Toy pigs stop play!

London - Fans of struggling English third-tier clubs Coventry City and Charlton Athletic caused an extraordinary hold up in their league match on Friday when they threw toy pigs onto the pitch.

Both sets of supporters were protesting against the owners of their respective League One clubs, whom they believe have financially mismanaged their teams.

'Greedy pig' is an English expression that can be applied to someone who wants to have more of something such as food or money than is necessary or fair.

Moments before kick-off at Coventry's Ricoh Arena in the English Midlands, hundreds of toy pigs were thrown onto the pitch.

This delayed the kick-off by several minutes and, shortly after they had been cleared and play resumed, more pigs were thrown onto a corner of the pitch.

Match referee Darren Handley again halted play and ushered the players off down the tunnel and back into their dressing rooms before the fixture finally started properly, some 13 minutes late.