Anti-ban rally wins fans' support

Fans from a number of football clubs took part in the anti-ban rally

Cardiff City football fans have held a protest in Wolverhampton at a ban on them attending the team's away match.

Around 100 Bluebirds supporters met fans of other clubs for a rally on the steps of the city's civic centre.

Wolves decided on the ban after crowd trouble at previous games between the clubs. Fans fear it sets a precedent on banning away supporters at all matches.

An airship a group of 13 Cardiff fans had planned to hire to see the match was grounded by the weather.

Cardiff City supporters' said fans and representatives of clubs including Aston Villa, Portsmouth, West Ham, Grimsby Town, Stoke City, Arsenal and Manchester United attended the rally in Wolverhampton's St Peter's Square.

The fear is that the bigger clubs could now apply for away fans to be banned - they wouldn't have to pay police costs and they could fill the ground with their own fans. Cardiff supporter Paul Corkrey

The protest, which lasted about an hour, was met by dozens of police at a pre-arranged point and was orderly throughout.

West Midlands Police praised the fans' organisation and conduct and described the rally as "very positive".

'True faces'

Paul Corkrey, of Cardiff City supporters' group Valley Rams, said Wolves fans also attended, to share their concerns about the precedent of the ban on Bluebirds' fans.

He said: "We've got no gripe with Wolverhampton Wanderers fans. This ban could happen to them next.

"The fear is that the bigger clubs could now apply for away fans to be banned. They wouldn't have to pay police costs and they could fill the ground with their own fans."

Police said around 160 fans took part in the protest rally in the city

The protest had been designated a "Fans United" event by organisers, and was backed by the Football Supporters Federation(FSF), which represents over 140,000 fans in Wales and England.

West Midlands Police Chief Supt Richard Green, commander at Wolverhampton's Bilston Street police station, said the rally was "in complete contrast with the last two occasions when Cardiff fans visited".

He said: "It showed the true faces of football fans. We can take a great number of positives between ourselves and the organisers."

Take off

Chief Supt Green said he would be writing to the Bluebirds' rally organisers to invite them to talks about future visits to the Molineux ground.

He said: "Whether Cardiff fans come back to Wolverhampton is very much in their hands. If they misbehave, then inevitably there will be some difficulties."

Wolves had indicated that the decision to ban the Bluebirds fans was taken "owing to problems with visiting supporters over the past two seasons".

Charges of failing to control fans were made against Cardiff City but were later dismissed by the Football Association of Wales.

Cardiff City said in light of this, the decision to ban fans was "even more disappointing".

Last week, 13 Cardiff City fans said they had hired an airship to fly over the Molineux stadium during the match allowing them to see the game.

But when weather conditions were assessed on Saturday morning, it was decided that the airship would be unable to take off.