'Mark was one of our own' - West Brom fans and staff pay tribute to supporter as he is laid to rest

Hundreds of West Bromwich Albion supporters paid their own tribute to "one of their own" today as the funeral of much-missed supporter Mark Townsend took place.

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The 57-year-old's funeral procession made its way to Rowley Regis Crematorium at lunchtime via The Hawthorns, where it went through the Astle Gates at the famous ground, snaked around the car park and stopped for a minute's silence in front of the main entrance and the statue to famous son of Albion Tony 'Bomber' Brown. Club staff from the offices came out to pay tribute.

The vehicles stopped in front of a statue of club top scorer and legend Tony Brown

Mark, an Albion season ticket holder in the Birmingham Road End, died in hospital having been taken ill after a medical emergency on September 28 at Hillsborough where he had travelled with his nephews to see the team take on Sheffield Wednesday.

A floral tribute in the shape of a football lay next to the coffin

Floral tributes were left in his memory and they remain at The Hawthorns, whilst hundreds of people were expected at the crematorium and then the Old Cross Pub in Oldbury which was expected to be adorned in blue and white and with Albion scarves and flags.

Albion staff came out from the offices to pay tribute to Mark Townsend, whose funeral cars stopped off at The Hawthorns

Richard Sant and Ali Jones, who knew Mark and were going to the funeral, said it would be a sad day but one to celebrate his love for the club.

Richard said: "It was terrible what happened. I knew Mark through his brother, I had seen him in the pub before games and it is still very raw for many people but I just hope to give him a good send-off along with the rest of the Albion family."

Two floral tributes to Albion fan Mark Townsend whose funeral took place on Friday

Ali said Mark was "one of our own" and there was a saying about Albion fans: "'You kick one of us, we all limp' - and that is very much the case in this tragic incident because there have been so many tributes paid to him from fans and from within the club."

Ali, a lifelong supporter, has been a campaigner down the years on issues involving West Bromwich Albion and said he was working with Mark's brother Steve to try to piece together events on the fateful day. Steve said in an interview with the Express & Star: "If Mark was badly treated, I would like to see that it is rectified so nobody else has to go through the pain my family's going through."

He said: "Steve reached out to me as I used to do Action for Albion and have been well-known in the fan base down the years and I was at the game, around ten rows behind the incident. Anything I can do to help to take some of the strain off the family I will offer my services to do that but probably today is the day to remember Mark who was one of us."