As a passionate Wire supporter, I was bitterly disappointed at the defeat at the hands of Bradford.

This disappointment, however, paled into insignificance compared with my disgust at the behaviour of some Wolves fans' and the subsequent inaction of the stewards employed by the club.

First of all, a fight broke out between fellow Wolves supporters early in the second half and it took for what seemed like an eternity for the stewards to respond. Furthermore, those involved in the incident were allowed to remain in the ground.

Secondly, and I would consider much more cause for concern, was the response of some elements of the South stand following a perceived mistake by the touch judge. The official may well have made an error of judgement, but he, like us all, is only human. The verbal abuse and the bottles hurled at the gentleman was a disgrace and intolerable at any sporting event.

The club themselves must bear some of the responsibility, as the stewards present stood by and allowed this prolonged abuse to take place only feet away from the touch judge. He must have feared for his safety. Had this been a Premiership football match the brainless spectators guilty of such behaviour would have been identified, ejected from the ground and banned from attending again. I sincerely hope, for the sake of our great game and the name of Warrington Wolves, that similar action is taken on this occasion.

As a school teacher, heavily involved in sport, I try to instil the importance of respect in my pupils, and this respect should be extended to those officiating in any sporting fixture.

When you consider the hundreds of young children who witnessed the appalling behaviour of their elders on Sunday, you would have to conclude that our duty as teachers to develop balanced, fair-minded and, yes, competitive youngsters, may not be an easy one.

I must congratulate the club captain, Lee Briers, a great player and a great role model to all young followers of the game, who ran over to a corner of the ground and pleaded with spectators to calm down and cease the bottle-throwing.

I sincerely hope this whole affair was a one-off, particularly as I intend taking my four-year-old son to the Halliwell Jones for the first time very soon. I am sure all genuine Wolves fans will get behind their team come win, lose or draw, take the rough with the smooth, and do their bit to stamp out this unacceptable behaviour.

Good luck to Lee Briers, Paul Cullen and all the players for what, I am sure, will be our most successful season for many years.

STUART