With the coronavirus pandemic causing sport to come to a standstill in March 2020, including the postponement of last year’s Weeks of Action, this season’s campaign was in doubt.
After a period of planning and consideration, Level Playing Field had little option but to make this year’s campaign a virtual one, for the first time ever.
This is the story of Weeks of Action 2021:
A campaign like no other
Over 100 clubs supported the campaign, which included clubs from the Premier League, the EFL, National League, non-league, the Women’s Super League and Championship, as well as contributions from the Welsh Cymru leagues.
Club’s published content across websites and social media platforms, expressing their support for the campaign by engaging with disabled fans during what has been an especially difficult year.
Level Playing Field chief executive Owain Davies: “We are delighted at the sheer volume of clubs backing the campaign in these difficult circumstances.
“The lengths clubs have gone to demonstrate their commitment towards accessibility through virtual and digital content has been overwhelming.
“We would like to express our thanks to all clubs involved in what has been a different, but memorable Weeks of Action campaign.”
Some of the biggest names in football showcased their commitment to accessibility by highlighting some of the facilities they have in place to improve their matchday experience.
Arsenal and Manchester City shared information about their matchday audio descriptive commentary services to over 24 million Twitter followers, combined.
Did you know about 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 before?
We're proudly bringing games to life for 𝗮𝗹𝗹 our supporters with our free audio description commentary service 🎙
🤩 Delighted to be supporting @lpftweets with their #WeeksOfAction campaign 👇
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) March 9, 2021
Swansea City and Bolton Wanderers were influential in launching the online campaign. Alongside Level Playing Field and the EFL, the clubs worked with fans to create ‘video chat’ style films with club staff and legends, discussing accessibility and their absence from the terraces.
❤️ To mark @lpftweets's 'Weeks of Action', @LeeTrundle10 surprised Swans fan Eli and his dad Greg with a video call 🤗@EFL | @SkyBetChamp
💻 Watch here 👇 pic.twitter.com/Y8sCryRgQ5
— Swansea City AFC (@SwansOfficial) March 5, 2021
Despite the difficulties we have all had to sustain during the last year living through a global pandemic, with sports stadiums closed, being unable to take comfort in enjoying a regular matchday routine, watching our favourite teams live – one thing has become clear throughout the campaign – the recognition of the importance of live sport for disabled supporters.