Crawley Town

I am a powerchair user and my husband is a white cane user. This was our second visit as away fans this season to the People’s Pension Stadium and as we wrote a detailed review of our last visit, we will try to avoid any repetition of what we covered then.

Tickets for Away Wheelchair Fans
Thankfully unlike on our last visit, Crawley sent the tickets for away wheelchair fans to our home Club to sell as with all other tickets for the away areas. In doing so we became aware that there are 2 spaces for away wheelchair users + their companions in the North (away) Standing Terrace as well as 4 spaces for away wheelchair users + their companions in the East Stand (away end). I was delighted to discover that Crawley is one of the few Clubs who set their older people’s concession at the age of 60 rather than the more usual 65, so by 4 months I could benefit from a concessionary ticket.

Arrival and Entry to the Ground
We travelled to the ground on one of two coaches which were the official away travel. As this was a game being shown live on TV and all the broadcast vans were at the away end, the usual parking for the away coaches at the ground was not available, so they were directed past the ground to double back at the next roundabout to a primary school in a housing estate round the back of the ground. The coaches then dropped us off in what appeared to be the school’s drop-off area and we all had to make our way back to the stadium turning right and right again via an under pass to approach the main entrance of the stadium from the opposite end of the road to which we normally approach it. A 10-minute walk which we were pleased to do in the light and with good weather prior to the match. Unlike on our previous visit, the away end gate was open and we entered there without any problems.

Seating Area
As my chair has a seat riser, the view from the wheelchair area in the East Stand is restricted and we knew that all the wheelchair tickets would be sold for this game, we chose to take one of the two away wheelchair places in the North Stand. This put us directly behind the goal and very close to it. Whilst are view was through the net, you quickly got used to this and we actually had a really good unrestricted view of the pitch, so much so that we would choose these spaces again, which is a recessed area into the middle of the standing terrace with a bar around to give you some separation from those standing around you. Some did slide under the bar during the match to get out but probably found more difficulty with getting past us than they caused for us. We were speaking to Barbara Robinson’s Crawley’s DLA prior to the game about these spaces, as despite our previous visits we had not been aware of them. She explained that they had been devised to ensure any youngsters with a friend who was a wheelchair user could still be together in the standing terrace. Excellent, well done Crawley. Although we don’t fit that criteria, the space worked for us oldies!

Audio Match Commentary
Available. We reserved a receiver by emailing BarbaraRobinson@crawleytownfc.com Collected it from reception at the front of the stadium (without any difficulties) and arranged with Barbara to leave it with a Steward at the end of the game and email her the number of the steward we had handed it to. Due to a mix up between us at the end, I discovered the receiver was on my knee when I got back to the coach (we have never failed to hand it in at the of a game in the last 14 years!). It was then passed to the Club Steward at the school who it seems gave it to the Office rather than Reception and for 24 hours they were fears it had gone missing but thankfully it was found safe. I detailed this as it highlights how important the correct return of these units are as they cost over £200 each, they are an expensive bit of tech and due to their relatively small size, very easy to get stuffed in a pocket/bag and “lost”. My husband reported that the audio descriptive commentary was very helpful and very fair and was particularly struck by the compliments to the away fans.

Accessible Toilet
The one accessible toilet in the away end which is on your left as you enter the away end is always clean, I was therefore shocked when the stench from it was so bad that I could smell it when just approaching the door. It was so bad that it was making me gag. Whilst males were coping with it, I certainly couldn’t. My complaint to the nearest steward resulted in a supervisor being called who told me that the toilet was clean but he thought, as I suspected, the smell was from the drains which had suffered extreme rainfall and flooding the previous day when the match had been postponed. He called a cleaner to deal with the smell but due to the delay in getting this sorted and that I had not been to the toilet since I had left home 5 hours previous, I had to say that I needed to be taken to the home end to use the accessible toilet there, which I was taken to without further delay, although all this meant we only got to our place in the stand just in time for the start of the game and missed all the build up which we normally enjoy. When I went in the second half, I was very impressed to find that “the smell” had gone and I asked that my thanks be passed on to the cleaner for sorting this. Sadly, I again ended up with the same Supervisor being called, as after waiting over 5 mins to go to the loo I asked the steward if they could check if there was an issue and they called the Supervisor, who immediately opened the toilet door and declared it is a stiff door, it had been vacant all the time I had been waiting! He sensibly agreed he would wait around and check I could open the door after I had finished. We both agreed that we did not want my visit to end with me being locked in the loo! As I am sure other disabled fans unfamiliar with the door might experience similar, perhaps something could be done to the door to avoid these problems. I was also told by another wheelchair user that he found the 90 degree turn at the top of the relatively narrow ramp to the door very difficult to get round.

Catering
As it was a near sell-out crowd we did not bother queuing for any refreshments, although we noted on a warm evening, the ice cream van at the away end seemed to be doing a good trade!

Stewards
It was nice to be welcomed at the gate by a steward who recognised me from my last visit. The Supervisor who was called twice to sort toilet issues for me was lovely, understanding and friendly, a credit to Crawley.

Leaving the Stadium
As the evening wore on and darkness fell, we were not looking forward to getting back to the coach, not least because my husband has no sight at all in the dark and was obviously not familiar with the route. We knew, as happened, that other fans would help him but it is still difficult for him in crowds and with headlights in his face. On exiting at the away end we turned immediately right rather than going to the main gate of the stadium which was an easier way (apart from the concrete post I nearly collided with). Despite everyone being told as they got off the coaches that the coaches would be waiting at the same location at the end of the game, one elderly fan got confused in the dark and turned the wrong way, leading to him having to be searched for and returned with police assistance. So easy to get lost in the dark in an unfamiliar location which led me to wonder whether the away coaches could not be brought closer to the ground at the end of the game in these circumstances as I saw quite a few people struggling with the distance they were required to walk.

Overall
My verdict is that Crawley are a small Club who have made a real effort with accessibility for which they deserve credit, mainly the wheelchair spaces in the away standing terrace and the audio described match commentary. On this basis I would happily go again and hope there was not torrential rain the day before and the match was not being televised so the away coaches could drop-off and pick up at the ground.

I am a powerchair user and my husband is a white cane user. As away fans, we have visited the now named People’s Pension Stadium on at least 3 previous occasions albeit not for some time as per our previous reviews. As on our previous visits, we travelled to the ground in an accessible mini-bus that is part of our Club’s official away travel. In view of our previous reviews, we are limiting this review to our experiences of this visit, in particular changes to that which we have previously reported on.

Tickets for Away Wheelchair Fans
We were disappointed to discover that we were unable to purchase our tickets from our home club as our able-bodied contemporaries could. We were even more frustrated when we spent 25 minutes waiting on the phone to get through to the Crawley Box Office to be told that we could not yet purchase our tickets as they were not yet selling tickets for the game, even though the away club was selling tickets for the game. When I inquired why as an away disabled fan I was being treated differently to how able bodied fans were being treated, I was told I wasn’t! When I asked why couldn’t the tickets for away wheelchair fans be sent to the away club with the rest of the away ticket allocation, I was told that this was because some Clubs had sold wheelchair tickets to fans who weren’t wheelchair users. My response to this was surely this should be dealt with by taking those Clubs to task, not penalising all visiting away wheelchair fans. I also pointed out that surely away Clubs would generally be better placed to know their own wheelchair fans. Katie, the Box Office Manager at Crawley, also told me that most League 2 Clubs do not send their away wheelchair tickets to the away Clubs. Having visited many League 2 Clubs as an away wheelchair fan, I know that this is not so and was certainly not so when we purchased our tickets for Wrexham the previous week. I was then told that I would need to provide proof that I was a wheelchair user, as if arriving in an expensive powerchair is not proof enough that I am a wheelchair user? I was then told that I would not need to provide proof! Apart from the principle of being treated differently to able bodied fans and the sheer inconvenience of not being able to purchase away wheelchair tickets from your own club, there are very good reasons why away wheelchair fans should not have to buy their tickets from the away Club that we have written about far too many times in our LPF Reviews. The practice means that when you arrive at the away ground, you have to go off negotiating traffic and crowds to find your ticket and all too often, we have found ourselves being sent hither and differ with no one knowing where our tickets are and of course this is often in pouring rain, whilst able bodied fans arrive with their tickets in their pocket and have no such problems. I note that this has happened at Crawley previously as per my LPF Review in 2012. Another is that it is well known that disabled people are more likely than able bodied fans to experience difficulties with telephone ordering. For this reason, when away wheelchair tickets are not sent to the away club, I have to purchase tickets for another wheelchair user and then they pay me for them in cash. I am happy to do this but I should not need to, Katie in fairness, did say that to avoid us having to go searching for away tickets when we got to Crawley, we could arrange to collect them at the away end. Excellent. As it was this did not happen (see next section) and when I went to the Box Office where I was intold our tickets would be, I was met with some blank faces until one very helpful member of staff told me she would go and find my tickets for me, they were apparently at the ticket collection hut which was on the very far side of the stadium.

Arrival and Entry to the Ground
We could not understand and we were not given an explanation as to why our mini-bus on arrival at the ground was told to park at the away accessible entrance but to drop us off elsewhere. After queuing at the entrance we have always used and which was printed on our tickets, two stewards approached the gate on the inside and informed us that the gate was closed to which I replied “but it won’t be if you open it”! In fairness to these stewards, they did get on their radio to ask if they could open it and I have no doubt they would have if they had had been allowed but permission was refused. So we all had to trail round to the side where we had been dropped off (it would have been so good if we had been told then) to the entrance to the away standing terrace on the opposite side of the ground to the away wheelchair area and yes you have guessed it, we then had to make our way all the way back on the inside of the ground to get to the side of the ground where the stewards were who had been refused permission to let us in! Entry into the ground through the gates to the right of the away turnstiles that give entry to the away standing terrace seemed chaotic. One of our fellow away fans on a mobility scooter was directed by stewards through the furthest right of the two gates, despite very visibly wearing an away shirt and found himself in the home end. After being directed through the away gate, my husband with his white cane out full, in response to asking where he should go was directed with hand signals and the words “over there, follow that woman in a wheelchair”, when he did not move as none of the directions given were understandable to him, the steward attempted to physically move him!

So frustrated by our experience, on the way round to our seating area, I asked each steward did they know what a DLO was (just in the name of research!) should I have been surprised, not one had a clue. I therefore asked the nice steward who we had originally encountered at the closed entrance, if he could ask for the DLO to come to visit us, as having met Barbara Robinson previously and known how good she was, I wanted to tell her about our experience in entering the ground. Barbara did come but sadly I found her very defensive and not wanting to listen to our experiences, stating “unlike your Club, we are only small and doing our best”, ironically if she had listened to me, I would have told her that our Club, sadly have similar frustrating problems when the entrances printed on tickets are closed.

Seating Area
No change from our last visit 8 years ago. Noted no flat access seating for away fans (several deep steps to the lowest seating for away fans). Ambulant away disabled fans on this occasion also had a very long walk round half the stadium from their entrance to their seat such that some I know would have struggled with the distance. View of the pitch for away wheelchair fans remains restricted. The away fan with us on a medium sized scooter struggled to get his scooter into and out of the away wheelchair area as the turning circle at both ends of the ramp were very tight for him, particularly with a dustbin present, which when asked, a steward did relocate.

Audio Described Match Commentary
We followed the instructions on Crawley’s Club’s website to email Barbara Robinson barbararobinson@crawleytownfc.com to reserve a headset and she quickly came back to us saying she had added us to the list and we were to collect it from the main reception. Ideally to save us hunting for headsets we like to have them brought to us but as I had a good idea of the layout of Crawley and knew we would probably arrive their early when it would be light, I did not pursue this further. When we arrived, I sent my husband to get his headset whilst I was unloaded. When he returned, he said he had been told he had to return it there at the end of the game. I then went to reception and asked could we not give it to a steward at the end of the game as we did at other grounds as it would be dark by then, my husband would have no sight and I would be dodging headlights in my face. Very (very) reluctantly this was agreed to. We were therefore somewhat surprised that when Barbara Robinson came to see us, without checking with us, she assumed that we were asking to see her about headsets and set about organising what we had already organised. Not prepared to let this arrangement stand, someone then appeared at the end of the game and not satisfied with collecting the one headset we had, assumed I too had used a headset and seemed reluctant to accept I had not. As it was, to return the headset to reception as we were initially told we must, would have required us going through a police cordon in place at the end of the game to separate the away fans from the home fans. That alone was a very good reason why away fans should not be expected to return headsets to reception at the end of games.

In relation to the commentary itself, my husband found it odd that in the first half the commentator was not using the names (just positions) of the away players. In the second half, names were used together with the explanation that the commentator normally worked with a colleague and had unexpectedly found himself on his own for the first time. On this basis, my husband’s view was that he was grateful for the information he got and thankful that the commentator had done his best rather than just make the decision not to proceed alone.

Accessible Toilet
As in my last review, very clean. During the match a parent of an autistic young adult told me that she was delighted to find an accessible toilet available to her and her son, as so often they are only available to wheelchair users.

Catering
Disappointed to find that unlike on our last visit, there were no chips available at the tea bar nearest to the away wheelchair area. Chips were available at the other end of the away standing terrace. They were being sold in paper cups and as someone commented the absence of forks to eat them, meant that when you have put sauce on them in a cup they became very messy to eat! We purchased a bacon roll each for £3.50, which we found cold and unappetising. Coffee at £2 was good value.

We were not made aware of it prior to the game but others have since told us there was an excellent fans area on the far side of the stadium prior to the game for both home and away fans with an impressive range of food and drink options.

Stewards
Nothing further to add to my previous comments. Overall poor but at least did not get in the way of us watching the game.

Leaving the Stadium
Unlike on entry, the gates nearest the away wheelchair area were open making it a very short distance back to our mini bus. Thought the steward stood in the middle of the roundabout outside the stadium stopping the traffic so that we could leave, was in real danger of being run over.

Overall
Yes we would go again. With the knowledge that we have gained from this visit, we would know to check which gate we were entering the stadium by and not rely on what our ticket said! Not the best facilities for away disabled fans, not helped by some organisational shortcomings. particularly on this visit.

Attended Crawley’s impressive home win against Oldham today and was delighted to see the club flying the flag (literally) for Level Playing Field. Once again I was impressed with Crawley’s attitude and continued support in recognising supporters of all abilities and would recommend to supporters of all clubs to pay the club a visit to experience a friendly, warm and inclusive experience. A special thank you to Barbara Robinson and Crawley’s number 1 Glenn Morris for kindly coming over to spend a moment with my daughter before the game, it made her afternoon.

I take my 8 year old daughter to watch Crawley most weeks and I’ve been really impressed by their attitude towards disabled supporters and the levels of inclusion at the club. My daughter has complex learning and development issues and a sensitivity to sudden noises but loves the football. The club through Barbara Robinson and Katie, the ticketing manager, have helped enormously. Having had the opportunity to see and understand CTDSA’s efforts with disabled spectators of all teams, I’m pleased to comment on the great work going on at the club and recommend to all spectators of all abilities to pop along to the People’s Pension Stadium to enjoy the experience for themselves, the football’s not bad either. Highlights include the excellent spectator facilities for wheel chair users and the audio description commentary. See https//www.crawleytownfc.com or email barbararobinson@crawleytownfc.com for more information.

Hello my name is Kevin Cordell, myself profoundly deaf wearing my 2 hearing aid, aged 33 years old, supporting Colchester United, my boy who is 9, and my dad who is 72. We all will be going to watch Crawley v Colchester for Carabao Cup 4th round next month. Wondering if we can park the car at Crawley Town FC Stadium, we will be collecting one free carer and disabled concession and one senior(+65). Can we sit on the chair at away fans stand or sit near fans? As My little boy who is 9 and will be hard for him to see the game.
Look forward to hear from you.
Thanks.
Kevin Cordell (My email address is Kevo_Blue24@hotmail.co.uk )

Would just like to say what great commentary @AlanMarchSport provided at Crawley today #topclass

Audio description was great.

i turned up at the match with my family to watch a relative playing for Grimsby. we were spotted by a helper who noticed my guide dog. She introduced me to the audio description facility which I took with me to the stands.

stewards were very helpful showing us to some seats and then we settled to watch the match. The audio was amazing, though somewhat biased! But even so it made such a difference. Occasionally I would tell others what was happening and they said I sounded like an expert.

it was funny though when one Grimsby player was repeatedly fouled from the half way line to just outside the box, where he was brought down. The player was rightly booked but the commentator said, “a harsh booking there!”

great, thank you

I bought our tickets over the phone at Crawley & also reserved a parking space

Arriving at the ground we were directed to our reserved car park space next to the away turnstiles and I collected our tickets from the ticket office.

In the car park a lady came across to welcome us & said we were welcome to go into the bar as it was wheelchair accessible, and she asked if we needed help with anything.

Program sellers were outside the ground and the club shop was wheelchair friendly.

Entering the ground there were disabled toilets and an accessible refreshment bar.

We sat in a covered wheelchair area pitchside, in the corner, in front of our own supporters.

It was a decent view except we couldnt see the far corner of the pitch & people were constantly walking infront of us to the refreshment bar & toilets. Worst, although the stewards were very friendly they kept standing in front of us talking to an ambulance lady who was sitting in the disabled area and blocking our view.

We missed seeing a penalty given when a steward stood to watch the game blocking our view of the penalty area completely, but he was asked to move and did so before the penalty was taken.

A decent accessible ground but not a good place for the wheelchair bay

Blog: Crawley Town has really scored with its audio description service – Crawley Observer

Going to a football match when you have the eyesight of a mole is a rather disheartening affair.

You try your best to get caught up in the excitement of the game but, unless the play takes place entirely on the touchline in front of where you are standing, it’s impossible to keep track of what’s happening.

It’s the football equivalent of a Kindle – ensuring dodgy eyesight doesn’t prevent anyone from being able to do what other people take for granted.

I gave up on going to watch Crawley Town when it became depressingly apparent I was forking out to listen to other people scream, shout and question the parentage of the referee – and only knew a goal had been scored when they all started cheering (Or crying. The giddy heights of the Football League were still an unreachable dream at that point and a win was a rare treat).

For years, my association with the Reds was reduced to asking others how the games had gone or – later – watching the scant few seconds of footage The Football League Show offered very, very late on Saturday nights. Hardly thrilling.But now Crawley Town has come up with a solution – free audio descriptive commentary for home and away fans.Read full blog post here

Our third visit as away fans to the Checkatrade.com stadium in successive seasons. As I have written lengthy reviews after both these earlier trips this is a short review, just covering any new points.

Practice for selling away wheelchair user tickets has reverted to having to contact Crawley and collect the tickets on the day. Unlike 2 seasons ago they were ready for me to collect but my friend’s tickets were not present until she asked for mine and found hers had been bundled with mine! So if your tickets are missing, check whether this has happened with yours.

Not sure if this is common practice at Crawley but we were not allowed into the stadium until after 2 pm for a 3 pm KO. As our Club’s official away travel arrived at the ground at 1 pm this seemed a very long wait.

No chips available, big disappointment given my favourable comments last time. I gather this was a blip and they are usually. Bacon rolls (lots of bacon) £3 each, hot drinks still £1.50 but the people selling drinks at your seats were not in action, I wonder if they are still operating?

Although there are only 4 away wheelchair spaces, Crawley sold tickets to 5 away wheelchair users. I was therefore pleased to see they readily accommodated us all with a great “can do” attitude.

Used the live match commentary on the new Player app (I have never been successful in getting live commentary from the previous app). 3G only stopped working twice and quickly reconnected. Only down side of this for visually impaired fans who want to rely on a commentary to help them follow a game is that the “live” commentary is about 2 mins behind the action on the pitch, which made for an interesting afternoon for my husband.

Really nice to have all the away fans in the seated stand passing the wheelchair area, so you can pass the time of day with them. All too often it seems our paths are never to cross even when we are at the away end. We were told by a number of able bodied fans we were in a more sheltered spot than they were – in danger of gloating but it is usually the other way round!

Our second visit in successive seasons as away fans to what is now called the Checkatrade.com Stadium. So pleased to be able to report that this time we encountered none of the problems I detailed in my last review. Well done Crawley.

Ticket Purchasing

Unlike last year I was able to purchase my away wheelchair user ticket and carer ticket from my own Club and it was significantly cheaper than last season. My Club only received these tickets 3 working days before the match (and not the 3 weeks when all the other Crawley tickets went on sale). This meant in the run up to Christmas I was having to remember to keep phoning to see if I could yet buy my ticket.

Access to the Ground

Easy access from Jct 11 of the M23. The Stadium is just off the roundabout that has a huge red and white football on it! The wheelchair accessible mini-bus that our Club provides as part of its official away travel, that we travel to all away matches in, was, we were informed, not expected but was allowed to occupy the last vacant disabled parking space in the relatively small stadium car park. Entrance for all away fans is to turn left immediately through the main gates and continue to the end.

Facilities in the Ground for Away Wheelchair Fans

Viewing Areas

This takes 4 wheelchair users and PAs/Carers. It is situated at the beginning of the long side of the pitch between the away standing area in the stand at right angles and the away fans’ seated away stand alongside in the other direction. Pleased to report that the away wheelchair fans viewing area now has a roof on it and all the building dust that was on the seats last year has gone. Good 3G signal. Difficult to see play at the far end of the pitch from this area. 4 fixed let down carer seats against the back wall of this area give a particularly poor view of play. My husband stood throughout the game at the front of the viewing area and was allowed to. I did get an unrestricted view by positioning myself in the corner of the area nearest to the corner flag and using the riser facility on my powerchair but this rare facility should not be required. We discovered that you also need sun visors. Unexpectedly we basked in warm winter sunshine prior to the match but this meant we were unable to see anything of the game, without using improvised sun shades,until the sun dropped behind the opposite stand around 3.15 pm.

Refreshments

We viewed them as the best we had encountered in over 40 grounds both for value and quality. No lowered serving area but conveniently near to the away wheelchair user viewing area. You pass them on the left as you enter the ground. Large plastic tray of lovely hot non-greasy chips £2. A hot dog, a chicken pie and a bottle of Tango was £6. The hot dogs were made with “proper” sausages and browned onions, not the sad pale food you so often get. Hot drinks £1.50. Also, very conveniently, something I have previously only seen at the Paralympics, people walking round the ground throughout the match with a tank of hot water selling to you at your seat hot drinks for £1.50, they also sold confectionery.

Accessible Toilets

As per my last review. Remain clean. Left-hand transfer. Soap dispenser was empty and looked like it may have been for some time.

Headset Commentaries for Visually Impaired Fans

As we could not find anything on Crawley’s web site to say otherwise, we presumed it was as last season with no commentary available, although we did not actually check with the Club.

Attitude of Club Officials

The only ones we encountered were at the gate as we entered who were friendly.

After the Match

No problems.

Will We go Again?

Definitely. One trip when we will not need to pack up food and drinks to take with us – just sun visors – even in winter!

Booked ticket over ‘phone – I realise now that I too may have been charged full price inadvertently like the poster above.

Asked to reserve disabled parking space. Told it was first come, first serve. Fortunately I got the last spot on the day. If that had gone though, they had no fall-back and I would most likely have had to turn around and go home because I would have been forced to park too far away from the ground. I would have preferred they said no disabled parking was available because they were all booked and chosen not to go, rather than take the risk.

I was told that to collect tickets from ticket office, which was located “close to the away section”. Wrong! it was diagonally opposite on the far side of the ground; ie. couldn’t be any further away.

Struggled up to entrance (I was early and there was no queue), I am in much pain and discomfort because of the distance between ticket office and entrance. Asked if I could enter via the open exit gate immediately adjacent to the turnstile (which because my size and disability makes these extremely difficult to negotiate). Sentry says nothing and just points to the turnstile.

Not only am I disabled and obviously so, but I am a grandfather. The next officious steward gestures to search me. I am made to feel like some 1970s, knife-carrying hooligan. I questioned the lack of common-sense, to which I am officiously told that if he can’t search me, he won’t let me in. Welcome to Crawley Town FC – I won’t be back.

All the more sad, because I rarely go to away games but the previous week, I went to Leyton Orient. The contrast could not have been more so. A steward came to me in the queue and and offered to escort me and my helper to enter via the exit gate rather than the turnstiles, which was opened for us and they took care of our tickets (both FREE by the way – very many thanks!!). As I passed through to the stewards on the inside, they were ready to assist me to my seat at any stage. Ten out of Ten to Leyton Orient.

I am not expecting to be wined and dined. All I ask is to be treated with respect and for stewards to exercise common sense. It really isn’t too much to ask.

Visited as away fans. Ground conveniently situated near to the motorway exist with parking at the stadium at the away end. I did not see any nearby shops/eateries on this our first visit. As a wheelchair user I was unable to purchase my ticket at my home club as able bodied away fans did. When I phoned Crawley 3 weeks before the match I was told to collect my ticket from the ticket office and was not given the option of it being posted to me as is usual. This meant I had to negotiate the car park in the dark in my chair to find the ticket office and queue up to be told my ticket was not there and I should go to reception. Went to reception to be told my ticket was at the ticket office, back to the ticket office, when somebody then undertook to reprint my ticket, back to the away end to be told that my ticket was for the home end and was told to return to reception, where I was told I did have the correct ticket. Sensing my frustration at this point a member of staff then accompanied me back to the away end, explained I had the correct ticket for the away end and finally I got in. I was frustrated not least because I had not seen a loo for the previous 4 hours! Thankfully the accessible loo at the away end was clearly very new, large and excellent apart from the turn into it was a bit tight and the hand dryer did not work. (I reported this to the steward who on my second visit was pleased to tell me it was now working and it was.) It was clear that Crawley had also recently spent money on making a new viewing area for away wheelchair users. I therefore thought it was a great shame that as with the new acccessible toilet the turn into it is extremely tight, it is the only area in the whole ground that is not covered – (take waterproofs, thankfully I was there on a dry night) and is the only area in the whole ground with a restricted view, you cannot see the near side far corner. The area is however close to the refreshment kiosk.

To add insult to injury it transpired that I had been charged (incorrectly) more for my ticket than any other away fan but was not believed unless I submitted my bank statement as proof (I had no other proof as my card receipt had presumably been lost with my ticket). It was only a couple of pounds but by now it seemed the principle of it. I subsequently emailed the proof stating I as the customer did not like not being believed and asked that the difference be donated to their disability football team. I have not received any reply to my email. When we returned home we also discovered the carer seats must have been covered in building dust which had transferred itself to my husband’s coat.

As my husband has little sight when I phoned for the tickets I asked if they provided a headset commentary for visually impaired away fans and was told that a headset would be left with my tickets. As well as dealing with the ticket debarcle on the night I was also informed that they did not do a headset commentary. Which just confirmed my impression of disorganisation. On the positive side the stewards we had in the ground were friendly and recognised and changed course accordingly without us needing to point it out (as is usual) that walking in front of my husband when he views the match through a 1.5 cm lens causes him to lose focus making it near impossible to follow the game.

We would go to Crawley again but we would endeavour to have our tickets before the match, take a cloth to clean the carer seat if needed, ensure we each had a full set of waterproofs and be prepared for not seeing one corner of the pitch.