'Want to see City? Then come flying with me'.Byline: By Katie Bodinger South Wales Echo The South Wales Echo is a daily newspaper distributed in south Wales. It was founded in 1884 and is based in Thomson House, Cardiff city centre. It is published daily, in a tabloid form, by Media Wales Ltd (formerly Western Mail & Echo Ltd), part of the Trinity Mirror group. A group of lateral-thinking Cardiff City fans are hoping to overcome the Wolverhampton Wanderers match ban by hiring an airship airship, an aircraft that consists of a cigar-shaped gas bag, or envelope, filled with a lighter-than-air gas to provide lift, a propulsion system, a steering mechanism, and a gondola accommodating passengers, crew, and cargo. . Steve Day and his fellow City supporters are taking to the skies in a non-rigid airship, or blimp blimp: see airship. , so they can have a bird's eye view of the game. Wolves have blocked Bluebirds supporters from the January 20 Championship clash after violence flared on the previous two occasions the sides met at Molineux. But Mr Day said they were determined not to miss their team playing. He and a friend are paying to hire the aircraft and will be taking 28 other friends with them. Mr Day was not willing to say exactly how much he had paid for the trip, but confirmed it had run into the thousands. 'A few of us came up with the idea and we got the wheels in motion,' said the self-employed 40-year-old from Cowbridge. 'There are about 28 of us going so far and we can take up to 30 on board. 'We have checked West Midlands Police's regulations and what restrictions they're enforcing. 'There's nothing in there which says we can't fly above the ground in an airship. 'We're just going for the panoramic views.' The group of dedicated fans are taking off from Cannock and flying to Wolverhampton in time for the game. 'We are willing to go to any lengths to see the team play,' said Steve. 'I think the restrictions are ridiculous - to stop decent, honest people from going there. 'They have set the laws out and we have found a way round them. 'We want to watch football. If we have to watch it from a thousand feet then so be it.' He added: 'It should be a good day. We get to see the football and get a trip in an airship too.' A spokesman for West Midlands Police West Midlands Police is the Home Office police force responsible for policing the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second largest in the United Kingdom after London's Metropolitan Police [1]. It covers an area with nearly 2. said they had no knowledge of the plan to fly the airship on the day of the match. He said the decision to ban City fans had been made by the Football League and not by them. But he added: 'In terms of feasibility to hire such a craft, it really rests with the Civil Aviation Authority Civil Aviation Authority civil (Brit) n → Behörde f für Zivilluftfahrt .' |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion