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OverPower

OverPower is an out-of-print collectible card game produced by Fleer Corporation originally featuring characters from Marvel Comics and later from DC Comics and Image Comics. The game was initially launched in August 1995. In the game, two players went head-to-head with teams of four heroes and villains. Unlike most other collectible card games of the mid-1990s, OverPower was very distinct strategically and structurally different from Magic: The Gathering.

History
Overpower was produced by Fleer from the game's beginnings in the middle of 1995 until October 1997, when Fleer decided to end production in favor of its other products. In early 1998, Marvel Interactive became the sole producer and distributor of Overpower, taking it over from Fleer.

Eventually, Marvel decided to sell the exclusive rights to produce a collectible card game based on Marvel characters to Wizards of the Coast. Though fans kept playing the game, its popularity started to die off around 2001, when it had become increasingly clear through Marvel Interactive and Wizards of the Coast press releases that Overpower would no longer be supported. Several years later, Wizards of the Coast released the X-Men TCG. On January 27, 2009, Upper Deck Entertainment officially announced that they would no longer support VS System in Organized Play or additional product. VS 2PCG was launched in 2015 starting with The Marvel Battles.

Gameplay
A deck typically consists of any combination of four heroes and/or villains, three in the frontline and one in reserve. The rest of the deck consists of fifty-one cards representing offensive and defensive actions that can be taken by the characters or their allies. Each player also chooses a set of 7 mission cards, that represent their team's goals. Finally, each player may also have a homebase and/or a battlesite that represent where their team is from and where the battle will take place. The goal of the game is to either KO the opponent's entire team, or to complete all 7 mission cards (or defeat all 7 of the opponent's).

Players take turns playing attacks back and forth. During a battle, characters may become hurt, and if they are hurt enough, they may be KO'd and eliminated. In addition, each team ventures a number of mission cards, and the winner of the battle completes those missions, while the loser's missions are defeated. If neither team concedes, the team that did more damage to the other is the winner.

Characters
Each character card has a picture of the character or characters it represents, the name, and three or four numbers representing their power grid. In the initial game and its first few expansions, the only power grids were Energy, Fighting, and Strength, but in the DC Overpower Expansion Set, Intellect was introduced as the fourth type; it was needed for some of the DC characters, like Lex Luthor, whose main advantage was not their fighting or strength, or their powerful weaponry, but rather their ability to outwit their opponents. DC Overpower also introduced hero/villain codes; most characters and specials were labeled either as villains or heroes, and mixing the two was restricted in a DC-only game (no restriction in Marvel, Image or mixed games though). Characters are normally used only to represent the team a player is using, but they are also used as activators. A player's team consists of four characters: three on the front line, and one in reserve, who moves up to the front only when one of the other characters is KO'd.

Power cards
Power cards each consist of a number from 1 to 8 and a type, Energy, Fighting, Strength, Intellect, Multi-Power, or Any-Power. Power cards can be used as an attack of the level of the number, or as a defense of the level of the number. A character can play a power card whenever their grid is high enough. For instance, a character with 6 energy could play any energy power card from 1-6, but couldn't play 7s or 8s. (This requirement is the same on attack or defense.) Multipower power cards can be used in any of the types shown (either all four, or just Energy, Fighting, or Strength); their type may be chosen as they are played.

Special cards
Special cards each show the name of a particular character, and have a name and a description. Special cards can only be used by the character named on it. Specials serve a variety of purposes; some are attacks only, others can be used for defense only, while others affect the game in other ways, for instance healing hits that heroes have taken, or affecting missions directly, or interfering with the opponent's ability to play attacks. Some special cards are 'any hero' or 'any character' specials, and can be used by any character. Each character has their own unique set of specials. Some characters' specials are very straightforward attack or defense, while others have much more unusual abilities; this is how the unique character of the various superheroes and supervillains is shown in the game.

Universe cards
Universe cards come in a few categories, but generally are usable by any character that meets the usage requirement. For example, one type of universe card (basic universe cards) provide bonuses to power cards: such a universe card might be usable by any hero with a 7 or higher in strength, and provide a +2 bonus to a strength power card played with it. The most popular type of universe cards are teamwork cards, which themselves count as a level 6 attack, and give a bonus to a follow-up attack made by a teammate in a different power type than the original attack; this is popular because a level 6 attack is a relatively powerful attack, and the ability to make multiple attacks in a row is beneficial.

Tactic cards
These cards are seen much more rarely. Some tactic cards are doubleshot cards which lets two characters work together for a combined attack. The others are artifact cards, which either permanently or temporarily provide a benefit to one of the team members, such as enhancing their power grid.

Event cards
Event cards are not used in battle. Rather, event cards are played before a battle and then replaced; events can affect the coming battle or the state of the game in many ways, for instance, returning a KO'd character to play, disallowing the use of specials for the battle, etc. Each set of 7 mission cards comes with its own set of events.

Location cards
Locations have a name and describe a set of conditions for a team; usually, a list of six characters that can be used. In addition, they have an 'inherent ability' -- something that modifies the way the game is played. Locations can be used in two ways: either as a homebase or as a battlesite. When used as a homebase, one's team must match the team description, and the inherent ability applies to the game. Battlesites are somewhat different; they are an alternative to the ability to use 'any hero/character' specials. Instead of those specials, the deck may include character cards, called activators that appear on the list in the battlesite, and the battlesite itself may store specials those characters can play. A character card played as an activator is exchanged for one of that character's specials in the battlesite, which is then used like an 'any hero' special.

Attack, defense, and damage
Generally, the two players take turns attacking until one gives up or until both players are out of cards for the turn. Most attacks are numerical attacks, such as a power card attack against a character. Once an attack is made, the target has the opportunity to defend. A numerical defense can be played if the number played in defense is at least as big as the attack level (so a power card can be defended by any power card of equal or higher value, but type is unimportant). Cards other than power cards can also be used in defense; some universe cards can be used to provide a bonus to another defensive card, and specials can often defend against an attack. In some cases, specials that set up a lasting effect (for example "Hulk cannot attack or be attacked for remainder of battle") can be played as a defense. If a numerical attack isn't defended, it becomes a hit and immediately counts as damage.

Most numerical attacks are energy, fighting, strength, or intellect attacks, but some are multiple types, and some have no type. Characters are KO'd in one of two ways. Cumulative KO occurs when a character has taken 20 total damage, regardless of how many attacks or what types they are. Spectrum KO occurs when a character has taken damage in three of the four different power types: multi-type hits can be changed retroactively in order to make spectrum KO occur.

Some attacks are non-numerical (for instance, specials that say "Target opponent cannot attack for remainder of battle"). Such attacks can generally only be defended by specials; if they are not defended they do no damage, but instead the described effect takes place. If they are defended, nothing happens.

If a player doesn't wish to make an attack, they have the option of conceding the battle instead. If they don't concede, their opponent will get a chance to attack them next.

Battle phases
Each battle consists of several phases: first, each player draws 8 cards. Then, each player discards duplicate cards until they have only one of each type. (What is considered the same for duplicate purposes varies among the card types. For instance, two power cards are considered duplicates if they have the same number, even without the same type, whereas two special cards are only duplicates if they are exactly the same special). Players also discard unusable cards. Next, players take turns 'placing' cards. Cards, generally, can be placed on a character that can use them. Placed cards can only be played by the character they are placed on. The advantage to this is that placed cards that are unused at the end of a battle remain where they are, whereas unused cards in a player's hand are discarded. Each character may have one of each of the four types of cards placed on it: power cards, specials, universe cards, or tactic cards. After placing, the players decide on their venture—how many missions they are willing to risk on the battle. Then, the battle itself takes place. After the winner is determined, the next battle begins.

Strategy elements
Some of the interesting aspects of strategy in Overpower are the following. First of all, specials are often more powerful than other cards but they have the disadvantage that only one character can use them. It is critical not to make a deck too overloaded with one character's specials unless that character can be defended very well; otherwise, the deck would be badly crippled once that character is KO'd. Teams typically share certain power grid similarities, especially high ones. For instance, a team may consist of various characters with 7 or higher Energy ratings. This way, high-level power cards can be energy and usable by all characters.

Another key tactic in OverPower is the idea of placing and conceding: the idea is to take some time to heavily arm your team. Your opponent may gain a mission or two but you may get a significant advantage in the battles that follow. However, placing also reveals more information to your opponent about the cards you have available to use for the round.

Many characters have specials that allow them to avoid an attack; this creates an interesting incentive to attack other characters. Similarly, some characters have specials that allow a teammate to avoid an attack. This also creates great opportunities for bluffing; you may play a dangerous character that has an avoid special, but not actually play any, yet act like you might have one. Indeed, having a good poker face, and bluffing often, are very useful skills in Overpower.

Card sets

 * Marvel OverPower - The original release of the game, released middle 1995 by Fleer. Easily identified by the solid gold graphic on the borders of Special cards.
 * Powersurge - Released late 1995. Easily identified by the flame graphics on the borders of Special cards.
 * Mission Control - Released early 1996, introduced event cards. Easily identified by the computer chip graphics on the borders of Special cards.
 * DC OverPower (aka Batman/Superman OverPower, since all its characters were from these two heroes' storylines) - Released middle 1996, introduced the Intellect Power type. This set also introduced the inherent abilities, a line of text present in some character cards that enhanced (or restricted, in some cases) the character; and the allies, a new type of universe card.
 * IQ OverPower - Released late 1996, brought the Intellect Power type to Marvel characters, reprinting the many Marvel characters released so far, now with Intellect values. This set also introduced eight new heroes.
 * JLA OverPower (JLA stands for Justice League of America) - Released early 1997, introduced the new tactic (doubleshot) cards.
 * Monumental OverPower - Released middle 1997, introducing the notion of location and tactic cards that would add yet more depth to the game with certain entirely new mechanics. The 289-card set was sold in 65-card starter decks and 15-card booster packs.
 * Classic OverPower - Released late 1997, introducing artifacts, a new type of tactic card. This was last set produced by Fleer. One of the most sought after boxes and most difficult sets to complete. Due to a list count only 5000 boxes were manufactured by Fleer Corp. It was sold in 15-card booster packs.
 * Image OverPower - Planned for November 1997, it was released in mid 1998, it was the first set released after Marvel Interactive assumed responsibility for the game's development and production. These cards are the rarest and most valuable, being highly sought after by collectors. This set had a smaller print run than other OverPower sets, so the scarcity of boxes have resulted in high prices in the secondary market. As strange as it may seem at first, a quirk with this release saw Marvel Comics' very first expansion after acquiring the rights to Overpower from Fleer feature absolutely no Marvel characters whatsoever, but rather exclusively using the intellectual property of a direct competitor of theirs, what with characters who were owned and published solely by Image Comics at the time.
 * X-Men OverPower - Released January 1999, was the second set made by Marvel and the last OverPower set that would ever be released. Due to a list count known and credited there have been less than 5000 boxes produced. It introduced aspects designed to make locations more useful with the innovative concept of homebases and deck building. X-Men Overpower cards were cut incorrectly inadvertently being slightly larger than the other cards, which made decks mixing X-Men overpower sets easier to remember which cards are in what order! Cards had to be put into sleeves to protect the integrity of the card.

Promo cards
Besides the expansion sets, many Overpower cards were released as special promotions. The original Any Hero specials, by example, were comic book inserts in various Marvel comic books released in October 1995. Most promotional cards were never released in any expansion set, but some were reprinted in Mission Control and Monumental OverPower, but with different artwork. Promotional cards were considered legal to use in tournament decks. A list of all existing promotional cards follows:
 * Original Marvel Any Hero Specials - 5 Any Hero special cards, available as random inserts in the following Marvel comics, one per comic, all released in October 1995: Amazing Spider-Man #406, Avengers #391, Captain America #444, Daredevil #345, Excalibur #90, Fantastic Four #405, Green Goblin #1, Incredible Hulk #434, Iron man #321, Spider-Man #63, Starjammers #1, Thor #491, Uncanny X-Men #325, Web of Spider-Man #128, X-Factor #115, X-Force #47, X-Man #8 and X-Men #45.
 * Web-Headed Wizard Any Hero Special - Available as an insert in Wizard Magazine #50 (Oct 1995).
 * Oversized 5" by 7" Hero Placards - Identical to the character cards of the original Marvel OverPower, but bigger. Available as a Mail-Away offer, in three groups of 13 placards each, in the following magazines: Wizard Magazine #52 (Oct 1995), InQuest Magazine (Dec 1995) and OverPower Legion Monthly Venture #4 (Summer 1996).
 * Hillshire Farms Expansion Set - 10 characters (5 reprints from Marvel OverPower, 4 reprints from Powersurge and 1 new, Doppelganger), 9 specials (1 Any Hero and 8 for existing OverPower and Powersurge characters) and 1 universe card, all related to Spider-Man storyline. Available as inerts in boxes of Lunch 'N Munch Hillshire Farms pre-packaged lunches, 2 per box, Summer 1996. The Any Hero special was reprinted in the IQ OverPower set. Doppelganger was reprinted in the Monumental OverPower set.
 * Powersurge Any Hero Specials - 2 Any Hero special cards, Confusion and Savage Land, available as inserts in the InQuest Magazine #9 (Jan 1996) and Combo Magazine #21 (Feb 1996), respectively.
 * Fighting 6 Prototype card - A level 6 Fighting power card, slightly different from the one released with Marvel Overpower. Available as an insert in Ventura Magazine #1 (July/August 1995), and in OverPower Legion Monthly Venture (the official OverPower newspaper) #5 (Nov 1996).
 * Prerelease Event cards - 2 event cards, available as inserts in Inquest Magazine #13 (Jan 1996), Wizard Magazine #57 (May 1996) and Wizard Wolverine Tribute Edition Magazine (Fall 1996), 1 per magazine. Both would be released in the Mission Control set.
 * Galactus character card - Available as an insert in OverPower Legion Monthly Venture #2 (April 1996).
 * Captain Universe card - A universe card, available as an insert in Wizard Magazine #58 and InQuest Magazine #14, both June 1996.
 * OverPower Powersurge Invincibles - 1 character (Adam Warlock) and 3 specials, available on purchasing Kay-Bee Toys Exclusive OverPower Powersurge Invincibles action figures, Winter 1996. There were four different figures (Adam Warlock, Bone Claws Wolverine, Scarlet Spider and Night Armor Iron Man), each came with a different card. Those 4 cards were reprinted in the Monumental Overpower set.
 * Hideout Discovered! Any Mission Event - Given to the attendants of GenCon'96, held at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, August 1996.
 * Onslaught OverPower Expansion Set - 34 cards, being 4 characters (Dark Beast, Holocaust, Onslaught and Post ), 18 specials (6 for each character except Dark Beast), 1 mission of 7 cards and 5 events. The characters, specials and events were available as random inserts in the following Marvel Comics, 2 per comic, all released in October 1996: Amazing Spider-Man #416, Cable #36, Excalibur #102, Incredible Hulk #446, The Sensational Spider-Man #9, Spectacular Spider-Man #239, 2099: World of Tomorrow #2, X-Factor #127, X-Force #59 and X-Man #20. The cards had borders that were unique. The mission cards (and also the characters) were randomly inserted in packs of Marvel Ultra Onslaught Trading Cards, released Fall 1996, at the rate of 1 per 9 packs. All cards were obtainable through a mail-away offer with the purchasing of IQ OverPower booster packs. The characters, but not the specials were reprinted with new artwork in the Monumental OverPower set. Two additional new specials for each character (except for Dark Beast) were released in subsequent Overpower sets.
 * DC Any Character Specials - 6 Any Character special cards. Arkham Asylum could be obtained purchasing a sealed box of DC OverPower at the Berkeley Games Distributor. Likewise, The Fortress of Solitude could be obtained purchasing a sealed box at the WarGames West Distributor, and came as an insert in OverPower Legion Monthly Venture #7 (Apr 1997). The Batcave and Deal with the Devil were available as inserts in Combo Magazine #23 and Tuff Stuff's Collect Magazine (both Nov 1996). Justice League of America was a prize in a sanctioned tournament in 1997, and Urban Hunters was obtainable through an exclusive DC Comics SASE offer (Spring 1997).
 * Batman Holographic character cards - 6 variant character cards from the Batman storyline, randomly inserted in packs of the Batman Holo Series Trading Cards (1 per 72 packs), Winter 1996.
 * Any Power level 5 power card - Released as an insert in Combo Magazine #24 (Jan 1997).
 * Marvel vs Wildstorms Chromium character cards - 8 character cards, being 5 new (Black King, Brass, Crystal, Team X and Wynonna Earp) and 3 variant characters, randomly inserted in packs of Marvel vs Wildstorms Trading Cards, released Summer 1997, at the rate of 1 per 7 packs.
 * Beyonder character card - Available as an insert in OverPower Legion Monthly Venture #6 (March 1997). Beyonder's power grid contained 4 "infinite" symbols. Unlike Galactus, who had all 8's in 3 stats, Beyonder cannot just play "any" power card. He came with a special set of rules that stated his power grid was the combined total of all other active characters on his team. Thus, when a character gets KOed, Beyonder's stats could potentially be reduced. If he was the last character on a team, he maintained the power grid of the last active teammate. In addition, his inherent ability to play "any" non-OPD special, was limited to only specials of characters in your deck, to prevent abuse.
 * Accidental Inserts - 6 cards (1 Any Character special, 1 location, 2 universe cards and 2 tactic cards), meant to be promotional cards but accidentally inserted in some Classic OverPower packs, became ultra-rare cards. The location and one of the tactic cards were reprinted in the X-Men OverPower set.
 * Spawn Finite Power special card - Given to the attendants of Wizard World Convention, held at Chicago, Illinois, July 1998, this card was incorrectly cut. A correctly cut version was given as a prize at tournaments in 1999. This card was reprinted with the same artwork in the Image OverPower set. Originally intended to be an 'Any Hero' special, this card was mistakenly printed as a Spawn Special Card. Instead of fixing it, it was just decided that the card would play as printed.
 * MegaPower Expansion Set - 10 cards, being 1 location and 9 specials for X-Men storyline characters, available for selling at the official OverPower website at Winter 1999. The Specials were meant to be part of the X-Men OverPower set, but were left out.
 * Warlock character card - Available as an insert in Wizard Magazine #96 and InQuest Gamer Magazine #52, both released August 1999.

Reception
Steve Faragher reviewed Marvel Overpower for Arcane magazine, rating it a 7 out of 10 overall. Faragher comments that "This is a good game, but not one you'll be playing over and over again."

title: OverPower


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Paulo Sousa

Paulo Manuel Carvalho de Sousa (born 30 August 1970) is a Portuguese football manager and former professional player who played as a defensive midfielder. Is the current manager of UAE Pro League club Shabab Al Ahli.

Starting his career at Benfica, he also represented Sporting CP in his country, where he amassed Primeira Liga totals of 117 matches and three goals in five years. From there onwards, he competed mainly in Italy and Germany, winning the Champions League with Juventus and Borussia Dortmund and the Intercontinental Cup with the latter side. Injuries severely hampered his later career.

Sousa was a member of Portugal's "Golden Generation", and appeared with the national team at the 2002 World Cup and two European Championships. He took up coaching in the late 2000s, managing clubs in several countries and winning national championships with Maccabi Tel Aviv and Basel. He was also in charge of Poland at Euro 2020.

Club career
Born in Viseu, Sousa began playing professionally for Benfica and was a starter from an early age. He won the Primeira Liga championship in 1990–91, and the Taça de Portugal two years later. On 10 April 1993, in a league match at Boavista, he was forced to play in goal after Neno was sent off and his team had no more substitutions left, in an eventual 3–2 win.

In the summer of 1993, Sousa signed for Lisbon neighbours Sporting CP together with his teammate António Pacheco. In his only season, he partnered Luís Figo and Krasimir Balakov in midfield and the Lions did not win any silverware.

Sousa joined Juventus in 1994. In his first season in Turin he won the Serie A title, the domestic cup and the Supercoppa; they also finished as runners-up in the UEFA Cup, losing to fellow Italian side Parma. The following year, he was part of the squad that conquered the UEFA Champions League.

In the 1996 off-season, Sousa moved to Germany with Borussia Dortmund, where he repeated the Champions League triumph the following campaign, which made him only the second player after Marcel Desailly to win back-to-back titles with different teams; the final was against his former club Juventus and, although he appeared in that game, his spell was plagued with injuries, which followed him the remainder of his career.

Sousa subsequently returned to Italy to play for Inter Milan, and eventually retired at the age of 31 after a brief loan to Parma, followed by stints at Panathinaikos and Espanyol.

International career
A member of the Portugal team that won the 1989 FIFA World Youth Championship, Sousa went on to earn 51 caps for the senior side. His international debut came on 16 January 1991, in a friendly against Spain that ended in a 1–1 draw.

Sousa played for his country at UEFA Euro 1996 and 2000, and was a squad member at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, but did not take part in a single match. His last appearance came shortly before the latter competition, a 2–0 friendly win over China.

Style of play
Sousa was a hard-working, tactically intelligent and versatile player who was effective both offensively and defensively, courtesy of his anticipation and ability to read the game. However, he was not known for his speed. Although he was usually classified as a hard-tackling defensive midfielder, he also possessed excellent vision and control and was often deployed as a deep-lying playmaker throughout his career due to his passing accuracy, technique and ability to control the tempo of his teams' play; his playing style drew comparisons with Paulo Roberto Falcão throughout his career.

In addition to his skill and creative abilities, Sousa was also renowned for his leadership.

Portugal national teams
Sousa began working as a manager by joining the coaching staff of the Portugal national team, taking the helm of the under-16s, and in the summer of 2008 he was appointed assistant to first-team coach Carlos Queiroz, his former boss at Sporting and the Portuguese youths.

Queens Park Rangers
On 19 November 2008, Sousa was appointed head coach of Championship team Queens Park Rangers. However, on 9 April 2009, he was sacked, as the club claimed he had divulged sensitive information without permission from the hierarchy, which included Dexter Blackstock's loan move to Nottingham Forest having been agreed without his knowledge.

Swansea City
Following Roberto Martínez's move to Wigan Athletic, Sousa was offered the role as Swansea City manager on 18 June 2009. He verbally accepted the deal, signing a three-year contract, and was officially appointed on the 23rd.

During the league campaign, Sousa led Swansea to its highest league finish for 27 years (seventh), just outside the play-offs. On 4 July 2010, he departed by mutual consent, set to take the vacant post at Leicester City.

Leicester City
Sousa became the new manager of Leicester City on 7 July 2010. Owner Milan Mandarić stated that he was delighted to "acquire a manager of such great calibre", adding he was "the right man to take our club forward".

On 1 October 2010, after less than three months in charge, Sousa was fired after a poor start to the season, with the team having won only once in his first nine league games.

Videoton
On 15 May 2011, Sousa signed a three-year contract with Hungarian club Videoton, newly crowned champions of the Nemzeti Bajnokság I. He made his competitive debut in the Champions League qualifying round to Sturm Graz in a 2–0 away loss, followed by an insufficient 3–2 home win.

His team hosted Trabzonspor in the season's Europa League last qualifying round on 30 August 2012, Sousa's 42nd birthday. After the 4–2 penalty shoot-out victory (0–0 after 120 minutes), he stated: "The qualification was the most beautiful birthday of my life".

On 7 January 2013, Videoton announced they had agreed to terminate Sousa's contract due to family reasons. That same day, it was reported that he would become the new manager of the New York Red Bulls, but nothing came of it.

Five clubs in seven years (2013–2020)
On 12 June 2013, Maccabi Tel Aviv officially appointed Sousa as its head coach. He won the Israeli Premier League in his only season in charge.

Sousa changed clubs and countries again on 28 May 2014, signing a three-year contract with Basel in the Swiss Super League. He left on 17 June 2015, having again won the national championship.

On 21 June 2015, Sousa joined Serie A side Fiorentina. He left in June 2017, after the appointment of Stefano Pioli.

On 6 November 2017, Sousa signed for Tianjin Quanjian of the Chinese Super League, replacing Fabio Cannavaro. On 4 October of the following year, he left his post.

Sousa became Bordeaux's third coach of the campaign on 8 March 2019 after Gus Poyet and Ricardo Gomes, agreeing to a three-and-a-half-year deal. Having come 12th in his only full season, disputes with the board led to his resignation on 10 August 2020.

Poland
On 21 January 2021, Polish Football Association (PZPN) president Zbigniew Boniek announced Sousa as the head coach of the Poland national team; he replaced Jerzy Brzęczek, who was dismissed despite achieving qualification for Euro 2020. In his first match in charge, on 25 March, his side drew 3–3 against Hungary in the 2022 World Cup qualification. At the former tournament finals, and despite three goals from star forward Robert Lewandowski, they exited in the group stage; nonetheless, the manager was assured to remain on the job.

Sousa led Poland to second place in their World Cup qualification group, reaching the play-offs but failing to be seeded after losing the last match to Hungary 2–1. The loss caused significant financial losses for the PZPN and the manager was criticised for not fielding several key players, including Lewandowski.

Sousa was allowed to leave on 29 December 2021, after agreeing to pay compensation. After his departure, he was heavily criticized by the Polish media and the soccer community. One of the main accusations towards Paulo, was that despite his promises, for example, promise he made when the first rumors of him leaving national team appeared, that he would not leave the team and would work with Polish team for years to come, he left the national team as soon as better money appeared. Because of this, he earned the nickname “Siwy Bajerant” (eng. Grey Smooth Talker) among Polish football fans.

Flamengo
Hours after leaving the Poland national team, Sousa was announced as the new manager of Flamengo in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A on a two-year contract. Having observed the first two games of the Campeonato Carioca season, he won 3–0 at home to Boavista on his debut on 2 February 2022; his team lost the final 3–1 on aggregate to rivals Fluminense.

Sousa was dismissed on 9 June 2022, after a 1–0 loss to Red Bull Bragantino.

Salernitana
On 15 February 2023, Sousa returned to the Italian top division as the new head coach of Salernitana, replacing Davide Nicola. He achieved a 1–1 draw at neighbours and league leaders Napoli on 30 April, momentarily denying them a first Scudetto in 33 years; he was sent off in the final minutes while his team took their unbeaten run to nine games, eventually making it to ten and finally avoiding relegation as 15th.

On 10 October 2023, following a negative start in the campaign, Sousa was dismissed.

Player
Benfica
 * Primeira Divisão: 1990–91
 * Taça de Portugal: 1992–93
 * Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 1989

Juventus
 * Serie A: 1994–95
 * Coppa Italia: 1994–95
 * Supercoppa Italiana: 1995
 * UEFA Champions League: 1995–96

Borussia Dortmund
 * DFB-Supercup: 1996
 * UEFA Champions League: 1996–97
 * Intercontinental Cup: 1997

Portugal U20
 * FIFA U-20 World Cup: 1989

Portugal
 * UEFA European Championship third place: 2000

Individual
 * Guerin d'Oro: 1995

Manager
Videoton
 * Ligakupa: 2011–12
 * Szuperkupa: 2011, 2012

Maccabi Tel Aviv
 * Israeli Premier League: 2013–14

Basel
 * Swiss Super League: 2014–15

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Paulo Sousa


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Company Pictures

Company Pictures is a British television production company which has produced drama programming for many broadcasters. It was set up in 1998 by Charles Pattinson and George Faber, colleagues at BBC Films. Their first film was Morvern Callar, which was credited as a co-production with BBC Films as they had begun developing it while still employed there. In 2003 Company Pictures became part of All3Media.

In 2012, founders Pattinson and Faber left Company Pictures to set up another independent production company, and John Yorke became managing director until 2015. He was succeeded by Michele Buck, former joint managing director of Mammoth Screen.

For both artistic and fiscal reasons, when producing the TV series The White Queen, Company Pictures entered into collaboration with a Flemish production house. This enabled them to film in the medieval cities of Ghent and Bruges, while receiving tax-breaks as a European co-production and for investment in Flanders.

title: Company Pictures


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Mathew Tait

Mathew James Murray Tait (born 6 February 1986) is a retired English rugby union player who gained 38 caps for between 2005–2010, including starting in the 2007 Rugby World Cup Final; and played 279 club games for Newcastle Falcons, Sale Sharks and Leicester Tigers between 2004 and 2018. He was considered a utility back regularly playing at centre, fullback or wing. Tait made his Newcastle debut in 2004 and made his England debut at 18 years old in 2005, at the time the second youngest England player selected since the second World War. He played 87 times for Newcastle before joining Sale in 2008 where he played 49 times. Tait joined Leicester in 2011 and made 143 appearances between his 2011 debut and retirement. Whilst at Leicester Tait started the 2013 Premiership Rugby Final which Leicester won as well as the 2017 Anglo-Welsh Cup Final, which Leicester also won. His final game was on 5 May 2018 against former club Sale.

Club career
Born 6 February 1986, in Shotley Bridge, County Durham, Tait attended Barnard Castle School, where he was a member of the school 1st XV which appeared in the Daily Mail Cup Final for two successive seasons. The school has also produced England internationals Rob Andrew, Rory Underwood, and Tony Underwood.

Newcastle Falcons signed the centre on contract in April 2004 while he was still finishing his A levels, in which he achieved 3 A's. In May 2004 he made his debut in an English Premiership game against London Irish and scored a try with his first touch of the ball.

On 3 May 2008 Tait agreed to a deal to leave the Falcons to sign for Sale Sharks. Tait was linked up with All-Black centre Luke McAlister. During the 2008–09 Guinness Premiership season Tait suffered several injuries and was experimented at full-back. However, as the season continued and entered its latter stages, Tait began to play at his preferred position of outside centre and put in performances that ensured he was selected for England again.

Tait's 2010–11 season was hampered by injury. Complications during knee surgery meant he was unable to play for Sale until late October, and he missed much of November when the problem flared up again. In January Tait suffered a dislocated shoulder during an Amlin Cup match against Cetransa El Salvador; the injury threatened to rule him out of the rest of the season and forced him out of the England Saxons squad.

Tait ended his career at Leicester Tigers, for whom he signed ahead of the 2011–12 season. Tait started the final as Leicester won the 2013 Premiership title. He retired in 2018.

International career
In 2002, he was capped as outside centre by England U16 then U18 and by England under 19 when he was still at school. This was where he was spotted by the National Academy manager, Brian Ashton, who selected him for the Junior National Academy in 2003–04. The then seventeen-year-old was fast-tracked into the Senior National Academy.

Tait has also played for England's rugby sevens team, he was a member of the side that won the Dubai Sevens in December 2004.

Tait gained media attention when Andy Robinson named him in the England starting XV for their opening 2005 Six Nations Championship game, against Wales on 5 February, which England lost 11–9. Tait failed to make an impact either in attack or defence and was the victim of two tackles from Gavin Henson before eventually being replaced. At just under 19 years of age, he was the second-youngest player to have played for England since World War II, with only his Newcastle teammate Jonny Wilkinson having played at a younger age. He was dropped after the game but later regained his place in the England squad, missing out on the first game of England's 2006 autumn campaign against New Zealand only through injury. He last played a full international for England in 2010.

During his absence from the test squad, Tait was a regular member of England's rugby sevens team. He starred at the sevens tournament in the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, finishing as the tournament's top try-scorer, with nine tries, as he helped England to the silver medal.

In the 2007 Rugby World Cup he made a return to the England squad and was the youngest player in the squad.

Comments made about his performance and ability during and after the 2007 World Cup include Mike Catt hailing him as "the future of English rugby", particularly praising his performance against Tonga. Others have said he is "the exemplar of the coming generation" and that he "came of age in the final"

In the 2008 Six Nations Championship he scored a try in England's 33–10 win over Ireland.

After an injury-ridden start to the 2008–09 Guinness Premiership season, Tait began to play at his preferred position of outside centre and put in performances that ensured he was selected for England for the tests against Argentina and Barbarians.

In July 2009 Tait was selected in Martin Johnson's 32-man elite squad for the second year, and was also selected for England's opening game against Wales in the 2010 Six Nations, again under Johnson's management, starting at outside centre. Another season filled with injuries meant Tait was not selected for the 2011 World Cup squad.

Personal life
In 2006, he started studying toward a Biomedical Science degree at Newcastle University. After moving to Sale, he suspended his studies at the university. In early 2010, he was training to become a pilot, having expressed an interest in becoming a commercial pilot.

title: Mathew Tait


text: Category:Birds of India

title: Category:Birds of India


text:
User:CaptainUrd

Captain Urd, Mistress of the Black Panther, a furry who is somewhat well known in a small community of her crew.

title: User:CaptainUrd


text:
Darren Williams

Darren Williams (born 28 April 1977 in Middlesbrough) is an English football player and manager.

Williams began his career at York City, but made his name at Sunderland, for whom he signed in 1996. He then moved to Cardiff City in 2004, then on to Hartlepool United in 2005. He was released by Hartlepool in 2007; after that he made a move to Bradford City during the 2007–08 season. He then played with Dundee, Gateshead, Gainsborough Trinity and Whitby Town.

York City
Born in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, Williams played for Cleveland and North Yorkshire Boys and Marton Boys before joining the York City youth system in July 1993, scoring 16 goals for the Intermediate side in the 1993–94 season. He made his first team debut as a substitute in a 4–0 victory over Blackpool on 26 December 1994, which was his only appearance of the 1994–95 season. Due to an injury to Steve Bushell he started the 1995–96 season as a first team regular, before being dropped and finishing the season with 27 appearances in all competitions, before handing in a transfer request. He played when they beat Manchester United 3–0 at Old Trafford in the League Cup in 1995.

Sunderland
Williams joined Sunderland for a fee of £50,000 in October 1996, and made over 250 appearances for the team, 108 of which were in the FA Premier League.

The highlight of his career so far was probably when he scored the winning goal for Sunderland at Middlesbrough, his hometown club, in 1997, effectively relegating the Teessiders. Williams was also a part of the 1998 First Division play-off final defeat at Wembley Stadium, in which Sunderland were beaten by Charlton Athletic 7–6 on penalties after a 4–4 draw in regular play.

Cardiff City
Williams joined Cardiff City on a month-long loan in September 2004, with a view to a permanent move if he impressed. He played in all five of Cardiff's games during his initial loan period and his stay was extended for another two months. After he was told by Sunderland manager Mick McCarthy his contract would not be extended, Williams made his move to Ninian Park permanent in December 2004 on a free transfer.

Hartlepool United
Williams was offered a new contract by Cardiff manager Lennie Lawrence, but when he was replaced by Dave Jones, the offer was withdrawn. Instead he returned to the north-east to join League One side Hartlepool United. While at Hartlepool, Williams played the majority of the first team's games due to the injury of captain Michael Barron, but when Barron returned he was moved to the bench. The team was relegated in his first season at Hartlepool, but helped them earn instant promotion back to League One in 2006–07 as they missed out on the title on the last day of the season.

Bradford City
He was released by Hartlepool in May 2007 and joined Bradford City in July 2007. He was one of six new players who made their debut for City on the opening day of the 2007–08 in a 1–1 draw with Macclesfield Town. Williams lost his place at right back to loan signing Ben Starosta, who replaced Williams at half-time in a game against Wrexham in January 2008. Williams missed seven games until he won his place back against Stockport County when Starosta fell ill. On 29 April 2008, Williams was deemed to be surplus to requirements at Valley Parade and was released by manager Stuart McCall along with 13 other Bradford players.

Dundee
Williams joined Scottish Football League First Division side Dundee, where his former Sunderland teammate Alex Rae was manager, on trial in July 2008 and played for them in their opening game of the 2008–09 season as they defeated Ross County 2–1. Following another one-goal victory, Williams signed a one-year contract with Dundee. At the end of the 2008–09 season he was told he was free to look for another club by manager Jocky Scott.

Gateshead
Williams was to join Conference National team Gateshead on 28 August 2009, but the deal was called off as he still had hopes of a return to the professional ranks and would have been unable to do so until January, even if joining Gateshead on a non-contract basis. He subsequently signed for the Conference National outfit on 26 September 2009. Williams made his debut the same day in the 1–0 home defeat against Oxford United. Williams was released by Gateshead on 16 February 2010.

Gainsborough Trinity
Williams joined Conference North team Gainsborough Trinity on a contract until the end of the 2009–10 season on 12 March. Williams was released in the summer of 2010, only to be re-signed in September. He eventually departed the club for a second time in May 2011.

Whitby Town
Williams joined Whitby Town in August 2011. He made his first appearance for the club on 13 August which the club drew 1–1 with Chasetown On 26 October 2011 he succeeded Tommy Cassidy and became player manager of Whitby Town. Williams secured a creditable 12th spot for Whitby in 2013, followed by 9th a year later- Town's best finish for eight seasons. The Blues ended 2014–15 in 13th, but after a poor record of 3 wins in 21 league games, Williams was sacked on Monday 23 November 2015. In 2019 he was interviewed for the Thornaby FC job, but missed out to former Bolton youth team legend Craig Haley.

International career
Williams represented England at under-21 and B level.

Style of play
He is a utility defender who can also play defensive midfield.

Club
Hartlepool United
 * Football League Two runners-up: 2006–07

title: Darren Williams


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Split order of a sentence

 This page is an archive of the discussion about the proposed deletion of the article below. This page is no longer live. Further comments should be made on the article's talk page rather than here so that this page is preserved as an historic record. The result of the debate was MERGE to word order.

The votes were 2 delete, 2 merge, 1 redirect. dbenbenn | talk 21:09, 14 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Split order of a sentence
The entire text of this article is: This divides the predicate into two parts with the subject coming in the middle: e.g. In California oranges grow. There are no inbound or outbound links, and it reads more like a dictionary defnition than an encyclopedia article. I don't see how it could be expanded, and the content would fit better in one of Sentence (linguistics), grammar, English grammar or an expanded piece of the linguistic use of Predicate. Thryduulf 14:15, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * After the discussion below, I feel Word order is a better location than my initial suggestions above. Thryduulf 16:44, 6 Feb 2005 (UTC)

 * Indeed this article should be deleted. Josh Cherry 15:39, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * We already have plenty on this topic. There's nothing to merge.  Redirect to Object Subject Verb. Uncle G 16:00, 2005 Feb 5 (UTC)
 * Linguistically this is not the same as OSV word order as objects are not the only post-verbal elements that can be moved to the front of the sentence (the example in the existing stub for instance, which fronts a prepositional phrase). It is merely a linguistic device used in English and some other languages to put emphasis on that part of the sentence (e.g. "I can't see Jill." "And what about Bill?" "Bill I can see".) However in all my experience studying linguistics I've never heard it called "split order of a sentence" and indeed, Google only shows two unique sentences on the Net using the phrase. There's not too much to say about it so I vote to merge with English grammar. — Ливай | ☺ 18:10, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Vote changed: merge with word order. — Ливай | ☺ 16:04, 6 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Linguistically this is not the same as OSV word order — Take that up with the writers of English grammar, then, not me. For it is they who rely upon Object Subject Verb for detailed information on English word ordering. Uncle G 18:46, 2005 Feb 5 (UTC)
 * I don't see what you think is there that favours a Merge over a Redirect. I don't see anything.  But that's just an incidental.  More importantly, I think that Object Subject Verb is the better target of the redirect than English grammar.  The latter is simply both too general and too specific.  It's too general, in that the reader then has to follow further links to find information on sentence ordering since English grammar has nothing specific (and, ironically, ends up at Object Subject Verb anyway, passing through Subject Verb Object along the way).  It's too specific, in that it describes English grammar, when "split order of a sentence" doesn't necessarily imply English at all.  Uncle G 18:46, 2005 Feb 5 (UTC)
 * The Google search indicates to me that this is terminology from someone's textbook, by the way. Depending from the popularity of the textbook, people may or may not be calling it that. Uncle G 18:46, 2005 Feb 5 (UTC)
 * If it was a particularly popular textbook and the term was widely used because of that I'm sure there would be more than two sentences on the Internet using it. Linguists usually just call the phenomenon of moving something to the beginning of a sentence "fronting" and use more specific terms like "object fronting" only when further specification is needed. And I'm still not convinced that Object Subject Verb is the right place for this, since this kind of fronting can occur even in sentences with clear Subject Verb Object word order, for example "To John I threw a ball." Where "I" is the subject, "threw" is the verb, "a ball" is the object and "to John" has been fronted in the same way as the original example. — Ливай | ☺ 19:54, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * If it was a particularly popular textbook... — I made no assertions one way or the other as to its popularity. Uncle G 22:56, 2005 Feb 5 (UTC)
 * Linguists usually just call the phenomenon..."fronting" — So why isn't your vote "Redirect to fronting" ? ☺ Uncle G 22:56, 2005 Feb 5 (UTC)
 * I'm still not convinced that Object Subject Verb is the right place for this — It's better than English grammar, though. If one starts at any of the alternatives suggested, and attempts to find articles that specifically address sentence ordering, and specifically this particular sentence ordering, that's where one eventually ends up.  (And, indeed, there is where one finds the text that talks about the implication of non-normal word ordering in English.)  English grammar isn't even the next best candidate.  That would be Word order. Uncle G 22:56, 2005 Feb 5 (UTC)
 * Yes, you are right. Word order is a better place for this. Vote changed. I don't feel creating a fronting article should be done until more information can be gathered on it; for now it would be better to place what little information we have in the context of another article. Of course, the same phenomenon could be mentioned on Object Subject Verb but it shouldn't be the main place for information on focus fronting. — Ливай | ☺ 16:04, 6 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * I'm happy to settle on Word order. Object Subject Verb is where the information currently is, but I think that we both agree that it's not where it belongs.   Uncle G 03:33, 2005 Feb 8 (UTC)
 * I've also reworded the article so not as to be a copyvio from one of those two sentences. — Ливай | ☺ 18:14, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete, not a helpful classification, duplicate content. Wyss 21:22, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Merge' anything useable to Word order, no redirect. Megan1967 08:59, 8 Feb 2005 (UTC)

This page is now preserved as an archive of the debate and, like some other VfD subpages, is no longer 'live'. Subsequent comments on the issue, the deletion, or the decision-making process should be placed on the relevant 'live' pages. Please do not edit this page.


text:
HMS Camperdown (1885)

HMS Camperdown was an Admiral-class battleship of the Royal Navy, named after Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan of Camperdown.

Design

She was a full sister to HMS Anson (1886), and was an improved version of the earlier HMS Howe (1885) and HMS Rodney (1884). In comparison to these earlier ships, she had an increased thickness of barbette armour, and a lengthened armour belt. The extra armour carried increased the displacement by 350 LT; in order not to increase the draught, she was lengthened by 5 ft and was given 6 in more beam.

The 13.5 in guns were carried in two pairs, in barbettes positioned on the centre-line at either end of the superstructure. They were carried at a height of 20 ft above the full-load water-line, and possessed firing arcs of some 270°. Each shell weighed 1250 lb, and would penetrate 27 in of iron at a range of 1000 yd.

History
Camperdown was commissioned at Portsmouth on 18 July 1889, and initially went into reserve. In December 1889 she was posted to the Mediterranean Fleet as flagship, where she remained until being posted as flagship of the Channel Fleet in May 1890. She was paid off in May 1892 into Fleet reserve, recommissioning in July 1892 into the Mediterranean Fleet. On 22 June 1893, she collided with and sank the battleship HMS Victoria (1887) with 358 deaths, including Vice-Admiral Sir George Tryon.

In 1897, Camperdown arrived off Crete to join the International Squadron, a multinational force made up of ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, French Navy, Imperial German Navy, Italian Royal Navy (Regia Marina), Imperial Russian Navy, and Royal Navy that intervened in the 1897–1898 insurrection of Cretan Christians against the Ottoman Empire. On 26 and 27 March 1897, she fired her guns in anger for the first time – including four 1250 lb rounds from her 13.5 in guns – bombarding Christian insurgents besieging the Ottoman-held Izzeddin Fortress near the entrance to Suda Bay. Firing at a range of 5,000 yd, she forced the insurgents to abandon their siege. On 21 April 1897, she anchored off Canea (now Chania) – where Ottoman troops, Cretan Turk civilians, and a force of British and Italian soldiers were besieged by an estimated 60,000 insurgents – to deter insurgents who had begun a demonstration with two artillery pieces that threatened the town. In response to a violent riot by Cretan Turks at Candia (now Heraklion) the previous day, she arrived at Candia on 7 September 1898 to reinforce the occupation forces there and put a contingent of Royal Marines ashore. After the local Ottoman governor refused to meet various British demands during a meeting aboard the British flagship, the battleship HMS Revenge (1892), in Candia′s harbor on 13 September, Camperdown and Revenge conducted a demonstration that overcame his reluctance.

In September 1899, Camperdown went into Category B reserve, and in May 1900 into Dockyard reserve. In July 1900 she commissioned as a coast guard ship at Lough Swilly until May 1903. During early Summer (April to June) 1902 she visited Portsmouth for repairs to her steam capstan. She took part in the fleet review held at Spithead on 16 August 1902 for the coronation of King Edward VII. Captain Frederic Edward Errington Brock was temporarily in command for a month from 24 September until 7 November 1902, when Captain Frederick Owen Pike took command. After paying off in 1903, she was in reserve at Chatham until 1908, and was employed at Harwich as a berthing ship for submarines until she was sold in 1911.

title: HMS Camperdown (1885)


text:
Garley Building fire

The Garley Building fire took place on 20 November 1996 in the 16-storey Garley commercial building located at 232–240 Nathan Road, Jordan, Hong Kong. The fire caused 41 deaths and 81 injuries. It is considered the worst building fire in Hong Kong during peacetime. The fire damaged the bottom two floors and the top three floors of the building, while the middle floors remained relatively intact.

History
The building was built in 1975 before the government introduced laws requiring all commercial buildings to install sprinkler systems. The land lot was bought by Kai Yee Investment Company Ltd in 1970 at a cost of HK$1.56 million (US$200,000). A subsidiary of China Resources, Chinese Arts & Crafts, acquired half the building –from the basement to the ninth floor –for HK$35.5 million in 1989.

Tenants

 * China Arts & Crafts – 2/F
 * Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers – 6/F
 * PolyGram (Hong Kong) – 10/F (Recording Studio), 12-14/F (Information Store)
 * Chow Sang Sang Jewellery Co. Ltd. – 14/F (IT Dept.), 15/F (Accounting Dept., IT Dept.)

Fire
Welding was revealed to be the source of the fire. At the time of the fire, the Garley Building was undergoing internal renovation, during which new elevators were to be installed. One had been completely refurbished, with another almost completed; the other two elevator shafts in the building had their respective elevators removed, and had bamboo scaffolding installed within their shafts. The fire-resistant outer elevator doors were also removed to allow light into the elevator shaft for the welders.

The welding activity routinely triggered alarms from the building's smoke detectors, so much so that staff at the China Arts & Crafts store that occupied the bottom three floors had wrapped plastic around the fire alarms to muffle the sound.

Furthermore, workers were found to have cut metal with a welder, contrary to building codes. Thus, when a stray piece of hot metal fell from the thirteenth floor, sparking a fire in the second floor lift lobby, no one paid much attention, believing that it was part of the normal welding activity. A welder discovered the fire, and alerted the fire department. A second emergency call was made one minute later, when a dental assistant on the 13th floor discovered dense smoke in the hallway.

When firefighters first arrived at the scene 10 minutes after the lower fire had started, the fire was rated at one-alarm. It was almost immediately raised to three-alarm at 4:59 p.m. when heavy smoke impeded the firefighters' progress up to the higher floors. By the time reinforcements arrived, it was upgraded to four-alarm at 5:17 p.m. because the 15th floor was on fire, and was upgraded again to five-alarm—the highest level in Hong Kong, at 7:15 p.m. on that day.

The fire consumed the bamboo scaffolding and the open elevator shaft provided a source of fresh air, creating a chimney effect that eventually rose to the 13th floor, starting another fire there. The fire was temporarily relegated to the elevator shaft but the smoke and heat from the fire hitting the roof all accumulated on the upper levels of the building concentrating at the top floors. Some fire safety procedures were violated, such as the firedoors being left open allowing thick smoke to fill the hallways of the top floors, especially the 15th floor (Chow Sang Sang's unit).

In the case of Chow Sang Sang's 15th floor unit, many of the fire resistant office entrance doors were replaced with glass doors which can easily shatter from extreme heat. With employees caught off guard as they got engulfed in thick smoke, many of them panicked. Desperate for air, many in the accounting room (which was a big open area in the middle of the floor) rushed to open the windows. The rush of oxygen from the opening of the windows resulted in a backdraft causing the fire to rush through the halls smashing through the glass entrance doors and engulfing the entire floor in flames along with any employees who were still inside.

Charred human remains were found on the 13th and 14th floors. A workshop run by Chow Sang Sang Jewellery that occupied two rooms on the 15th floor had 22 bodies.

DNA testing became imperative for victim identification. Some of the bodies were so severely burnt, that they melted into the floor and walls leaving only a silhouette shape of the victim in the exact position upon their death only identifiable by the items in their possession before their death, such as jewelry they were wearing or objects they were holding (e.g.: a mobile phone).

Rescue effort
Over 200 firemen and 40 engines were deployed. Because the fire has engulfed the top floors and the bottom floors, anyone in the building who either didn't have immediate access to the ground floor exit or the roof, or were immediately engulfed in the initial flames were trapped in the middle floors of the building relying on firefighters rescuing them from the windows via the ladders from the firetrucks. To add to the problem, the firetruck ladders at the time only reach up to the 8th floor and were not able to rescue the people on the upper floors. As a result of the limited number of firetrucks as well as the limited range on the height of the ladders on the trucks, many of the people trapped were engulfed by the flames waving for help by the windows. One of these people were caught on film being engulfed by the fire while calling for help from one of the windows of on 14th floor and the footage was broadcast live on the news. A UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter was also deployed to rescue people trapped on the roof, but quickly left after rescuing four people as it was feared that the rotating helicopter blades were making the fire worse. The role of the helicopter was later studied.

With the elevators unusable and the staircases impassable due to the smoke, firefighters had difficulty reaching the upper levels of the building, relying on four rescue ladders to rescue occupants who had opened the windows for fresh air. The flame was finally put out after 20 hours. In total 41 people had died; among the deaths was a firefighter who as a result of poor visibility from the thick smoke plunged to his death falling from the 5th floor when he mistakenly stepped into an open elevator shaft. Another person died several months later, never recovering from a coma resulting from the fire. Another 80 people were injured, including 14 firemen.

Aftermath
Hong Kong Governor Chris Patten urged legislators to speed up the passage of a bill aimed at upgrading the fire safety standards of some 500 premises across the territory. A special police team of 229 officers was brought in for the first time in 10 years to help with identifying the bodies.

A census was completed days after the incident and found there were 60,000 private buildings in the Hong Kong territory at the time, half of which were more than 20 years old. Of these, 723 were commercial. It was reported that more than 700 office blocks built 20-plus years earlier, when safety laws were more lenient, were potential deathtraps.

Much of the blame for this incident fell on the welders and occupants, who were not properly trained in fire drills and knew little about building evacuation procedures.

Investigations concluded that cut metal cut from the welding machine fell down the elevator shaft which landed on combustible construction materials gathered on the bottom floor which caused the fire. Based on a welding machine recovered after the fire on the bottom floor, the welding machine was set to the highest setting violating safety regulations which explained how the cut metals and sparks from the welding machine retained enough heat despite falling ten stories.

As a result of the fire, building regulations were quickly revised to prevent this sort of disaster from occurring again. Since the revisions, there has not been a single year in which more than ten people have died from fires.

The Chow Sang Sang Jewellery Company, which lost 22 employees on the 15th floor, increased its relief fund to $8+ million. Each victim's family received an initial $180,000 and another sum equivalent to 17.8 months' basic salary.

As a result of the aftermath of the fire, the regulations on buildings and fire safety was amended in June 1998, requiring the installation of fire sprinkers in high rise buildings, and in April 2001, a special rescue team was formed to be able to better respond to these large scale disasters.

Cultural references
The Discovery Channel Canada series Blueprint for Disaster documented the events of the fire and subsequent investigation, labeling it the Hong Kong Inferno.

Reconstruction
The Garley Building was abandoned after the fire, but was not demolished until 2003. The reason was that part of the procedure required to start the demolition process of the building requires the approval of all the owners in the rented units of the building. At the time of the fire, there were five different units rented out however all five owners of those units perished in the fire. The legal procedure in such a situation would be that the original landlord of the building needs to wait for a certain time period before he or she can apply for a forced sale of the building.

That process ended up taking seven years, and so in 2003, the original landlord of the building, China Resources Enterprise applied for forced sale of the building and that same year, the building was demolished.

China Resources Enterprise, originally intended to construct a "Ginza-style" shopping mall at the site, but later changed plans to build a new office building. Work on the building was completed in 2007. Today, JD Mall on Nathan Road sits on top of the site of the former Garley Building.

title: Garley Building fire


text:
User talk:CaptainUrd

Could you please not create articles that are nothing more than adverts for websites please? Wikipedia is not a web directory. Many thanks. -- Francs2000 | Talk 14:16, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Delphine Hirsh
A proposed deletion template has been added to the article Delphine Hirsh, suggesting that it be deleted according to the proposed deletion process. All contributions are appreciated, but this article may not satisfy Wikipedia's criteria for inclusion, and the deletion notice should explain why (see also "What Wikipedia is not" and Wikipedia's deletion policy). You may prevent the proposed deletion by removing the  notice, but please explain why you disagree with the proposed deletion in your edit summary or on its talk page. Also, please consider improving the article to address the issues raised. Even though removing the deletion notice will prevent deletion through the proposed deletion process, the article may still be deleted if it matches any of the speedy deletion criteria or it can be sent to Articles for Deletion, where it may be deleted if consensus to delete is reached. If you agree with the deletion of the article, and you are the only person who has made substantial edits to the page, please add db-author to the top of Delphine Hirsh. Brewcrewer (talk) 03:33, 27 November 2007 (UTC)

title: User talk:CaptainUrd