Fans' anger after being silenced during match at Walsall's Banks's Stadium

Shocked supporters who had gone to watch the English School's Association cup final at the stadium were told to be quiet by a tannoy announcement.

Many of the 1,000-strong crowd were using horns, singing and cheering on the under-13 teams. Some had travelled more than 100 miles to see pupils from Clitheroe Royal Grammar School from Lancashire take on students from Suffolk's Great Cornard Middle School.

But just 15 minutes into the game an announcer on the tannoy said: "Can the crowd please refrain from making too much noise."

They were told that guests in the stadium's function room had complained about the volume. For the rest of the ground the supporters sat in near silence, unable to cheer on the youngsters.

Steve Hanson, 57, who founded the Independent Saddlers Club which now has more than 600 members, said: "Those having a corporate lunch at a football stadium should expect there to be noise. I should think this game had been in the diary for a long time, so the crowd and the noise should have been expected."

Walsall FC secretary Daniel Mole said: "Instruments like these horns are not permitted at games, regardless of whether it's a first team fixture or a schools match.

"We do our best to ensure that everyone has a successful event here, whether it is football-related or a private party or conference."