Wycombe Wanderers

Got to Victoria station from Thornton Heath. Found myself in mass of people going to a demonstration. I believe in the right to demonstrate but they must be careful of disabled people. While I was getting my bearings and noticed the buses were stuck going no where. I thought I will get a taxi. A bunch of people rushing to join the protesters shoved past me and just about keeping my balance. I go to the taxi rank and got taxi to Marylebone station. I caught train to High Wycombe. As I had a while to wait for the stadium bus I went over to the pub. I went back to bus stop and there were seats at the bus stop. When bus arrived I got on and sat in priority seat. I noticed when I had got on there were policemen and women nearby. But a crowd of youngsters arrived singing misogynistic songs and tried to get on board without paying. But the police were no where to be seen to help the bus driver. After an half an hour or so the rabble decided to walk. The bus went to the gates of Adams Park. The people manning the food and drink kiosks were very helpful. But there was no where to sit to eat and drink. The security at the entrance to the ground were very helpful and restful. I was taken to gate to go in. I went to the disabled toilet and a person opened to door as it was hard for me to do so which two crutches..after the game because the exit is in the far end away from disabled area had to push and keep saying excuse me please to get out of ground. The I found the bus was not by the gate but down the road. I got to the queue for bus. I asked if I could go to the front to get on bus. Other fans got me and another open get on the bus. But we had to stand all way to the railway station. It was a pity there was no seats where the bus stop was. If disabled people cannot get on bus at least they could sit and wait for next bus. When arriving a station the platforms are staggered do missed the train. I sat down an waited and the next train was only 2 coaches and it was full. So waited 10 minutes for next 2 coach train but at least that was not full and got seat.

I am a powerchair user and my husband is severely visually impaired. We travelled as away fans in an accessible minibus that is part of our Club’s official away travel. This is our third LPF review of our visits to Adams Park.

Arrival and Entry to the Ground
I was not happy to find on arrival that the usual parking available to us outside the away entrance had been taken up with bars and food stalls and from what it seemed to me no alternative parking for disabled away fans was provided nor it seemed was this conveyed to those affected prior to arriving at the ground. Our mini-bus was initially directed to park where the away coaches were parking behind the industrial units on the right outside the entrance to the Stadium. When at my suggestion our driver questioned this, he was allowed closer to the entrance to drop us off but as by then with a sell out crowd the area was very crowded, it was not the easiest entrance for us and grateful that at least we knew where we were going (as no one checked that); round to the left immediately on entering to enter the away stand then to the far end of the stand.

Seating Provisions
Large recessed area at pitch level for wheelchair users and ambulant disabled. Main seating behind us at head level but it felt safe with a reasonable space in front for the number of fans in the stand. It was good to see stewards moving on from this area those without tickets for it. We easily accommodated 4 wheelchair users, ambulant disabled and carers with fixed let down seating in pairs between gaps. If you think you might be there for sun set take a means to shade your face, for the first 15 minutes of the match we all struggled to see any action on the pitch due to the sun in our eyes but otherwise there was good unobstructed views of the pitch. I was very pleased to see that the practice net was not located in front of the disabled fans.

Accessible Toilet
The accessible loo is not where the other toilets are and does not appear to be signposted. You need the opening to the left of the main toilet block and it is a door on the left ¾ way down the slope. Very small for my 6-wheel powerchair, hardly enough room. I would imagine the ramp up to the door and down again on the inside would be difficult for some in a manual chair. Clean but let’s say basic with one cold water tap. It is clear that the original slide bolt on the door has been removed at some time and a thick grab knob has been added which I did not find easy to turn and I am not sure what the over-ride would be on it if anyone got stuck.

Headset Commentary for VI Fans
This is an example of why if you have previously been told that something is not available you should always re-check. Previously my husband had been told this was only available to him if he sat at the home end. On checking Wycombe’s website, we read that this was now available to fans all around the ground and so it was. The details are on the fan, disabled supporters association page at https://www.wwfc.com/news/2022/february/18/radio-headsets-available-for-visually-impaired-fans/.
We used the email address provided ahead of the game to reserve a receiver as detailed and to request that it be brought to us in the stadium. This was immediately confirmed and it all happened as we would want it to. We even got a visit from Phil Catchpole (the commentator) prior to the game to check it was all working. At the end we handed the receiver to a steward as agreed with Phil. It was the local radio commentary rather than audio description but hubby found it very helpful and fair. It was live, without any time delay. Many thanks to Phil and Wycombe for providing this who we duly emailed to thank and confirm the receiver had found its way back to him.

Catering
Took our own. From what I saw it was standard stadium food. I understand the catering tents outside the away end were just for the sell-out crowd.

Stewards
As usual at Adams Park, all the stewards we met were friendly and helpful.

End of Game/Leaving
With a capacity crowd and needing to get the full length of the away stand to the exits, it took some time to get out of the stand and then we found ourselves in an even bigger crowd moving towards the exit of the stadium. We kept to the right to be reunited with our mini-bus as our driver had been told he could pick up where he dropped off, only when we got there to discover the arrangements had been changed and we needed to get to the other side. We could have waited for the crowd to go but in an uncertain mixed crowd we wanted to get to the security of our bus asap. Thankfully our driver spotted us and came and guided my husband who has no sight at all in the dark and I just went for it across the crowd. In my opinion more thought should have been given to the arrangements for visiting disabled fans. The decision to funnel all traffic leaving the ground to the right at the end of the industrial estate I thought did speed up the time taken to get away.

Would we go again
Yes, as it is a local ground for us but I would be seeking clarification re drop-off and pick up arrangements.

[Reply from Wycombe Wanderers to Jo Newall’s comment below]

Regular visitors to Adams Park, our home for the last 30 years or so, will know that we are situated at the end of an industrial estate cul-de-sac. On three sides we are surrounded by areas of restraint and outstanding natural beauty where development is almost impossible. Back when we moved here from our town centre site we were a small non-league Club, then we found ourselves promoted through the pyramid, now table topping in Football League 1. Over the years improvements have been made to extend our capacity and to add lounges with bars. The stadium toilets remain an area very much ready for improvement, I do apologise that there is only a cold water tap in the accessible toilet this is an area where we should do better.

We have chosen to manage our disabled parking and tickets ourselves and usually we have not experienced the problems outlined but I am sorry that it didn’t work out for you on your visit this time.
You will be pleased to hear that we have invested in safety netting that is now in place behind the warm up goals to catch any misplaced shots. We now alternate placing the warm up goal on different sides.
I do hope that your experiences does not stop you visiting us again.

Little change at Adams Park from the review I wrote on our last visit 7 years ago. Still one of the worst grounds for getting out of at the end of the match, lots of patience required. Wycombe’s Policy on the Sale of tickets to Away Wheelchair Users Wycombe has 9 spaces for away wheelchair users (with adjoining PA seats) at the away end, so I did not understand why tickets for away wheelchair users could only be bought at Wycombe and not at our home club like every other fan was able to. When I phoned up, I was told they would be emailed to me. They weren’t (not even in my spam folder) so another phone call and they arrived immediately. On them it said “Free” (not just the PA ticket), if only! My problem was that as well as buying my own tickets, I had bought one for another wheelchair user who is not able to make telephone purchases (as many disabled fans can’t for various reasons). How can I ask them to pay me back for a ticket which says “Free” on it? When I made my third call to Wycombe and explained, I was told “it is ok your ticket is your receipt” and would you accept a receipt that says £0 for something you paid £21 for? They were not listening to me! Eventually I persuaded them to send me written confirmation of how much they had charged me. Problems with tickets did not end there, when we arrived at the ground, 2 fellow wheelchair users who had not gone down the route of email tickets, had a really bad time being sent from pillar to post to obtain the tickets they had paid for. At one stage they were told their tickets were on the coach – complete nonsense given they had not sent the wheelchair tickets to the away Club, why on earth would they be on the coach? All this does not even take account of the fact that they sold the tickets for the away wheelchair fans on a “first come, first served” basis which goes completely against how restricted tickets should be sold!

Accessible toilet
Awkward to get into and out of in a wheelchair, steep ramp up and one down inside in a small area where a 90 degree turn is required. My friend could not open the door and had to ring for help. Only one cold water tap which I consider very poor hygiene when running hot water is important to many wheelchair users for infection control purposes.

Seating Area for Wheelchair Users
Well proportioned with good views but yes you have guessed, they put the practice goal in front of this area and then stewards suggest you move to the side, just where the off target balls tend to be shot!

Attended this match on the 26th January 2019 as a carer to an ambulant disabled fan.
On the tickets it states a seat number and row but it was actually unreserved seating.This causes many issues as if you are early you can pick your seats. With someone who has a learning disability or autism or or dementia or has anxiety issues trying to explain that you can sit anywhere as the seat number and row doesn’t mean that is where you need to sit is very confusing.
I do think this could be improved to help us carers in not having to deal with a meltdown over seat numbers!

I previously ordered tickets over the phone directly from Wycombe and also requested a wheelchair car park space but was told it was on a first come basis.

Prior to match we had a meal at The Blacksmiths Arms, a Harvester pub.

Arriving at the ground we were shown to a disabled car park space, there weren’t many left.

I collected our tickets from the blue pod in the car park. We bought a program from a seller in the car park. The club shop was accessible but we didn’t go in.

On entering the ground a steward checked our bags & tickets and then open some large doors for us to go through.

There were disabled toilets just inside the entrance but I never saw a refreshment bar.

There were about 5 wheelchair spaces each with 2 seats pitch side, in front of our own fans.

A steward checked to see if we were ok & said to call him if we needed anything, and then said if we wanted to move out of the sun, he would take us to other seats in a different stand.

Everyone from the fans to stewards were very friendly.

It did take us a long time to get out of the car park after the match, and the car park steward did warn us when we parked.

All stewards at Wycombe were excellent. Upon arrival at Adams Park in our club’s wheelchair accessible minibus we were immediately directed to a flat parking space next to our entrance. Info point to collect our tickets was also close-by. (Away clubs’ official transport coaches drop off/pick up outside the ground.) Wheelchair spaces for away fans at front of away supporters stand at pitch level (about 8 with 2 carer seats between each space). Walk from gate to wheelchair spaces at the end of the away stand was a distance but stewards accompanied all disabled fans to their seats and provided a wheelchair for this when required. Stewards were eager to check we were happy and stressed that if we needed anything to call them over. They specifically mentioned that they tried not to walk in front of us during play and if this became a nuisance to just tell them. (As this has been an issue at other clubs it was appreciated, although this was not a problem we encounted at Wycombe). Lots of room between wheelchair spaces and the hoardings round the pitch. I did note that hoardings were higher than usual to look over. One accessible toilet as you go in, close to the refreshment outlets. Relatively small with a steep slope at the door where a step has been ramped. That said, it was very clean with hot water and I coped in large powered chair. Steward saw me approaching and immediately opened the door for me rather than watch me struggle as I have known elsewhere. On the day we visited we had an unexpected heatwave and we were sat directly in the sun. During the second half stewards checked we are all ok and offered free drinks of water which was much appreciated. Only negatives were that the headset commentary for sight impaired fans is only available if you sit with the home fans and something which you share with all fans at Wycombe, getting back to the main road at the end of the game is a very slow process. The stadium is at the back of industrial park which becomes a total bottle neck. Don’t expect a quick get a way.