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A 'disgusted' Cardiff City supporter had his seven-year anniversary present ruined when he was ejected from West Bromwich Albion's ground for wearing a Bluebirds shirt.

The fan, named Martin, said he felt like he was 'treated like a criminal' when three police officers and four stewards escorted him and his wife out of The Hawthorns within five minutes of the game between Cardiff and West Brom starting.

The Bluebirds fan lives in Bridgend with his wife, who was born and raised in West Brom and is a Baggies supporter, and the pair thought last Saturday's fixture represented a perfect opportunity to celebrate their seven years of marriage.

It started off a normal, in fact a rather enjoyable, day. The couple parked their car a few train stations away from The Hawthorns and soaked up the atmosphere ahead of the match.

Martin and his wife, both 36, enjoyed some good-natured ribbing with a section of home fans, with one dad even asking if he was the next 'Gareth Bale in the making'.

And it was that sort of afternoon they had looked forward to, but Martin quickly realised something was untoward once the referee's whistle had blown.

One steward wandered over to their seats, then another and then a third.

Martin recalls the conversation he had with the last marshal to sit next to him: "'Is that a Cardiff City shirt,' he said. So I said, 'Yes, I'm born down that way, it's nice to be able to wear it with my wife here too.'

"So he checked it again and said, 'Right then, we are ejecting you from the stadium.'

"I said, 'Sorry, say that again?'

"He said, 'Your Cardiff City shirt, we're kicking you out of the ground, you're banned.'"

Martin said he offered to change his shirt, wear his coat over the top and was even willing to be relocated to a different section of the ground - they were in the family stand - but club officials said his face would still be recognised.

"I looked up and there were three police at the end of the aisle and four marshals huddled round me when I stood up to escort me," he adds.

"And it wasn't just escorting me to the edge of the stand, but right out of the ground, out of the gate.

"They surrounded me with my wife following behind wondering what I had done. We weren't raising our voices, we were just in shock."

The Bluebirds supporter was quick to insist he isn't the usual type to kick up a fuss at these events. "I'm not a hooligan by any means," he says, "I'm tepid at best!"

But it's easy to see the pair were certainly shook up by the whole ordeal and, moreover, Martin feels disappointed by the way the whole situation was handled.

In fact, he says he was appalled by the treatment.

"It was a really good day up until that point, until a guy twice the size of me turned up in an orange jacket told me to leave," he adds.

"I was thinking I'd seen this on Crimewatch or something, like I'd done something really nasty. I thought it was absolutely unbelievable.

"To be treated like a criminal was absolutely disgusting."

(Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency)

Martin has voiced his complaints to West Brom, who say that his choice to wear a Cardiff City shirt while sitting in the home areas was 'not ideal' and had 'the potential to be inflammatory'.

It adds that the actions of the stewards were 'completely appropriate in the circumstances' and states Martin will not be remunerated for his match ticket or travel costs.

He is pushing ahead in hope of obtaining a refund, having seen less than five minutes of the Bluebirds' 4-2 defeat by West Brom in a six-goal thriller.

But the humiliation, as Martin puts it, lingered long into the night and ultimately ruined the weekend.

"My wife felt sick in her stomach," he adds. "She couldn't sit down. We went to eat a Chinese takeaway and she couldn't eat it.

"It spoilt the weekend at the in-laws.

"We sat there feeling the anger of it all, conned out of £40, and to be treated like criminals and pushed away, I felt used."

(Image: Cardiff City FC/Getty Images)

In a statement to WalesOnline, West Brom said: "We are aware of a number of ejections from home areas of Cardiff City supporters who were wearing Cardiff football kits.

"Ground regulations say the ticket purchases are for home fans only in home areas.

"Saturday was a fixture which posed its own particular challenges, it was a full house and visibility of away supporters in home areas of the ground is something we had to take action about."

When asked specifically about the situation regarding Martin, West Brom declined to comment.