We’ve Been Chosen To Clap And Cheer

Campaigners, including former Manchester United player Danny Wallace, are trying to make it easier for DisAbled fans to watch football.

Wallace was forced to retire from football aged 32 after being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Now in his mid-40s, he’s putting his fame to good use. He campaigns for better facilities for DisAbled football fans at all professional football grounds. He says: From where I sat last time, I could see the fans in wheelchairs and noticed that they were in a poor position to appreciate the game.

Anyone who’s ever experienced live sport, or entertainment, no doubt knows that the view’s never great from a distance if you’re sitting down. But if you can’t stand up, it’s much worse. Kick It Out, football’s campaign against racism, is now expanding to fight other forms of discrimination in the game.  It will relaunch its Equality Standards programme for football today (March 26th) to include disability and gender as well as racial diversity.

Wallace is also an ambassador for the National Association of Disabled Supporters [Nads], which campaigns on such issues as access to toilets, bars and shops within grounds, as well as the reservation of covered areas with good visibility for those in wheelchairs – at both ends of the ground.

Our best evidence is that of the 92 professional clubs in England, only 37 allow us to sit with our own fans. Says Nads president Joyce Cook, a wheelchair user. She adds: The Premier League clubs are the biggest offenders. Part of the fun of going away is to be part of a vociferous minority, yet we are isolated and told not to wear our colours or celebrate if our teams score. There have been incidents at a number of clubs where disabled people have been verbally abused by overheated home fans. It’s only a matter of time before somebody is physically attacked.

About football grounds’ DisAbled seating arrangements, Cook, a Manchester United fan, says:  A ground like Old Trafford should have 283 places for wheelchair users, yet it has only 120. Chelsea, meanwhile, has stopped wheelchair applications because the club says it is oversubscribed. However, Cook says that two recently built grounds in London, Wembley and Emirates Stadium, home of Arsenal, are reasonably accessible.

Wembley chairman David Bernstein last year accepted an invitation to become president of Nads. He said at the time: Over 30,000 disabled supporters every week go to football throughout the UK, and we want to see that number grow.

So do I. DisAbled football fans may not be able to play the game, but there is no reason why they shouldn’t be allowed to watch it, in comfort and safety, and with a decent view. I prefer snooker myself, but I completely support Kick It Out and Nads in their efforts.