Stadium ban prompts comic strip

A newspaper has printed a Roy Of The Rovers-style comic strip instead of live action photographs after being banned from a football stadium.

The Northern Echo's pages feature the illustrated version of Hartlepool United's giant-killing Carling Cup victory over West Bromwich Albion.

The Darlington-based paper, together with the Hartlepool Mail, has been banned from Victoria Park.



The club is in dispute with the newspapers over commercial rights.

The Mail's photographers are not allowed into the stadium, and reporters, who are denied press access, have been buying tickets and reporting from the terraces.

The Northern Echo was banned for supplying the Mail with pictures of recent matches and refusing to give a commitment not to do so in the future.

You can see the full comic strip here.