Liverpool legend John Aldridge perfectly sums up what Grand National means to city

John Aldridge says he is "proud" of his city for hosting such a "special occasion" as the Grand National opened its doors to racegoers.

The three-day horse racing festival began today, Thursday April 11, as crowds flocked to Aintree Racecourse. Among them was the ex-Liverpool goal-scorer, who spoke to the ECHO about the event and speculated over the Reds' title hopes.

The striker, who claimed that when it came to betting, he wasn't having "the best of times", still seemed in good spirits, even with rainclouds looming overhead. Praising the Grand National and the city of Liverpool as a whole, the 65-year-old said: “I'm proud that our great city - and it is a great city - can make this happen and has done over the years. For an occasion, you can’t beat these three days, it’s absolutely brilliant.

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“I love my city and I’m proud of what we can do. We’ve got two great football teams and two great arenas but to put this on over the years is very special.

“People come from all over the world to see this event and look: there’s no trouble, it’s just people enjoying themselves and that’s what it’s all about.”

With Liverpool challenging for the Premier League with Manchester City and Arsenal, Aldridge gave his opinion on the exciting season: “The league’s going to be tough the way Manchester City are in particular. We’ve just got to take every game as it comes and hopefully we’ll get what we deserve at the end of the season.

“It’d be nice to win another cup or league. If we can win two more then that’d be fantastic but it is what it is and we’ll see what happens in the end. Whatever happens, Jurgen Klopp has