Tranmere Rovers

I am a powerchair user and my husband is a white cane user. We visited Prenton Park as away fans travelling in our Club’s official away travel coach. This was I think our third visit to Tranmere and having read our last review (from 11 years ago) there has definitely been some improvements since then.

Arrival and Entry to the Ground
The official away coach dropped off at the away end. We then needed to get to the wheelchair entrance at the home end where sadly the 1 in 1 slope from the wheelchair entrance remains. My advice is wheelchair users should consider zig-zagging across it to reduce the steepness.

Seating Area
Away wheelchair users continue to be seated in a home stand as there is no flat access in the away end. Whilst I think this practice is deplorable, Tranmere have made efforts to make it as good as it can be in the circumstances but has failed in one key aspect. Not only are away wheelchair users sat with home fans but they are not sat together, they are slotted into the spaces that their ST holders do not occupy. Believe me it is isolating enough to be sat apart from your own community (so far apart you can’t even wave to each other, let alone have a conversation) but for away wheelchair fans to then not even be sat together is in my book unacceptable. We are a small band who know one another well as we have sat together at away grounds for years and we naturally want to talk to one another during the match but got “told off” by a home fan for blocking their view when we moved to do so. This was caused by a home fan being sat in the middle of us away fans which I am sure was not something they would choose. It is not that we have anything against the Tranmere fans and shared some good banter with them (particularly Ellis, Chair of the Tranmere DSA) who we recognised from LPA zooms and was brilliant, it is just that you naturally want to watch the game with those who are sharing your reactions. Any fans who have not had the experience of being one of half a dozen away fans sat at the home end because you can’t enter the away stand cannot understand just how bad this is to experience. One good thing was we had a good view of play with no one obstructing it although the woman next to me got a glancing blow from an errant match ball which then hit the back of our bus shelter and almost hit her again on its return. So be aware of this risk.

This said, one of the improvements for wheelchair fans at Tranmere since we last visited is the provision of “bus shelters”. See through shelters, each with room for 3 wheelchair spaces and 3 carer seats (some free standing to allow 2 carers/companions with one wheelchair user) are now all the way along the side of the pitch from the dug outs to the slope. The front of you still gets wet when it rains but they provide much more shelter than nothing at all and as they mean the Club has lost the use of a number of rows of seats behind the shelters, then fair dos to Tranmere for this development which I am sure is much appreciated by the home fans who sit there regularly.

Audio Match Commentary
Headsets can be reserved by ringing 03330 144 452 or email shop@tranmererovers.co.uk. We did this and collected the headset from the Club shop, which was near to our entrance to the ground, just along from the statue on the corner of the stadium. This happened without any problems. All praise to Tranmere for this provision which we have found to be so rare at League 2 clubs this season. Not only was it provided but my husband (who has listened to many commentaries over many years) said it was one of the best commentaries he had heard. He said that they started by telling you where they were commentating from so you can easily work out their right and left. Prior to KO they said their aim was to inform you of everything that happened on the pitch; every kick, every tackle and every goal and they achieved this, whilst being fair to both teams and also finding space for some humour in the breaks of play. This is so welcome and makes such a difference. It was arranged that at the end of the game, the headset would be left with a steward which duly happened.

Accessible Toilet
Again an improvement from our last visit as the refreshments have now been located away from the toilets which does make it easier to get to the toilets. That said, I think when this work was done, an opportunity was missed. I found the one accessible toilet too small for my 6-wheel mid-wheel drive powerchair which is very manoeuvrable, especially given the big bin that was directly in front of the toilet. I am sure given there was lots of unused space outside the toilet cubicle this could have been better designed. I would have also welcomed the provision of warm water for hand washing on a cold wet January afternoon but there was only a single cold tap which I do wonder how much of a disincentive this is to handwashing. I think I was previously told that due to the age of the stadium there are problems with the water supply hence the reason why there is no warm water but surely there could be a small electric water heater, particularly as this is marketed as a stoma friendly toilet but as far as I could see without the medical waste bin. I used the toilet during the game so I was the only one there, but given the number of wheelchair users in that stand as well as other disabled people requiring an accessible loo, I would think that one accessible toilet in that stand is woefully inadequate.

Our friends chose to go to Tranmere as they were reassured when they telephoned prior to the game, that there was a Changing Places Toilet there that that they could use. Despite knowing they would be needing this facility, when they arrived they found that the hoist was in-operable as it had not been put on charge and in any case it is not a Changing Places Toilet, as to be defined as such there must be a ceiling hoist but the hoist that was present was only a mobile one which is not suitable for their son. Thankfully they had used the Changing Places toilet at Chester Services on the M56 about 20 minutes from the ground and were returning there after the game.

Catering
The catering is provided from a mobile unit at the top of the hill. We paid £6.50 for a tray of chips and a coffee, both of which we really enjoyed and thought were good value. The person serving offered to bring them to our seats, which he did with good humour which was very much appreciated given the distance and “the hill”!

Club Officials
We cannot praise all the Club officials that we had dealings with highly enough. The problem we had was that we have always travelled to Tranmere in a mini-bus that has parked at the home end. This time I occupied the one wheelchair space on the main away supporters’ coach which meant we were being dropped off at the away end and collected there, convenient for all the travelling away fans, except us. I emailed the Club prior to the game explaining this, asking for instructions on how to get from where we would be dropped off to the home entrance that we would be using and asking if a steward could guide my husband back to the coach at the end of the game, as in the dark and crowds at the end, he would have no sight and I am not able to guide him. Nina rang me and gave me all the information and reassurance I was looking for. From the away end where we were dropped off, we just had to keep the stadium on our left and this brought us round to where I recognised we had previously entered the ground. That is where we were approached by name, by Brian, a volunteer liaison steward. He explained that it was his job to look after us, he would be taking us to our seats in the ground, checking on us during the game and guiding us back to the bus at the end, which is exactly what he did. Apart from Brian being a lovely interesting person who we really enjoyed talking to, he was brilliant in looking after us without being OTT. We were also visited by Nina who we had previously spoken to, even though she was not A1 and going home, she said she wanted to check we were ok before she left. This together with how the staff responded to an unforeseen incident at the end of the game, to ensure our safety, we both agreed was the best we had ever been looked after by Club officials when we were sat as away fans at the home end.

Leaving the Stadium
At the end of the game, we were informed that due to an incident occurring outside the ground we were going to be kept in the ground until it was considered safe for us to leave. We were also reassured that the coach would not leave without us and had been made aware of our location. As this came from a member of staff who had radio contact with the control room we were totally satisfied that everything would be ok and very grateful that our safety was being given such a high priority. When it was deemed safe for us to leave as well as Brian knowing exactly how to guide my husband and even remembering which was his preferred side from before the game, all the staff continued to give our safety top priority, stopping the traffic on the car park for us and having got the coach moved to be as convenient as possible for us to board. Big thank you to everyone connected to Tranmere who dealt with us in circumstances that could have been so much more challenging for us had it not been for their care and attention.

No stewards to advise anything and when I found our wheelchair space which wasn’t as advertised on website under cover, it was in a big puddle or small pond and when asked to be moved to the covered area where there were spaces I was told a straight no and not offered an alternative.
My Advice is not to go under a circumstances and watch the game on I player.

I have a disabled son who is in a wheelchair and I am interested in taking him to football matches could you give me any information regarding this I have my e mail address at the top of the letter or phone 07982 132 102

This was our first visit to Tranmere. I phoned previously to buy a wheelchair user & carer ticket and a car parking space, these were dealt with excellently and cost £6 for each. I collected the tickets from the portakabin next to the car park.We called for a prematch meal at the Kings Arms, a hungry horse pub, wheelchair friendly.

On arriving at the ground we were told our parking bay number & shown where it was, right outside the accessible turnstile – excellent. The club shop wasn’t accessible as there was a step into it, but the bar was.

I was shown where the accessible entrance was, and several stewards there were really friendly & helpful. The steward who took us in showed us where the accessible toilets & teabar were, and asked us if we would like to get a drink before being shown to our seat. We were situated pitchside and the carers sat behind the wheelchairs, but all at the home end. We didn’t mind this and the Tranmere fans were all helpful & friendly. People didnt keep walking in front of us like they do at alot of grounds, so we had an excellent view.

I have never seen so many wheelchairs & scooters at a match in my life, and I noticed that a few people who hadn’t booked spaces were having to get out of their chairs and sit on the seats. There were several wheelchairs & walking frames left in the corner.

A very enjoyable day out, and a special thank you to all the stewards.

We attended the game as a group of supporters with varying needs including learning disabilities and limited mobility. Prior to buying tickets, we phoned the club to get information about which seats were most suitable for our needs and we were recommended to purchase front row seats. We also booked a parking space in the club’s large car park. When we arrived, the walk from the car park to the away end was long, and this was a struggle for the supporter with limited mobility. Upon arrival we found that the front row seats we had purchased were not on level access, and we had to climb a whole flight of stairs and go back down the stand to access the front row, which was simply impossible for the supporter with limited mobility. We spoke to a few stewards and eventually were shown a slightly more accessible route that involved 3 steps down onto the pitch, and then walking along the back of the pitch, to our seats. Due to recent weather conditions and poor pitch quality, this route was extremely muddy, making it very hard to walk for the supporter who had limited mobility, whose sticks kept slipping in the mud. The lack of accessible seating in the away end was due to the fact that wheelchair users are situated in the home stand completely opposite to the away end. We were told that no spaces for ambulant disabled fans were installed in this disabled area. Clearly the club has not considered the fact that some disabled supporters do not use wheelchairs, but still have issues with steps and long walks. No accessible toilets or refreshment outlets were available; meaning the supporter with limited mobility had to go back around the stand in the mud to access the standard toileting facilities. This was very inconvenient and painful. We are very disappointed with the club’s lack of understanding of disability, specifically those who are not wheelchair users.

Having been to Tranmere several times I knew we had a steep slope to access the wheelchair area. The Stewards are very helpful though and helped get wheelchairs up and down the slope. The carers sit on the row behind as the w/c area is cramped. They have umberellas in case of rain because it is very open. It is also very cold and windy in that area. The downside is you are sat with the home fans and they do not like it if your team scores and you celebrate. There is an disabled toilet up the slope but gets very busy at half time. There is a lovely refreshment van just inside the ground with the best food we have had at an away ground this season.

Tranmere may be top of League 1 on points but it must be around the bottom of the league on provision for away fans who are wheelchair users. Basically they don’t have any apart from parking at the rear of the ground near to the stadium entrance. Away wheelchair users are seated at pitch level with the home wheelchair users at the end of the family stand for home supporters which is furthest away from the away fans. Not only that but as noted in other reviews even the facilities for home wheelchair fans are poor. In fairness to the Club they did tell me when I rang to purchase my tickets that I would be sat with the home fans and I had been previously and done this. The difference this time was that the stand was full due to all tickets being £5. This meant that not only was I sat with the home fans, but the away wheelchair fans who were there were not sat anywhere near one another. I did celebrate when my team scored but another away wheelchair fan told me they felt too intimidated to do so.

Carers/PAs are sat behind the wheelchair user and as all the wheelchair bays were occupied, throughout the match I could not see/speak or be helped in any way by the person who I had gone to the match with. When I shouted to them, they could not hear me. I also missed seeing a number of minutes of the start and end of each half as crowds were arriving late/leaving early and in walking past me were blocking my view of the pitch. I note others have mentioned the very steep slope down to the wheelchair user bays. It is obviously safe as home fans negotiate it regularly but when it was very wet and with a new powerchair that I wasn’t use to I felt very nervous getting down it. My husband did not appreciate the “don’t worry we’ll catch you” response of the steward stood at the bottom when I was clearly nervous. The same steep hill had to be negotiated to get to the accessible toilet, the entrance of which was heavily congested at half time with everyone queuing for refreshments and the other toilets, in a way that made it very difficult to get to the accessible toilet. If you are still up for going after all this, you need to ensure that you take good waterproofs as if it is raining like on the night we were there, you are not under cover and the rain blows in on you. Stewards did offer umbrellas to those without waterproofs who were using them to keep the rain of their legs. The Club does have audio commentaries for visually impaired fans but when we asked for one we were told the service wasn’t working.

I would go again if that is where my club were playing but without improved facilities it would not be a place I would look forward to going to, as unlike with most football grounds in 2012, my experience as an away wheelchair fan at Tranmere is not comparable with the visiting fans who are not wheelchair users.

Parking will cost you £4:00 long trek to away supporters entrance. Toilets & catering ok.

Stewards very helpful will open side doors to let you in and will help you if you require anything in the ground.

Been here before so know a little about it. Parking £4 book in advance, opposite disabled entrence. Need proof of disability when booking match ticket.

On entering ground you go a down very steep ramp, hard for none electric chairs even harder coming out or going to toilet. Enter Wheelchair section via going onto pitch side via rubber mat across drainage vent!

Wheelchair section in Paddock area which is now the family stand, open to elements in front row. Home and away wheelchair fans sit together, if it rains supply of brollies at hand given to by stewards.

Catering via a mobile van, no drop counter and very crowded as it serves all the family Paddock.

Stewards will obtain food/Drink if you ask. Hard to see game at times when children are walking passed most of the game.

Getting to the toilet is a task and a half back up the ramp, and when you get there they are basic to say the least, no emergency cord normal taps no raised seating.

On the positive side all stewards are well trained and do a positive job, parking good glad it didn’t rain not many good points but a good match.

I am disapionted in Tramere Rovers blue badge parking and the seating was a disgracee. I booked a disabled parking place with the club over the phone but when I arrived my name was not on the parking list, the parking places were to small as I need space to get in and out of my car. Then a stroppy parking steward was a disgrace shouting and being very abusive when I tried to make space so I could get out of my car. This is the first time I have had problems when booking blue badge parking at football grounds. I think that it was Sheffield Wednesday had taken 2,000 traveling fans that thet could not manage this large traveling surport. I woud not recamend this club for disabled surporters. The seats in the away end where to close togather so me I could not sit down all of the match which gave me great pain. I will not be going there again. Yours Kevin