Last night's fourth session of the club's Fans' Parliament was attended by Chief Superintendent Richard Green of West Midlands Police, following a request at the previous meeting for the club and Police to discuss overall crowd safety, fixture planning and policing issues.

Chief Superintendent Richard Green described the city centre violence after the FA Cup tie against Albion in January as some of the worst he had witnessed since 1981, and said: "I wouldn't be able to provide the manpower to police two seated areas of away fans. It doesn't happen anywhere else. The issue of housing away fans in one location is the only solution."

The move to hand the Jack Harris Stand over to Albion fans two months ago proved highly unpopular, with the club blaming themselves for the manner of the announcement but not for a decision they insist was out of their hands.

Bob Adams described another visit by Albion as a potential powder-keg situation and Oscar Harris asked what would happen if Wolves reached the play-offs and faced the Baggies in the semi-final. Club secretary Richard Skirrow replied: "The away clubs are entitled to 15 per cent of the tickets, so it's the same problem as the Cup. It's likely they'd have the Jack Harris Stand.

"We have already had some discussions and the council are more concerned as well with rival fans being in that stand. More Wolves fans stood up at the Manchester United game last season and the council didn't like that."

Chief Supt Green added: "The Man United tie proved difficult to police. I don't make the 15 per cent rule, and the police presence and possibly the stewarding would have to increase if it were a double section. I don't think the club would be happy about that."

Wolves agreed to closely check the regulations, though, after Phil Kay said he understood that away fans were entitled to 'up to 15 per cent' if their area of the stadium was fully segregated. "Is there a way out?" he asked. Richard Skirrow replied: "It's 15 per cent, unless there are very good reasons. We obviously didn't want to displace our fans but there is a way for it to work - and it did work at the Albion tie."

Action: Wolves to review exact wording on Football Association and Football League requirements for the allocation of tickets to away fans.

Barry Baker said many fans thought the club had given in too easily on the subject and asked if away clubs could be given only 12 per cent of tickets (with their supporters in the lower tier of the Steve Bull Stand) and make only 12 per cent of their ground available to visiting Wolves fans by reciprocal arrangement. He was told it was a possibility. A vote proposed by Roger Fellows revealed an almost unanimous vote in favour of a reduced allocation for the away club in both legs if Wolves reached the play-offs.

Dev Purewal asked what the policy would be if Wolves faced Cardiff in the play-offs, the Welsh club's fans having been banned from Molineux in January. Chief Supt Green said: "There were also incidents when Cardiff went to Derby last weekend. The safety advisory group took the view it would be difficult to entertain them here given previous events. The League agreed. You have to make what you think is the right decision and I wholeheartedly support that one. The group would have to think what's happened to Cardiff fans since….I can't pre-judge the decision but it would be thoroughly discussed."

To a question by Chris Cox about the Wolves v Cardiff league game kicking off at 1pm and pubs staying closed until 4pm, the officer said there was intelligence that some away fans might still arrive. "There was large potential for disorder that didn't materialise," he said.

Jim Heath praised the work in the past of an intelligence officer who helped isolate hooligans - and said the approach now seemed heavy-handed. "We could have lost 50 officers to injury if they hadn't been properly protected," the commander added. "Regrettably, there's a need to exercise force sometimes and innocent people might become involved, which is highly regrettable. This is probably the most difficult ground in the West Midlands to police because of its location and design.

"We can close licensed premises if we think there is going to be disorder. We've had some difficulties but the licensees have been excellent in supporting the combined effort. We've had successes, so there will be more of the same while I'm the commander here. If that means closing licensed premises, I'll do it."

On the issue of derby games, Jon Lockley said it was difficult using public transport on Sundays. Chief Supt Green said escorting 5,000 Albion fans away from Molineux would have been much harder with Saturday shoppers around, and Richard Skirrow insisted: "Safety and minimising the chances of anyone getting hurt have to be top of our agenda. Until we get a track record of trouble-free Sunday lunchtime games, we can't really expect things to change."

Whilst acknowledging that it would always be difficult to totally reconcile the views of fans and Police, Stuart Cain thanked the Chief Superintendent for accepting the invitation and providing open and honest responses to the questions.

Financial accounts

The second half of the Parliament session kicked off with financial controller Rita Purewal going through the club's accounts (available by clicking here) for the year up to May 31, 2006.

Despite the end of the parachute payments, chief executive Jez Moxey said in his report that the picture of a club making a seven-figure operating profit was 'compelling' for would-be investors. He predicted Wolves would break even in the current financial year.

Phil Kay praised the chief executive's work but questioned the size of his bonus. Parliament chairman and Wolves Director of Sales & Marketing Stuart Cain said it was fair reward for a 'spectacular piece of business' - the revenue from the loan and then sale of Henri Camara.

Terry Brearley said the figures were spectacularly good. "The bonus is a very small price to pay for how he has run this club for six years. I would propose a motion of confidence in Jez and the board."

Stuart Cain said early bird season ticket sales were standing at 12,810 by last night and were on course to hit around 14,200, some 2,000 up on last year.

Bob Crockett asked about a 59-year-old female fan who would soon qualify for concessionary prices at many other entertainment venues but would receive no reduction from Wolves until she was 65. Stuart said the club were working hard to lower prices for youngsters and students first and would then look at those at the other end of the scale.

Action:Wolves to consider OAP and student concession prices when planning for the 2008/09 season.

Also on the question of match-day outlay, James Fielden suggested the club might follow the lead of others and provide cheaper coach travel for selected away games, possibly even paying for fans to go to Leicester in May. Stuart Cain replied: "We did subsidise travel for our fans by coach to Albion and we'll review it."

And Oscar Harris was told by Richard Skirrow that the club encouraged supporters to vehicle-share to games, although they had not considered running coaches to home matches from towns like Telford, Stafford and Kidderminster.

Action:Wolves to consider subsidised coach travel for season ticket holders and the possibility of home game travel for next season.

Stadium and safety manager Steve Sutton addressed the session after Bob Crockett asked how confident the club were of dealing with a medical emergency. "We have safety personnel and trained stewards so you are never more than 10-15 yards from someone trained in medical aid," said Steve, who went on to explain to Kulbinder Kular why exit gates, especially in the Jack Harris Stand, were sometimes kept closed at the end of matches. "For 99 per cent of games, the operator opens them at his discretion but they are sometimes left shut but not locked for a short while because of external problems such as away fans leaving. Events have to be monitored."

Bob Adams asked why the front seats of the Steve Bull Stand Upper were blanked off at both ends but not in the middle. Steve Sutton said the problem dated back to the Reading play-off game in 2003 when missiles were thrown from there. The club now allow a smaller number into that area - fans whose identities they know - in case there are repeat problems.

Jon Lockley reported that he was still receiving complaints about Wolves World. Stuart Cain said he hadn't been aware of any for three or four games and revealed the club were still negotiating with Beacon and WM as to their partner in this facility for next season.

Robert Fuller asked about the club's stance on the controversial proposal to introduce penalty shoot-outs at the end of drawn league games. Richard Skirrow said neither Mick McCarthy nor anyone else at Molineux was in favour and many thought it would encourage negative football.Stuart Cain added that whilst the idea may not be right, the Football League's desire to be innovative and make sure that the game remained relevant should be applauded.

Robert also suggested the Man of the Match should be announced on the tannoy before the end of games.

Action:Wolves to look at whether this is possible.

Follow-on action from earlier Parliament sessions included the receipt of a £17,000 quote (following a previous one for £27,000) for anti-slip measures being considered for Molineux's concourses in the close season.

The next meeting will take place on May 8^th at the Sir Jack Hayward Training Ground.