NY fire crew heroes to be guests at Anfield Euro tie

Aug 21 2008 by Richard Partington, Liverpool Daily Post

A TEAM of New York firefighters will be guests of honour at Anfield for the return leg of Liverpool’s Champions League clash against Standard Liege.

The firefighters are in Liverpool for the World Firefighters Games 08 (WFG), which starts on Monday.

By the time they watch Liverpool on Wednesday, they could have their own trophy for the football event of the games.

The arrival of the firefighters will be particularly poignant due to Liverpool’s age-old ties with New York.

Liverpool was one of the first to offer condolences to the city following the world trade centre attacks.

And at a Champions League home game against Portuguese side Boavista, at Anfield, on the evening of September 11, 2001, the crowd observed a minute’s silence.

The New York Fire Department, who lost one of their star players in the World Trade Center attacks, has since grown close ties with Liverpool, having had donations from the Merseyside Fire Department and football training from Liverpool FC in 2003.

The WFG will last just over a week and see over 3,000 competitors from more than 30 countries taking part.

Around 70 events make up the games; including football, snowboarding, athletics and the unique Toughest Firefighter Alive competition, where firefighters will go head to head in scaling St George’s Hall, and climbing the steps of the 150-metre high Radio City Tower.

The World Firefighters Games 08 was established in New Zealand in 1990, and runs every two years. Now in its 10th year, the games is to come to Liverpool for the first time and is expected to be one of the biggest and most entertaining yet.

The event will begin with a spectacular Olympic-style parade towards the Liverpool Echo Arena on Monday, where an opening ceremony will involve sports minister Gerry Sutcliffe, as well as video messages from Gordon Brown and Prince Charles.

Tony McGuirk, Merseyside chief fire officer, said: “We’ve arranged a sporting and social calendar at some terrific venues.

“The Echo Arena will act as a games village, and we hope the public will get involved and come and watch some of the bigger events.

“The games will promote sport as well as fire safety, and will have a lasting legacy for the region.”