Stars raise money for New York

Soap stars played in the match

Thousands of people attended an evening of charity football in Manchester to raise money for the victims of the terrorist attacks in America.

The event, at the city's MEN Arena, raised at least £60,000 for relatives of the New York firefighters who died in the tragedy.

Friday's match came on the eve of a memorial service for a Merseyside man, Ron Gilligan, who died in the attacks.

New York firefighters Thomas Gogarty and Joe Torrillo were at the arena for the match.

Famous football faces were at the match

While thousands were escaping from the World Trade Center moments after the attack, they and their colleagues were racing in the opposite direction.

The pair, heroes in their own city, have been overwhelmed by demonstrations of support, such as the event in Manchester.

There was a celebrity football match involving stars from the ITV soap Coronation Street and the Sky football soap Dream Team, as well as actor Craig Cash from The Royle Family.

Also there were Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and the club's former captain, Bryan Robson, as well as representatives of rivals Manchester City.

There was two minutes silence during the event when images of the terrible events of 11 September were shown on big screens.

Veterans from Manchester City and Manchester United took to the pitch to play a six-a-side match, with City winning 6-1.

All the money raised will go to a fund for the families of the 360 fire brigade staff killed in the terrorist attacks.