Football stadium accessibility: Tips for disabled football fans

Football has the power to unite people from all backgrounds. However, football stadium accessibility barriers have historically made it difficult for disabled fans to fully participate.

As a result, making stadiums inclusive and accessible has become a vital aspect of a football club's management.

In this context, this post provides tips and an overview of what disabled supporters can expect when attending in the United Kingdom.

Football stadium accessibility: The lega framework

Individuals with disabilities have legal rights to access public facilities, including sports venues. Various laws and regulations establish these accessibility requirements, which encompass seating, restrooms, parking, and more.

Since 2004, football clubs have been required to make “reasonable adjustments” to their facilities to accommodate disabled fans. The legal framework in the UK mandates that policies must not discriminate against these individuals.

Additionally, there is the Accessible Stadia Guide, which outlines a set of standards that sports grounds must meet regarding the quality and location of facilities for disabled fans.

How to improve your club's football stadium accessibility

Level Playing Field, founded in 1998, recommends the following steps:

• Appoint a Disability Liaison Officer who will oversee accessibility issues and provide day-to-day guidance to disabled supporters where necessary, and for other employees who are seeking to improve accessibility in their departments.
• Ensure accessible toilets are available and clean with emergency assist alarms.
• Allow assistance and guide dogs and create space for them to accompany their owners.
• Provide audio description commentary for the blind and partially sighted.
• Reserve at least 5-10% of car parking spaces for disabled supporters and create an accessible drop-off and pick-up point.
• Create a Disabled Supporters Association to gain further insights into potential improvements.
• Introduce automatic doors.
• Install handrails.
• Install ramps instead of stairs where possible, even if temporary ramps if costs are too high.
• Create a disabled supporters' section within the home support, not separated from their fellow fans.

Tips for disabled football fans attending a match

Touring football matches or visiting these grounds on match days is often challenging for disabled fans. It explains why clubs have always had measures to make your visit as smooth as possible. Most importantly, with the right guidelines, your trip to any ground should be easy right from the planning stage. Below are some tips to consider.

• Visit the Level Playing Field website to learn about what disabled access and support is available at the stadium you're attending.
  • If you're particularly anxious about attending, you can contact Level Playing Field directly for more specific advice at [email protected] or 01923 545370.
• If driving to the game, check to see whether you need to pre-book parking at the stadium.
• Contact the Disabled Supporters Liaison officer or the relevant Disabled Supporters Association for more information and to meet with other fans.

The guide below from Level Playing Field will provide all you need to know. It's a fantastic organisation.

🏟️ Are you thinking about attending live football for the first time this weekend?

Level Playing Field have put together a guide for disabled sports fans and personal assistants, to help them plan for the best matchday experience possible.

Read➡️https://t.co/P5SJjUyIQ8 pic.twitter.com/aBT8Qkqf3t

— Level Playing Field (@lpftweets) August 3, 2023

What problems do disabled football fans find at stadiums?

A Football Supporters Association report recently stated that these are the most common barriers to disabled fans attending live sport:

1. Physical access at stadiums
2. Anxiety or lack of confidence
3. Lack of information
4. Attitudes of others
5. Unable to travel to the stadium
6. Difficulty purchasing tickets
7. Cost of attending
8. Stadium policies and rules
9. Lack of support from club staff

The general consensus among those who participated in the study was that, generally speaking, football stadiums aren't doing an adequate job of meeting accessibility requirements.

Football stadium accessibility: which ground has the best facilities?

We are proud to announce that Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has been awarded the IOC IAKS Gold Award and the IPC IAKS Distinction for Accessibility. ?

— Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (@SpursStadium) October 28, 2021

Looking at the Premier League exclusively, the vast majority of stadiums in the division are fairly accessible. They should comply with the league's rules and regulations.

A recent study evaluated the accessibility of stadiums in England's top football league, and Tottenham Hotspur was rated as having the most accessible ground. The evaluation considered factors such as ticket prices, the number of accessible entrances, lifts, toilets, and the overall percentage of accessible seating in the stadium. Tottenham received a score of 6.55 out of 10 for its accessibility features.

The top three are completed by St James' Park, for which Newcastle United scored 5.87 and Arsenal, whose Emirates Stadium was branded a score of 5.82.

However, rather interestingly, when looking at the total number of accessible seats within a ground as a percentage of the total capacity, it was Bournemouth‘s Vitality Stadium that came out on top, with their figure of 298 giving the Cherries 2.64%.