Disabled fans accessibility

[cdbearsfan]

It can be quite difficult to get disabled tickets at Villa Park, have tried to get some for my brother's girlfriend's granddad and you struggle to get any for league games unless you're a season ticket holder and for cup games it's possible but you have to wait around to see if the ST holders decide not to take up their spot.

Realistically, disabled people are often very ill or very old, and as such are less likely to want to part with hundreds of pounds for a season ticket just in case the worst happens.

We need to drastically increase the number of spots available so that disabled people have a realistic chance of buying tickets on a match-by-match basis, just as able-bodied fans can.

[flybo]

My wife has just changed careers and is now assisting disabled people.  One of her clients is a Blues fan, goes to all the away games.  She travels with him to Milwall on Tuesday night next week. 

Millwall is not good I was stuck in the ground for half hour could not get directly to my coach.
Police would not open the gates due to millwall fans.
So good luck mind you small heath will only take about 400. lol

I think she said she was going with a club coach for the disabled which apparently drops them (about 15 or so) right by the ground. 

They do the problem will be after the game. Do not think you will have any probs being a mid week game but if small heath take anymore then 15 coaches and yours was last in you will have a problem.

[Witton Warrior]

Apparently we are third from bottom of the access for wheelchairs places league - I find this quite strange as Villa have always been incredibly helpful whenever my son has attended - he has autism and a learning disability which is usually far more difficult for large organisations to appreciate.

Can't do the linky thing I'm afraid (even though there is a lovely simple guide)

[Dave Clark Five]

We must have the biggest wheelchair area in the league. It stretches all across the Trinity Road Stand.

[Witton Warrior]

We must have the biggest wheelchair area in the league. It stretches all across the Trinity Road Stand.

A reference to what? People with disabilities? Older people? My lad and I sat in the Trinity for a couple of years, don't get it DC5

[PeterWithesShin]

Our wheelchair section runs the length of the Trinity. That's what he means.

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26630281

Current guidelines on how football clubs in the United Kingdom should cater for disabled spectators have been in place since 2004 in the form of the Accessible Stadia Guide.
The document sets out a minimum standard that all new grounds have to meet in the provision, location, and quality of facilities for disabled fans.

1. Swansea 121%
2. Southampton 104%
3. Cardiff 102%
4. Arsenal 96%
5. West Brom 89%
6. Hull 89%
7. Manchester City 88%
8. Newcastle 73%
9. Sunderland 70%
10. Stoke 68%
11. West Ham 60%
12. Everton 56%
13. Norwich 49%
14. Chelsea 47%
15. Liverpool 45%
16. Manchester United 43%
17. Crystal Palace 40%
18. Aston Villa 39%
19. Tottenham 28%
20. Fulham 24%

Arsenal fan and wheelchair user Anthony Joy said guidelines on disabled facilities were not being adhered to "in any way, shape or form".....At three Premier League grounds - Upton Park, Villa Park and Anfield - a limited number of wheelchair spaces means he is forced to sit with the home fans.

[Dave Clark Five]

We must have the biggest wheelchair area in the league. It stretches all across the Trinity Road Stand.

A reference to what? People with disabilities? Older people? My lad and I sat in the Trinity for a couple of years, don't get it DC5

The disabled facilities are good at Villa Park. I think the problem is that there are not any located among the away fans. Without building a platform among the seats in Witton Lane there is not much they can do. There is no room pitchside, like they have at Goodison Park. I am surprised that we get marked down for our facilities. I am sure the view from Trinity Road is excellent, not blocked like it is at many grounds where the away disabled supporters are seated among their own fans.

[flybo]

http://www.levelplayingfield.org.uk/
Hope this will help.
I am a disabled fan and have been to all prem grounds and find that some grounds mite have all the places they need but most are poor.
out of the top four I rate only Swansea. arsenal your escorts have a poor view has they have to stand behind you. Man city is crap if the away fans stand (lol) you can not see the goal closest to you.

[kipeye]

You will forgive me but this is my area of knowledge. Villa Park, like most stadiums is way behind in provision for disabled people in general. The mere allocation of spaces does not mean good access and there is far more to it than wheelchair users who represent about 5% of disabled people, although this proportion is growing.
I have mentioned before that I tried to help the General with advice as it was clear he had only the most basic understanding of the issues and did not appreciate, what I thought were constructive and supportive suggestions. He just said-we have a specialist team who deal with all that. Believe me, I deal with so called specialists on a regular basis and they are about as savvy as your average politician.

[stargazer]

I am a wheelchair user and have been going to the Villa since 1979.  I no longer have a season ticket as I now live away from the area.  Villa has great staff when it comes to assisting disabled supporters but the problem I regularly face when I want to attend a match at Villa Park is that there aren't enough wheelchair spaces given the 42,500 capacity of the stadium.  There have been occasions when i've not been able to attend because there were no wheelchair spaces available, despite attendances being around the 34,000 for the these games I missed.

This is what this survey is highlighting, there should be nearly 3 times more wheelchair spaces given Villa's 42,500 capacity.  It is a bug-bear of mine that I've raised many times over with Villa but to no avail.

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

I am a wheelchair user and have been going to the Villa since 1979.  I no longer have a season ticket as I now live away from the area.  Villa has great staff when it comes to assisting disabled supporters but the problem I regularly face when I want to attend a match at Villa Park is that there aren't enough wheelchair spaces given the 42,500 capacity of the stadium.  There have been occasions when i've not been able to attend because there were no wheelchair spaces available, despite attendances being around the 34,000 for the these games I missed.

This is what this survey is highlighting, there should be nearly 3 times more wheelchair spaces given Villa's 42,500 capacity.  It is a bug-bear of mine that I've raised many times over with Villa but to no avail.

The Club should tear out the back row of seats of the lower Witton Lane stand (aka Doug Ellis lower) and provide level access at either end in exactly the same way as exists presently only on the Trinity side. This will double the total number of disabled spaces, and provide a dedicated area for away fans. I would guess it would reduce capacity by about 500 ( how many full houses do we get these days ?) and  probably cost the equivalent of 4 weeks wages of one of our top earners. Any objections ? I can't think of any so if we are all united in this then over to you Mr. Faulkner.   

[dave.woodhall]

I am a wheelchair user and have been going to the Villa since 1979.  I no longer have a season ticket as I now live away from the area.  Villa has great staff when it comes to assisting disabled supporters but the problem I regularly face when I want to attend a match at Villa Park is that there aren't enough wheelchair spaces given the 42,500 capacity of the stadium.  There have been occasions when i've not been able to attend because there were no wheelchair spaces available, despite attendances being around the 34,000 for the these games I missed.

This is what this survey is highlighting, there should be nearly 3 times more wheelchair spaces given Villa's 42,500 capacity.  It is a bug-bear of mine that I've raised many times over with Villa but to no avail.

The Club should tear out the back row of seats of the lower Witton Lane stand (aka Doug Ellis lower) and provide level access at either end in exactly the same way as exists presently only on the Trinity side. This will double the total number of disabled spaces, and provide a dedicated area for away fans. I would guess it would reduce capacity by about 500 ( how many full houses do we get these days ?) and  probably cost the equivalent of 4 weeks wages of one of our top earners. Any objections ? I can't think of any so if we are all united in this then over to you Mr. Faulkner.   

As amfy said on page one, they can't put disabled access seats in Witton Lane due to the climb from street level.

[PeterWithesShin]

It would take more than just one row being taken out. It's pretty impractical to try and turn seats into an area for wheelchairs.

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

I am a wheelchair user and have been going to the Villa since 1979.  I no longer have a season ticket as I now live away from the area.  Villa has great staff when it comes to assisting disabled supporters but the problem I regularly face when I want to attend a match at Villa Park is that there aren't enough wheelchair spaces given the 42,500 capacity of the stadium.  There have been occasions when i've not been able to attend because there were no wheelchair spaces available, despite attendances being around the 34,000 for the these games I missed.

This is what this survey is highlighting, there should be nearly 3 times more wheelchair spaces given Villa's 42,500 capacity.  It is a bug-bear of mine that I've raised many times over with Villa but to no avail.

The Club should tear out the back row of seats of the lower Witton Lane stand (aka Doug Ellis lower) and provide level access at either end in exactly the same way as exists presently only on the Trinity side. This will double the total number of disabled spaces, and provide a dedicated area for away fans. I would guess it would reduce capacity by about 500 ( how many full houses do we get these days ?) and  probably cost the equivalent of 4 weeks wages of one of our top earners. Any objections ? I can't think of any so if we are all united in this then over to you Mr. Faulkner.   

As amfy said on page one, they can't put disabled access seats in Witton Lane due to the climb from street level.

Fair point, I failed to read page one. After 48 years of going I should have noticed our stadium is in effect built on a slope. Is there no other solution other than waiting for North Stand redevelopment ? Because with the current malaise that is unlikely to be for a few years yet.