Past playersStan Collymore

The Reds defeated considerable competition from elsewhere to secure the England international's signature from Nottingham Forest with a club-record transfer fee of £8.5 million in the summer of 1995.

Evans had a dream, a dream filled with goals: partnering Collymore with the already lethal Robbie Fowler to fire Liverpool towards the title. The statistics prove the idea was right; the duo notched 102 goals between them in two seasons.

A scorer of fantastic goals, Collymore laid an early marker on his maiden appearance for the club by smashing home an inch-perfect strike with his left foot to down Sheffield Wednesday on the opening day of the season.

The forward often frustrated supporters – and indeed his manager – but few could argue with his scoring ratio. In total he found the back of the net 19 times in 44 games during 1995-96 and subsequently fired 16 more the following season.

His defining moment certainly came with a stoppage-time winning goal – his second of the match – past Newcastle United in the famous and dramatic 4-3 triumph over the Magpies at Anfield in April 1996.

Carried by the prowess of Collymore and particularly Fowler, Evans' Reds were in contention for the championship in each of the Englishman's two campaigns with the club. They had to settle for third and then fourth, though.

Michael Owen's emergence as a forward destined for a glittering future – added to Collymore's perceived problematic attitude – left him surplus to requirements in 1997 and he sealed a switch to boyhood club Aston Villa in May of that year.