Stoke City

Excellent view from elevated section in away end Lower section wasn’t open but nobody will get in your way as the platform has been raised to avoid this. Car parking is available outside away end at 10 pounds but there are loads of parking places outside at 5 pounds although it’s very hilly so not ideal if your pushing a wheel chair There’s a burger van outside away end for food Traffic quite bad outside ground after game Away fans are welcome in Harvester for a drink

Response from Stoke City FC:
There is a limited amount of blue badge parking available behind the visitor’s stand which are issued on a first come first served basis. The cost is £10.00 per car and is payable on the day, we do not take bookings in advance.

Please drive to the stadium entrance and a steward will direct you.

Phoned ticke office to book a disabled parking space, they don’t take bookings for away fans! Not exactly helpful, maybe away fans are less disabled than home fans.

I was looking forward to visiting a newly developed ground with proper raised covered seating areas, but unfortunately…When we arrived it had begun to rain. One of the stewards welcomed the 4 wheelchair users and our carers and informed us that due to the weather forecast she was working on getting us access to the raised platforms in the away stand rather than having us get soaked at the front of the stand.She was told that because Wigan had not sold a high enough allocation of tickets the raised platform could not be used and that we had to sit pitchside open To The elements.When we arrived pitchside the new wheelchair platform could be clearly seen with Wigan fans sat in front and behind it (see photo attached). We again asked if we could sit there and were told this was not possible due to the dead area needed between the fans. (The stewards were courteous and very good, but ultimately powerless)We proceeded to be soaked through at the front of the stands with very limited visibility. I have written to the club complaining ND suggesting that the raised platform should always be used in the same way that the home fans had and will update this site with their response.

Visited Stoke yesterday for the first time. From the car park stewards onwards it was, possibly, the best ground I have ever been to from a disabled point of view.Car park (£5) was 30 steps from entrance, which was all level access. Disabled loo just at entrance to stadium, steward on stand by with radar key if you didn’t have your own. Small lift then took me to the disabled viewing platform (1 of 16 around the ground) which holds approx 7 chairs and carers). View of pitch uninterrupted even by standing fans below. View from my seat in Block 39/Gate X

Wheelchair bays were basically unreserved seating you could sit anywhere. The entrance was a bit of a kerfuffle as I kept being told to go somewhere else to have my tickets checked, there seemed to be no access to the concourse but there was access to a disabled toilet.

The view for wheelchairs wasn’t great, being pitchside, the platform didn’t appear to be raised making it hard to see the other end of the pitch, and the pitch as a whole (for the second half) with multiple cameramen and stewards standing in the way, and refusing to sit down.

Overall, a decent stadium and I do like the fact you can get closer to the players here with the tunnel being right next to the away wheelchair bays, but the view and overall access could be better for getting into the ground without confusion and inconvenience.

Following consultation with disabled supporters, Stoke City have now installed raised viewing platforms in all 17 wheelchair bays. These raise the floor level by about 45cms, enabling unrestricted views when supporters in front stand up. Access is gained to the bays by a platform wheelchair lift in each bay. Seats for carers are fixed to the wall behind in an elevated position with a foot rest. This was done to avoid losing wheelchair spaces when the lift was in place This is a bit anti social but we now get a fabulous view. For the first time, I was able to see the players come out onto the pitch at the start of the match, as supporters always stand up until kick off. There was a teething problem with the doors to the lift not opening without a lot of fiddling by stewards, but hopefully this will be sorted out for the next match.

Away wheelchair platform now free of obstruction as they net off the three rows of seats in front of the platform. Decent elevated view.

The biggest problem was getting from the railway station to the gound. All four shuttle buses weren’t wheelchair accessible. Fellow supporters and police officers had to llft my heavy powered chair on and off the bus in both directions.

Access to the stadium was easy from the A50. Guided with the away coaches and parked for £5 right outside the wheelchair entrance. Stewards very friendly inside and outside of the ground. Easy access to the wheelchair platform with helpers sitting along side. The 2 rows of seats were netted to improve sight lines to pitch. There were excellent facilities for wheelchairs. I was pleasantly impressed. The only negative point I have is the number of wheelchair spaces available. I have had difficulty in getting a ticket in previous seasons. Hopefully this will be addressed by August 2017 and complying with the accessible stadium guidelines.

So called “big clubs” should take a look at this stadium and get into line.

View from the disabled area is very poor with supporters stood in the away end. Could hardly see the goal nearest the away fans. Swapped places with another wheelchair user who kindly offered as he had more mobility than me and could lift himself a little higher above the standing spectators head when needed. This is very poor. There wasnt as many travelling disabled fans compared to the previous year when i recall numerous wheelchair users squashed into a small disabled section. This made it extremeley hard to access the disabled area.

Reading the other comments I wasn’t expecting to see the mighty reds at the Brittania very well, however I was pleasently surprised as the front 2 rows in front of my seat were covered by netting preventing the seats to be folded down or stood on.

However in the second half some of our fans stood in the walkway in front of the seats that were covered, this wasnt a problem for me as im quite tall, but if you were taking young ones in wheelchairs it may be more difficult for them to get a good view so bear in mind. Apart from the result a good day out!

Stoke City are one club where the view is appalling, from reading previous comments, it seems they cover 2-3 rows in front of the disabled seating area BUT only if the away team don’t sell the full allocation.

The coaches parked pretty much outside the away at the Britannia Stadium, so gaining access to the stadium was no problem as it’s all flat, up a slight slope but nothing too difficult for me to manage in my chair.

The concourse isn’t that spacious, and as more fans came in nearer to kick off it was hard to push through the crowd to the catering stand, there isn’t a low level kiosk, so it was a little trick getting served, but the girl serving me was very helpful. There was a steward by the disabled toilet who helped open the door (no RADAR key) and kept the fans from using it before the game, but at half time and full time he wasn’t there and I had to wait to use the toilet an able bodied fan had got there before me both times.

The view from the elevated platform which is the back of the lower tier is ok if fans in front don’t stand up. As this always happens it was quite tricky seeing the goal in front of the away end, but I could see the far end goal a bit more clearly. I am pretty convinced that last season the row in front of the platform was kept clear, this really helped with the sightlines of the pitch, but this wasn’t the case on my latest trip. If this could happen again it would help or if the platform could be raised a bit higher as the platform is perfectly situated behind the goal so with a little bit more thought it could give the disabled away fans a brilliant view. The carers sit next to the wheelchair user which I always prefer.

The stewards are always very helpful and friendly at Stoke and once again this was the case on this visit. All in all it was a decent trip to Stoke but just a bit hard to see parts of the game due to the fans standing up.

We are a group of Wolves season ticket holders, one of us is a wheelchair user and three are ambulant learning disabled fans who attend matches with our three friends who act as our helpers. Six of us are also away season tickets holders and have attended the majority of away games over the past three or four seasons.

On Saturday 8th April six of us attended the Stoke V Wolves games at the Britannia stadium. Our experience was awful due to a number of factors and incidents.

First, the view from the wheelchair platform was permanently blocked by fans standing in the several rows in front. We were made aware of a possible restricted view by Vicky Goodall when our seats were moved prior to the match but we had not realised that the view was zero throughout the match.

However the worst experience of all was the violence that broke out around us and how we as innocent vulnerable fans were affected by the way the incidents were dealt with. We were aware of another disabled fan and her family that sat directly behind us and prior to the match a group of fans in the row above them were pointing out their ‘stoke accents’ and the fact they could see their house from the stand. During the first half of the match we heard an argument develop between the family behind us and the people behind them. I heard the elderly husband of the disabled lady being threatened via abusive language. Understandably he became very angry and a scuffle broke out. The stewards charged in and attempted to remove the perpetrators and the incident escalated. During this incident I was knocked to the ground and trampled resulting in the need to be taken to the first aid room. As you can imagine this was extremely distressing for all members of our group and also left a disabled supporter without their carer.

When I returned from receiving treatment other fans continued to protest at the removal of their friends and I had several conversations with different stewards and was told that the people who had been ejected should not have gained entry due to being banned and that they were good friends of the tunnel steward (dressed in blue). I was asked to give my version of events to the tunnel steward and whilst doing so received abuse from the friends of the ejected fans. At this point I stated that I really did not feel safe and was moved, along with my group, to another area of the away end, away from the violence.

With regards to the view from the disabled area, I understand that attempts from stewards to get Wolves fans to sit down were futile, and that the problem was partly due to the Wolves fans. However, this has long been a problem at all away matches, and should be taken into account by clubs when organising disabled seating arrangements. I understand that the persistent standing of the fans is not the fault of Stoke City stewards, but it is hardly the fault of innocent disabled supporter either. We feel as though these wheelchair users have been discriminated against due to their disability, as they cannot access areas of the stadium where they can actually see the pitch. This has been noted on previous visits to the Britannia, and yet still nothing has been done to attempt to combat such problems.

It is a sad day when vulnerable supporters attend a football match, are unable to see and are left frightened and injured through no fault of their own and are not protected from incidents of by the arrangement of seating or the actions of the stewards. Non of the six people in our party were able to watch the match after spending a significant amount of money on tickets and travel to support their team. These experiences have made us question our attendance of any future away matches. Whilst we all very much enjoy travelling with our team we have to question if our needs as disabled people can really be met in such environments and therefore are disabled fans being prevented from accessing the away match experience.

Chelsea had played once before at the Britannia Stadium in the FA Cup a few years ago but this was my first visit. To Stoke City FC. I was picked up from my home in Surrey by Harry my carer at 11 and we got to the stadium via the M3, M25, M40, M42 & M6 three hours later.

The stewards and police guided us to the car park which was restricted to the away club but used exclusively by the disabled and the official club transport (the coaches).

We were charged £5 but as it was directly next to the stadium this was extremely good value for money. However we did have to wait for half an hour after the game before we were allowed to leave it.

There was a burger stall directly outside this away car park and the atmosphere around this area was fantastic; doubtless helped by the beautiful warm sunshine we were blessed with all day.

The disabled access was through a large metal doorway, across a small concourse and up a ramp. This lead to a disabled viewing balcony that was located behind a goal and about 10 rows back. You could say that this was an ideal location with good sightlines to the pitch. However, there were seats directly in front. The seats themselves were low enough to cause no viewing restriction but as with nearly all football stadia, the seats are used to allocate the sale of tickets and not to sit in.

If someone in the front row stands up, then understandably the person behind them will want to see so stands also. Likewise all the way to the back row and the result is that wheelchair users cannot see the game because people stand throughout the entirety of the match.

One of the more discerning of fans noticed the problem and asked me if he could stand behind me. Of course I said please do. But there were six others in front of me and far more in front of the whole area who were not so understanding.

The way of solving the problem?:

1. Stoke City do not sell tickets in the back two rows in front of the disabled viewing area.

2. Stoke City raise the height of the disabled viewing area by about 150 cm.

3. Every wheelchair user intending to watch his/her team play at Stoke City buys a Balder wheelchair that raises the height of your seat (cost: £15,000 each).

There was a very spacious and fully Health & Safety compliant disabled toilet right outside the disabled viewing area. I would say my wheelchair probably only clocked up about 100 meters between leaving and returning to the car. All ground covered was perfectly flat and smooth. Plenty of stewards were on hand to point us in the right direction.

Other than not being able to see the game (sort of the whole point in paying a carer £120 to take you, £50 petrol, £5 car park, £5 burger & drink, £4.50 toll road one way and £24 for the ticket), it was a comfortable visit to the Britannia Stadium. Until Stoke make some much needed alterations I will not be going again.

As previous fans comments, parking excellent and stewards helpful. Sight lines when fans stand in front of you are none existent, I had to move around to get a sight of the game. Only way round this was to remove the first row in front of disabled section. Several wheelchair users left as they could not see, stewards were asked to remove the row of standing supporters and put them in the area behind us wheelchair spectators, to which they replied they were going to get them to sit down, !!!! cuckoo land or what. Nice cold winters day and the constant drip of water from the roof was a problem, if the sorted out the sight lines it would be good.

We arrived in good time and found everyone very helpful. In the most part agree with the previous poster’s comments, one of the easiest accesses to the disabled areas. However, we struggled to see any of the match as fans insisted on standing up in front of us. It shouldn’t be too difficult to raise the disabled areas slightly as they are quite deep, and would make all the difference.

Regarding the disabled toilet, there was a slight problem in that fans seemed to congregate in front of although they moved away willingly enough for us to access it

I am not disabled but was in row 12, directly in front of wheelchair supporters and I agree entirely with their comments. Despite stewards sympathising with them no attempt was made to get fans to sit down. It is a complete and utter waste of time for wheelchair users to go to the Brittannia Stadium because they will not see a thing. Do as is said, and not sell tickets for the 3 rows in front of the viewing area and raise the level slightly. No problem

This is still one of the easiest grounds to get to and away from. The club have got almost everything right. Parking good, Stewarding good, access good. The only thing that lets this stadium getting top marks from a disabled away wheelchair supporters is yet again the lack of sight lines when viewing from the wheelchair sections. Supporters stand up in front of you obscuring sight of the game. When oh when are they going to do something about this, I wonder if it was their own home fans complaining about it, would they solve this problem which is not a hard thing to do. Please Stoke just do it…………..

Positives

A disabled car park Ramps and good paths

Negatives Poor sight lines – saw 5 minutes of the match Stewards poor Difficult to manoeuvre from entrance to seat as packed and very tight

90% of the match left me with this view so you can imagine I am extremely disappointed and annoyed at having to pay for this view. If the disabled viewing area is to allow viewing of the match, changes have to be made.

Absolute nightmare, unable to view any of the game as fans in front standing throughout the match. Although I emailed the DLO at Stoke on the 5th.March with my concerns after reading other reports on here I did not receive any reply. I contacted stewards during the game and although promises of getting supervisors and managers to come and see me nobody came and nothing was done, missed all the goals and saw very little action. What a shame a game was missed and Stoke did nothing to help me, I have written to them and asked for compensation as my ticket had nothing printed on it about restricted viewing. This problem has been on going since at least 2008 and is well documented by other travelling fans on this comments board. I will not be returning to Stoke until they sort this problem out. I left my home at 0:600am travelled 470 miles and got home at 12:15am very tired and frustrated that I had wasted a whole day and a lot of money on a game I had no chance of viewing

Managed to get parked very near to the ground at a cost of £5 but that is where the good points end with this ground.

You can not see a thing from the viewing area as everyone stands up. The stewards did ask them to sit down twice but then gave up. It was only when the person in front of me turned round and saw he was in front of people in wheelchairs that he got out of his seat and stood behind me. This did improve my view slightly but It was still the worse view I have ever had.

The disabled toilet is very close but it is far too small and there is also a pilar right near the door making it hard to get in. I was in a normal wheelchair and found it very hard so how someone in an electric scooter would manage I don’t know.

Considering this is a fairly new stadium I think it has been very poorly designed

I agree with everything said before. We suffered the same situation. The stewards did not even attempt to ask the fans in front to sit down to my knowledge. How ever I understand that our Disabled Liaison Officer who officially complained has had a result. I believe from what has been said that people from Stoke are visiting our ground for a meeting. Lets hope it brings a result for all the away fans disabled supporters.

RESULT – Just had a call from Stoke, they are raising the platforms for next season and also looking at sectioning off some seats.

Unless we get them in the cup next season we wont be going there. Would be interested to read comments from disabled fans who do go next season. I hope you all get a much better experience in the future.

Note from NADS – We are pleased to hear about this. NADS has been in ongoing and positive discussions with the club and Premier League about this significant problem and how best to resolve it. We will continue to liaise with the club and monitor all progress in this matter ahead of next season.

nice to here your comment s my son is a stoke disabled season ticket holder and every wheel chair position at stoke is the same when people stand i do hope you are right and they are raising the wheel cair areas for away fans and home fans but 10 years and waiting .good luck

15/05/10

Many thanks for your feedback ‘rt’ and we note your comment that the situation is the same in all wheelchair user seats in the stadium. We have raised this issue with the club and will keep everyone posted.

We are stoke supporters and my father is a disabled season ticket holder in the South stand where the home and away fans are sectioned. The home fans have the same viewing problems as the away fans, my dad who is the disabled one fell out with people in front of us standing up, but its the domino effect really where the front stand up and then it works back. Real poor areas in the stands, the club need to raise the areas somewhat or change where the disabled people sit.. Its a real big issue that needs adressing ASAP..

Come on stoke city sort it out

I’m an ambulant disabled away fan and found the seating provided for people like me had been chosen without much thought. The stewards were helpful though and getting in was easy.

The ideal place for us to sit would be at the front of our own fans/ behind wheelchair users and their helpers.

At Stoke, we sat just in front of the upper tier behind many of our fans. Our fans always stand at away matches and if we didn’t also, we couldn’t see anything.

Ambulant fans need to be able to sit for most if not all the match -while still being able to see what’s going on.

A good win for us but I was left very tired from standing and in quite a bit of pain.

Stoke should liaise with United to see how proper disabled access should be done.

Went on Tuesday and noticed the 3 rows in front of the Disabled Section for Away Supporters had been covered over. This, I would imagine, would have given wheelchair users a better view but, I wondered, if this was a permanent thing or whether it had been done because Birmingham had not sold their full allocation of tickets

I was very disappointed when we visited Stoke again this season to find that nothing had changed. The only thing different was as stated in the previous posting that two rows had been covered but this did not help the wheelchair supporters view of the goal nearest our supporters because people still stood in the other sections. We also had problems with stewards standing in their line of sight. I don’t see that Stoke can justify asking people to pay for a ticket when they do not get to see the game.

I am a wheelchair user & this was my first visit to the Britannia Stadium. Having read about the sight problems caused by fans standing in front of the wheelchair platform, I had prepared myself not to see much of the match. However, I was delighted to find that the 2 rows in front of the platform had been covered over to prevent their use. Consequently, I could see almost the whole pitch. Well done Stoke City!

Firstly this is not my first time at this venue. It is easy to find, but as a wheel chair user the parking is near to the away end entrance £5 not to bad. Stewards pleasant and good natured, toliet facilities good all in all not a bad stadium for visiting. Drawback is still the undersatnding by Stoke to not blocking off the first two rows infront of the wheel chair viewing galleries in order to stop standing fans blocking view, because LFC took 4000 fans we had the entire end we were in rather than only part, this meant we had all the viewing galleries instead of only one, when are clubs going to take disabled supporters seriously instead of paying lip service? With the intention of extending your stadium you will then have to involve all disabled groups in the new design beware then you may have to do something for the good of disabled fans.