record that stands today of being the oldest ever player to appear for the Reds.

Elisha Scott

The second-oldest player to make an appearance for Liverpool was, unsurprisingly, also a goalkeeper. Elisha Scott played for both Lingfield and Broadway United prior to Tom Watson deciding to sign him after his older brother, Billy Scott, recommended him. He might have signed for Everton had the Blues not felt that he was too young, making his debut for Liverpool on New Year’s Day 1913 in a 1-1 draw at St James’ Park.

He only made sporadic appearances in the early years, with the outbreak of the First World War interrupting his playing time and seeing him play for Linfield and Belfast Celtic in his home country of Northern Ireland.

When the Great War concluded, Scott returned to Liverpool and became the club’s first-choice goalkeeper. Between 1919 and 1934, the Northern Irishman played in 402 league games, striking up a fierce rivalry with Dixie Dean, the Everton striker. When the derby was coming around, the talk of the city would be about which of the two would come out on top. Towards the end of his time at Anfield, Scott struggled to get into the team owing to the ability of Arthur Riley.

In the end, he asked permission to head back to Belfast Celtic to become the club’s player-manager. His last appearance came on the 21st of February 1934 in a 2-0 loss to Chelsea.

Kenny Dalglish

In some ways, it probably shouldn’t be all that surprising that Kenny Dalglish’s name appears on this list. The Scot gave absolutely everything to Liverpool, meaning that he’s likely to appear on any list that shows a positive about a player. Dalglish’s fierce determination and loyalty to the cause meant that he was convinced to take on the player-manager role at Anfield when Joe Fagan left the club in the wake of the Heysel Stadium Disaster in 1985.

As a manager he went on to add another three First Division titles to the trophy cabinet, as well as two FA Cups during his first spell at the helm and a League Cup in his second.

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Bob Paisley on selling Kevin Keegan and signing Kenny Dalglish for Liverpool 🗣 #bobpaisley #Paisley #kevinkeegan #Keegan #kennydalglish #dalglish #sirkenny #sirkennydalglish #sirkennystand #sirkennydalglishstand #liverpool #liverpoolfc #liverpoolfcfan #lfc #lfcfamily #lfcfans #lfcedit #anfield #melwood #football #footballedit #footballtogether #footballquotes #soccer #footy #footyedit #footballhistory #footballhistorian

♬ original sound – The-Football-Historian

As his time as a player was winding down, the man that the Kop called ‘the King’ selected himself less and less. During the 1987-1988 campaign, which is widely considered to be one of the best the club has ever had, he only played two league games.

As the 1989-1990 season drew to a close, Dalglish permitted himself a substitution’s appearance against Derby County, becoming the club’s third-eldest player ever to appear in a competitive match. He had already scored his final goal for the Reds, which came against Nottingham Forest three years earlier, but he was afforded one final run out in front of the adoring Anfield fans.

James Milner

Born in Leeds in 1986, James Milner played for his local club at the youth level between 1996 and 2002. In 2002 he was given his first team debut, becoming the second-youngest player ever to make an appearance in the Premier League at the time. In the July of 2004 he moved to Newcastle United, playing for the Magpies for a year before heading to Aston Villa on loan.

From there he returned to Newcastle before signing for Villa permanent in 2008. He was then bought by Manchester City, with the club wanting his experience to help steady the ship after a number of years bobbing between the top two divisions in England.

It's not been a bad year for @JamesMilner 😉

Enjoy your birthday, Milly 🙌 pic.twitter.com/H522UJm1xX

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) January 4, 2020

Having played for City for five years, Milner signed for Liverpool on a free transfer on the fourth of June 2015. Although he wasn’t seen as one of the sexiest signings, he proved himself to be a crucial player to Jürgen Klopp after the German’s arrival at Anfield a few months later. His experience helped guide Liverpool to the Champions League in 2019 and the Premier League title a year later, as well as countless other trophies during his time with the Reds.

He became Liverpool’s third-highest appearance maker on the fourth of April 2023, spending longer at Anfield than anywhere else. He left for Brighton & Hove Albion in the June of 2023.

Gary McAllister

Scottish midfielder Gary McAllister started his playing career with Motherwell, heading down to England when he signed for Leicester City in 1985. He spend five years with the Foxes before Leeds United signed him, playing more times for the Elland Road side than any other club. In 1996 he made the move to Coventry City and then in 2000 Gérard Houllier decided that his experience would be excellent for a relatively young side.

He arrived on a Bosman free transfer, playing an integral role in helping the Reds to win a treble during the 2000-2001 campaign. Houllier would call him his ‘most inspirational signing’.

As well as scoring a penalty that helped Liverpool to defeat Barcelona in the semi-final of the UEFA Cup, McAllister also scored one in the shootout with Birmingham City in the League Cup final. When Liverpool made it to the UEFA Cup final against Alavés, it was McAllister who took the game by the scruff of the neck and scored one goal whilst assisting three in a 5-4 win for the Reds.

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That McAllister Free Kick Against Everton In 2001 🤤 #liverpoolfc #liverpool #ynwa #lfc #premierleague #football #anfield #liverpoolfans #salah #mosalah #soccer #lfcfamily #championsleague #diaz #klopp #weareliverpool #fifa #epl #lfcfans #nunez #vandijk #kopites #thereds #liverpoolindonesia #jurgenklopp #liverpoolfcfans #bhfyp #BoomChallenge #moodchallenge

♬ original sound – David Mcgrady

To Liverpool fans, though, there will be one goal that stands out above pretty much all of the others. In the final minute of a Merseyside derby, the Reds for a free-kick which McAllister moved slightly forward of where it should’ve been taken from, scoring and angering the Blues when he took it.