Leeds United

My son took me for the first time to Elland road and I loved it what an amazing experience the crowd there are just crazy and so passionate. He had a season ticket and is always telling me what a great crowd they have but to experience it myself I can see why fans want to go every week

Wasted 25 minutes on your so called switchboard to get some disabled info and no one could be bothered to answer….poor service, poor club ….no level playing field at leeds

Our second visit to Elland Road as away wheelchair fans. Our first visit was over 5-years ago and everything has changed – for the better. Ground is located immediately off the motorway. Greater Police presence in the Ground than at any other stadium we have visited but no problems.

Facilities in the Ground for Away Wheelchair Fans

Viewing Areas

The entrance to the away wheelchair viewing area (W1) is at the away end on the right before you get to away turnstyles. It is then a sharp left turn before the covered area to enter a lengthy scaffold type ramp, that zigg-zaggs back and to, to take you up to a viewing area in front of the away fans with the ambulant disabled away fans in front of us. Corners on this ramp are pretty tight. Others have written of scooters struggling to get round the ramp and I can well believe this. Lots of spaces and each space is a good size, each with a carer seat at the side (as per Gary Deards photo from Dec 2010). Roof cover was such that we did not get wet even when it poured down, much appreciated. Excellent, unobstructed view. Massive video score board just to the right. Home wheelchair fans seated in the same area further round to the left but this did not present any problems for our visit.

Refreshments

We took our own. We understand there is a bar just for away fans but we did not find it. We did see the chip shop across the road from the away end which seemed very popular. There was also a fast food outlet by the first car park.

Accessible Toilets

On the right hand side of the raised viewing platform. Radar key lock. Left hand transfer. Good size, clean. I could not find any hot water. A second accessible toilet further round for the home fans.

Headset Commentaries for Visually Impaired Fans

Rang the box office as no response in 24-hours to my email and it was just before New Year. 9p a minute charge and kept waiting for 10 minutes. Told your name needs to be on the spreadsheet prior to the game. Headsets are collected from the Security Office just opposite the away turnstyles (small window under a covered area on the left as you go down the hill). £20 deposit required, refunded when the headset is returned at the end of the game. Excellent, unbiased, helpful commentary.

Attitude of Club Officials

Not the best stewarding we have experienced. Due to the lack of stewards as we approached the ground, all the away coaches initially went to the wrong car park and had to do some tight turning when re-directed. As we entered the car park our driver explained that we were the official travel for the away disabled fans and we were directed to a car park for disabled fans. When we got out there were no stewards to ask where we go. It turned out that we then had a longer route to the away entrance than the able bodied away fans! A point which I made to the Supervisor who I complained to, who apologised and said he would include it in his match report. As noted by a previous away fan, after entering the away end we were given no directions where to go and ended up going past the entrance to the ramp and having to be turned back. Again at the end of the match, we were very much left to our own devices despite have a longer route back to our bus than all the able-bodied fans.

After the Match

Exiting the car park seemed to be absolute chaos, with a free-for-all.

Will We go Again?

Yes. Arrangements for away wheelchair fans are now much better than 5 years ago but on another visit we will ask a lot more questions about where we are being told to park!

Wheelchair access is a bit of a pain, having to negotiate a very twisty concrete ramp I’m glad I brought my scooter and not my chair. This ramp created a bit of a problem on exit, it was shared by all supporters so as per usual you get people who cannot see you in a chair/scooter and just carry on walking in front. The tight twists on exit caused a problem for the lady in front of us as she had a LARGE scooter that barely made it round the hairpin corners, she has to reverse/drive, reverse/drive quite a few time to get round one 180 degree bend, I would dread to think what might happen in an emergency eveacuation.

The ground itself is showing its age, the toilet facilities are large and accessible but took me back to the 70’s when I had to use them.

My seat was in the corner area close to the “big” screen. The view was unobstructed and was perfect for this rugby match, being so close to the screen made it easy to see any play that would be a bit far away. The wheelchair bays are in front of the carer seats. I was in a bay at the furthest end of the row there was plenty of room, but with the carers chair directly behind it made getting out a bit of a hassle as the person beside me had to reverse out, then I had to manouver my scooter back and forth a few times just to enable me to get out of the bay. This could be another emergency evacuation problem.

ALL the staff and stewards could not have been more helpful, and I would like to offer a huge thank you to all of them working in this area, they all seemed so glad that we were there filling their football stadium with mixed non segregated fans all out for a great match.

All in all I can see how difficult it is to convert old grounds to modern accessible standards but LUFC have tried their best, and the day was enjoyable.

It was good to hear from you after the match and that you had a good day. We were concerned when you advised us you were not permitted to take your Blackburn Rovers flag into the ground and have contacted the club for a response.

We have identified the supporter who sent the picture via his twitter account. He has confirmed that he did not make any approach to the stewards on the day of the game and as a consequence the stadium manager was unaware that there was a camera blocking the supporters view. We will be reviewing future games where a game is being broadcast live so that this does not happen again. We do take our supporters views very seriously and we would encourage any supporter who has a problem on a match day to contact a steward so we can try and resolve it.

The view for a disabled Leeds fan at yesterday’s game, disgraceful that this was allowed to happen.

Hello I’m just wondering when I go to Leeds at the new year I’m an ambulant supporter and I was hoping that all away fans where together in a section of away end section of the ground.

Pricing was full price for disabled fans and a free ticket for their helpers.

On arrival we were directed to the disabled entrance once through it was not obvious where to go and we were given no directions. We ended up wandering into the home area of the stand which could have been a problem!!!

Wheelchair users were on a raised platform at the rear of the stand which afforded a good view providing those immediately in front did not stand. Ambulant disabled supporters were seated in the rows in front. The ambulant disabled supporters could not remain seated as their views were obscured by rows of fans in front standing and in turn they then obstructed the view of the wheel chair users. This was raised with the stewards who then moved us all to another wheelchair platform in the segregation area. From here we had a good view and the atmosphere was great!

Stewards very helpfull.Parking good, WC very good.ask steward for key go to the loo before kick off.

Long walk from Disabled acces to away stand you walk / wheel round the pitch with a steward to your seat great vue of the pitch.

Good food and drink your helper must collect tea,coffee

DON’T GO if in a wheelchair. You have to go right round 2 sides of the ground to get in and then round 2 sides inside to get where the away fans sit. If you want the loo it is back round 2 sides at the wheelchair entrance. Then there are only 2 to share with Leeds fans the other 2 are inside their club room but we were not allowind in as it was supposedly full. Need a helper to get drinks etc from concession bars. The toilets were filthy and no pull cords. Good job we lost as walking right round the outside at the end of the match would have been intolerable.

Hi All I am sorry to read that the sheff utd fan has said about Leeds Utd’s facilities as the feed back we get from almost all fans who visit is positive. I am the chairperson of LUDO and we pride ourselves in being friendly and welcoming to all fans whether they are disabled or not. The away disabled area is around two sides of the ground as was said but what was not said was that the clubs receive an option to use a disabled area with the facilities along side them. This does mean sitting along side the home sides disabled but seeing as the is no record of trouble for disabled fans at Elland Road then this is not a problem. As for the toilets, these are checked before every game and have to be checked off of a check list, so cannot see them being filthy.

As for the lounge, the stewards always tell away disabled fans that they are welcome to use this facility but on certain occassions at half time it can be very hard to get into the lounge and get a drink, seeing as the helper is there to do just that and help, if this is the case they are allowed to use the facilities in the stand for away fan as an alternative. We know that the facilities for away disable fans is not ideal but most grounds in the country have a few problems they wish they could change, our ground is the same but we do think that we have most things right and I hope that the comment from the sheff utd fan does not put anyone off come to elland Road and seeing for themselves that we are trying to make your visit as stress free as possible.

I’m a Leeds fan & a wheelchair user. Toilets have been improved and there are more of them. Stewards are very helpful. The away fans have been moved into the west stand, but the wheelchair users are still allocated in the bottom of the south east stand, so are seperated , not ideal for atmosphere for them. As already pointed out they have to go halfway round the ground for loo. Come on leeds time to improve.

The away fans now have an elevated view in the West Stand which offers much improved views and you also no longer have to face the “trial” of walking past 2 stands of vociferous Leeds fans! The area is currently not blocked so can get a bit windy. No independent refreshment areas nearby but there is steward/pa assistance and an accessible toilet nearby. All in all, it’s a much improved experience.

only been going as a disabled supporter since this season 2012/13 but boy have i been impressed with every aspect ..fantasti coordinator fantastic stewards and fantastic facilities WELL DONE LEEDS MOT