There were some tremendous games at all levels of British football on Sunday. Cardiff and Swansea battled out a thrilling 2-2 draw. Luton gave the Football League a poke in the eye by winning a wonderful Johnstone Paint Trophy Final 3-2 against Scunthorpe. And finally we had the gasp-inducing 3-2 stormer at Old Trafford.

It was just a shame that fan behaviour cast such a pall over the whole day.

Like many fans I was disgusted with the throwing of the coin that injured referee Mike Dean in the Welsh derby, but I’ve been just as concerned by the reaction of key figures from both clubs.

Peter Ridsdale, Cardiff Chairman, said:

“We’ve now identified an individual who threw a coin, we believe it’s the individual whose coin hit the referee… assuming it’s the right individual he will be banned for life.”

Well, that’s good to know. But it wasn’t ‘an individual’ it was many individuals. The few seconds of footage surrounding the moment Mike Dean was hit clearly shows several items landing near the referee, while Swansea captain Garry Monk has claimed objects were being thrown throughout the match. Cardiff fans have commednably been more open than Ridsdale, speaking of witnessing a number of individuals throwing objects onto the pitch ranging from coins to lighters.

Does Ridsdale think that getting rid of this one person somehow solves the problem? Moreover, was this individual more guilty for hitting the referee than anyone else who tried but missed?

Cardiff manager Dave Jones said:

“I hope the club don’t suffer serious repurcussions as it was only one person and there were 20,000 people here… It’s ridiculous as I thought those days were long gone.”

Only one person, Dave? Really? And you thought those days were long gone? Good job the police didn’t share your view or they might not have sent those 450 officers to Ninian Park to try and minimise trouble between the fans.

What weasel words by both of these people. I would expect more of Jones in particular, but perhaps he is just trying to protect the club. If that is the case then he has been shown up by the Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust who condemned the ‘mindless idiots’ (notice the plural) and for those Cardiff fans who stood up and pointed out the offenders at the time. If only club officials were so forthright.

It is unfair that the whole club should be tainted by this, but football must not continually attempt to hide the truth. Whenever there is violence at a game we are fed the same line about how “these people are not football fans” – well, who are they then? There can be no doubt things have moved forward over the last 20 years, but problems still exist. Every club still has their trouble-makers.

In the midst of all this you might expect Swansea to act with quiet dignity, but manager Roberto Martinez, a good, honest, likable man, a successful coach and a very decent TV pundit, has waded in with some ill-advised comments of his own:

“You don’t want to see coin throwing incidents like that but looking at the overall performance of the referee maybe he was affected by it… you work all week not to get emotional performances from your players and you drop two points because of an emotional decision by a referee.”

In one sense, Martinez is right – Cardiff’s late penalty for the equaliser was probably the wrong decision – but to show such callous disregard of the referee’s health beggars belief. He had been hit in the end, no more than a few centimetres from his eye, yet made little fuss and carried on refereeing the game – on the whole very well. It seems incredible that rather than blaming the fan for his actions he suggests that the referee failed to deal with the situation adequately. I wonder what Martinez’s reaction might have been had his goalkeeper received a blow to the head. Would he have publicly blamed him for dropping a cross and for becoming too emotional?

The fallout from this will undoubtedly continue for some time, but what sort of punishment should be meted out by the Football Association? Ridsdale has a point in that it seems unfair to punish Dave Jones’ team for the actions of some of the fans. Cardiff have improved the image of the club in recent years and so a fine or a points deduction seems ill-fitting.

Perhaps the FA must leave it to the club to identify as many of these coin-throwers as possible and have them thrown out of all football grounds for good, but while Ridsdale continues to suggest it was only one person, this is not a problem that will disappear any time soon. In the meantime, football officials need to start being a little more honest when it comes to assessing the behaviour of some fans.

Another weekend gone and if you are a Swansea fan another great result which sees you to continue to inch up the Championship towards a play-offs spot. The win for the side from Wales moves them to within two points of a play-0ff spot as we get into the business end of the season. However it was not so long ago that Swansea were close to going out of the football league and going out of business full stop. So can the club once sold for a £1 better Hull City by going from League Two relegation candidates in 2003 to a Premier League side six years later.

If you had been a Swansea fan you won’t have had too much to cheer about since the Swans glory days back in the early 1980′s when the side beat the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal and even played in the Uefa Cup Winners Cup. However since then it has been a slippery slide down the football league, culminating in the 2002-03 season when survival as a football league side was not guaranteed until the final day of the season. Ironically it was a 4-2 victory over Hull on the last day at Vetch Field which kept the side in the division and saved the club as a whole.

Since then though the only way has been up for the Swans and now as one of the form sides in the Championship are they about to return to the top flight of English? Well they certainly have one of the best young managers in British football, perhaps even in Europe, at the helm with Roberto Martinez currently in charge. Martinez took over in 2007 and in his first full season in charge managed to get his side promoted as champions from League One.

Swansea have gone from strength to strength since then and have flown up the Championship table to join rivals Cardiff in the football betting as both sides  hunt for promotion. Martinez has assembled a useful little side since arriving with Jason Scotland one of the stand out performers with his goals whilst on loan Jordi Gomez has become a firm favourite with the fans this season along with the likes of Leon Britton, Darren Pratley and Mark Gower.

The Welsh club have lost just one game at the Liberty Stadium all season and are beginning to hit a good run of form at about the right time, which has been coupled with a good run in the FA Cup. Swansea will receive a good test on Saturday when they face Fulham at home in the FA Cup and it could go along way to measuring whether they could cut it in the Premier League.

It was certainly an impressive showing when they beat the cup holders Portsmouth in the last round and they would certainly love to repeat Cardiff’s achievement last year, perhaps going one better, by reaching Wembley. However I imagine that they would rather be there in the play-off final later on in May.

Swansea’s football odds have been slashed greatly since they embarked on their recent run of good form and their would certainly be a few eyebrows raised if Martinez’s side were able to achieve promotion, especially given the short period of time since their near demise. Whilst it may not be as remarkable as Hull achieving promotion to the top flight for their first time in history it would be a fairy tale in itself to see Swansea back in the top flight.

Newly promoted Swansea City couldn’t have picked a better time to ascend into the Championship.

The Welsh club was a penalty kick away from being promoted to the league in May 2006, but Barnsley walked away victors that day in Cardiff.

In hindsight, it was a blessing in disguise for Swansea. The South Wales club now features one of the best sides Swansea has ever seen, which is heavily influenced by La Liga thanks to Swansea’s Spanish manager Roberto Martinez, formerly a player with Real Zaragoza, Wigan and Swansea City.

The Spanish influence doesn’t stop there. The style of play that the team employs is a traditional Spanish variety with lots of passing ball on the floor rather than hoofing them up the field, as well as an attacking style of play that is better suited for the Premier League than the old fashioned Championship.

Swansea’s squad is far stronger today than it was in 2006. The team now features six Spanish players: Andrea Orlandi (midfielder formerly with Barcelona and Alaves), Jordi Gomez (midfielder formerly with Espanyol), Gorka Pintado (striker formerly with Spanish side Granada), Angel Rangel (defender formerly with Spanish side Terrassa), Guillem Bauza (striker formerly with Espanyol) and Albert Serran (defender formerly with Espanyol).

It’s no wonder then that Swansea chose to play several friendlies the past two weeks in Spain to prepare for the grueling Championship season. The tour included a 3-3 draw against the Barcelona B side, a 4-0 loss to Espanyol, a 1-0 win against Palamos and a 2-0 win against Peralada.

The Spanish influence at Swansea is just one element of their success thus far. The biggest question mark about the Swans is that of experience. Can a Spanish style of play overcome the lack of experience in the fourth biggest league in the world? We’ll just have to wait and see.