Morecambe

I am a powerchair user and my husband is a white cane user. This is our third visit to the Muzuma Stadium as away fans. We travelled to the ground in our Club’s official away accessible coach which parked at the back of the stadium on the opposite side to the away end. As we wrote a lengthy review of our visit last season, we are restricting this to our experiences of this visit which were not a part of our last visit. We were shocked at how two visits to the same stadium only 16 months apart can be experienced so differently without any changes to the facilities.

In contrast to our last visit we found a really detailed Away Fans’ Guide on Morecombe’s website giving lots of helpful information https://www.morecambefc.com/siteassets/news/pdfs/asg-oct-2023.pdf

Arrival and Entry to the Ground
As we arrived at the ground long before the stadium was open we followed the majority of the other away fans into The Hurley Flyer, a modern pub on the main road immediately in front of the stadium which welcomes away fans. Although it had flat access, as it was very full with no tables available, we decided not to stay. As the weather was dry and not too cold for December we wondered up the main road to the right of the stadium to the prom (10-15 minutes stroll) through a very run down sad area, dropped kerbs but little else.

Seating Area
A steward who saw us working out where best to sit in the away wheelchair area, gave us an interesting account of how many of the seats were broken, along with news that “we keep reporting it but they never do anything”. As it was only the two of us in the area, it was not an issue for us but I was careful to avoid the prongs sticking out from where a flip up seat was missing as I have ripped a bag on the back of my chair at another ground where these existed.

Audio Match Commentary
No evidence that this is available.

Accessible Toilet
The one accessible toilet in the away end when I visited in the first half was covered in urine such that it was unusable for me. As I got the sense that the cleaner I requested would not appear quickly, I asked to be taken to another accessible toilet and was taken to the home end. I did use the one accessible toilet in that stand but was unhappy that it had what appeared to me to be faeces on the back of the system. I did report this to the steward in this stand but I it felt like I was not being heard. In the second half I wanted to use the toilet again, only to find the seat was still covered in urine. I was then taken to the accessible toilet in the Supporter’s Bar which was huge and gleaming clean. The problem then was that knowing people are waiting to escort me back to the away stand, meant I felt under pressure to be quick, which for me just makes my muscles seize up, so I take longer than ever and begin to feel stressed about the situation. I believe strongly that I should be able to go to the loo without having to make a fuss, in the same way as non disabled people do. This is a basic provision for all supporters but which will continue to be denied disabled fans (20% of the population) whilst there is only one accessible loo in a stand and particularly when it is not radar key locked.

Club Staff
The steward who spoke to us about the seating was disarmingly honest which we respected. The Supervisor for the away stand also impressed us in that he told us straight away if he got in our line of vision to tell him to move, even though he never did and fans who stood in front of us were quickly moved by the stewards without us having to request this which we were grateful for (we had an unobstructed view throughout). It was the Supervisor who also made the arrangements for my two toilet visits in other parts of the ground, did so efficiently and apologised to me. He also agreed with me that radar locks on the accessible toilets would help reduce these issues and said he would ask for this. Credit must also go to the woman in the tea bar with long dark hair (sorry I did not get her name). When I initially went to go to the toilet in the away end, she witnessed me struggling to open the heavy door and came over to help me. As for the steward in the away end, when the helpful tea bar server subsequently asked him to call a cleaner as he had a radio which she did not, he later admitted that he had instead chosen to phone his daughter, at which point the woman in the tea bar used her own phone to ring for a cleaner. As 45 minutes later no cleaner had materialised, I can only conclude that there was so much emergency cleaning being required in the stadium that the request to clean in the away end was still waiting its turn on the list or was there as I suspect no cleaners available during the match? I just find the wait too long to not be suspicious. When I attempted to use the accessible toilet in the away end for the second time and found that it had still not been cleaned, I confirmed with the steward that the cleaner had still not arrived before offering to clean the toilet myself if they could supply me with gloves, cleaning items and cloths. At this point the steward laughed at me. This was subsequently denied and I was told he was laughing at a conversation he was having with some other fans who were standing drinking. I know I was laughed at and rather than engaging in such conversations ,may I suggest that he could have more usefully spent his time chasing up the cleaner that he knew was so much needed.

Catering
The menu and prices are included in the guide referred to above. Due to the thinness of the cups my husband had to stop twice carrying hot drinks out to the stand as they were so hot to hold. We were informed by one fan that their hot dog tasted like plastic but this is the only report we had on the stadium food that we did not sample ourselves.

Leaving the Stadium
No problems leaving, the traffic was slow on the main road but no worse than at many locations.

Overall
Visit dominated by the loo issue which resulted in me missing a considerable amount of the game and 2 of our 3 goals. Whilst I fully agree that it was an away fan who left the toilet in an unfit state, these things happen and the Club should have procedures in place to deal with these eventualities so that they don’t impact on other fans in the way that I was forced to suffer. This is now the second consecutive away trip where I have been unable to use the accessible toilet without causing a fuss. It is unacceptable and all possible steps need to be taken as a priority to prevent others similarly suffering.

I am a powerchair user and my husband is severely visually impaired. This was our second visit as away fans to Morecambe. (I obviously overlooked doing a review on our last visit!) We travelled to the game in an accessible minibus that is part of our Club’s official away travel. Unlike with many L1 Clubs, I am unable to find any tab on Morecambe FC’s website that gives details about facilities for disabled fans, which leaves me with the impression that the Club does not consider such information important.

Arrival and Entry to the Ground
From the motorway you reach the ground before any evidence that you are at a seaside town, passing through residential areas and a supermarket on the left just a minute or two before you turn into the ground on the right. We seemed to come across the entrance somewhat suddenly so worth looking out for it. As you turn in, on the far side there is a pub which I am told welcomes away fans, has recently been refurbed and the food is good. As it looks pretty new, I am guessing access is good but it is only a guess. Our driver was told to park in the disabled parking on the left at the front of the stadium to drop-us off. The entry to the away end is on the right-hand side of the front of the stadium. The player’s entrance is also in this area, so we were easily able to see our team arrive which is always a bonus. Access for wheelchair users is through a large metal gate next to the away turn styles, which takes you directly into the area under the stand. Access to the seating area is directly opposite up a wide ramped area and round to the right.

The Mazuma Stadium has a wrap around car parking, all level flat ground with dropped kerbs. I note that LPF’s web page on Morecambe says there is no public parking available on match days but I know that at least one of our fans, who is a Blue Badge holder, had parking in an accessible bay just to the right of the away fans entrance, so if you need parking, I would encourage you to contact the Club prior to your match day.

Seating Area
The seating area for away wheelchair users is recessed at pitch level at the beginning of the away fans block. This is about a quarter way down one of the long sides. There is room for 3 wheelchairs with fixed flip down carer seats adjacent in twos. We managed to squeeze into the space 3 wheelchairs and a scooter with 4 PAs/carers due to my husband standing squeezed into the corner by me. One of our wheelchair users was initially told by a steward that she could move further towards the far corner to sit with her family in front of the pitch side seating for ambulant disabled but a Club Official quickly moved her back. We were told that if there was not enough room in the small recess we were in, we would need to move further along in the opposite direction which would put us in front of the home fans (It is a shared divided stand and the only stand with seating for the home fans), so we were keen to all stay with our own fans. (LPF’s info says there is 12 spaces for away wheelchair users, this was not our experience.)

The distance between the recessed area and the barriers to the pitch was relatively narrow, due to the long journey there were only 279 away fans, so this was not an issue, with a lot more away fans I fear this could be very congested and easily pose a risk to the safety of the wheelchair users (as the width of the recessed area was also relatively narrow). All the away fans have to walk past the wheelchair area to access/exit the main seating which is up steps behind the wheelchair area. With the numbers we had we did not have an issue with away fans standing in front of us blocking our views but this could easily I suspect be an issue. I noticed at the end two of our wheelchair users moved to the barrier to clap our players as often happens which almost blocked the exit for all away fans which would have happened if I too had moved forward, so I was left with little choice but to move out of the ground to give everyone leaving some room. Unlike the last winter match we went to at Morecambe when it was so windy the advertising hoarding nearly blew down, this was a warm summer day but we were sat in the shade rather than the sun. I think we were under cover but I fear we might well have got wet if there was wind and rain.

Audio Commentary for VI Fans
It would appear that the only commentary available is a standard radio one provided by the local radio station and no specialist one for visually impaired fans.

Accessible Toilet
On your right as you enter. Clean with hot water, hand wash and working hand drier. I found it difficult to wash my hands without giving myself and the floor a shower. A large bin marked “For incontinence and nappy waste only”, no nappy changing table and no sanitary bin but there was a canister of anti-bacteria air spray. The emergency pull cord was the other side of the bin which would make it difficult to use if needed. Lots of room to turn my chair and well lit. I was told that the area outside the loo area got very congested at half time but was easy to access during the match.

Catering
This was on the left as you entered from outside. We take our own but I was reliably informed that the usual fayre was good quality and reasonably priced. Soft drinks were sold without the lids.

Stewards
It would have been helpful if the stewards our driver spoke to as we arrived had told us where the away end was, as we inevitably walked the wrong way from where we were dropped off and so did a lap of the stadium as there was no one about to guide us and my memory from our last visit failed. (This is why these reviews are so useful!) It wasn’t a problem for us in good weather but some disabled visitors may have struggled with this.

Stewards outside the away end were efficient rather than engaging but the one just inside gave us a warm welcome (and equally warm words as we left). I have already detailed the differing instructions regarding seating we were given. I would also concur with the earlier reviewer that the stewards during the match got in the way of us seeing the away goal and were not receptive to our clear shows of frustration at this.

Leaving the Stadium
Our mini-bus and the away coach were parked in the far corner at the rear of the ground at the end. As there were only a total attendance of 3,995 it was easy to find our way back to our bus, albeit we only knew where it was parked due to another one of our fans telling us, as otherwise we would have gone the opposite way to where we had been dropped off and where another person had gone without being advised by any steward as to the location of the mini-bus.

Overall
Lots of good points. Only real issue was the seemingly limited spaces for away wheelchair fans and stewards could generally be more helpful. This said, we would have no hesitation going again, definitely better in good weather!

I visited this ground last night with my disabled son. There were only 2 wheelchair users in the away end , the disabled space was infront of the away seats which was good, but pitchside, we couldnt see the left corner of the pitch & stewards frequently blocked our view, but were always told to move by the lady steward there. The tea bar & disabled toilets were only yards away & easily accessible for wheelchair users.

I phoned to try & book a disabled parking space but was told all the car parking spaces had been sold to season ticket holders. When I explained that my sons car had a hoist in the back to lift his electric wheelchair out, he said he would see if he could help. Later he phoned me & said they had managed to find us a space, which we were grateful for. The car park was nowhere near full for the match though & the away accessible parking area had non blue badge holders parked there, eg taxis. The club shop was easily accessible to wheelchairs