Wigan Athletic

Easy ground to get to, as it was an evening game we were told by a Wigan supporter to wait till 7 pm then parking is free with a blue badge , which is well worth noting.
Inside the concourse it is good, but upon entering our disabled section, which is high up and semi enclosed , it frightened the be jeezus out of my wife in her wheelchair.
The only thing stopping anyone from toppling over the edge was a small 4″ round tube across the front which was attached to the floor, I honestly think someone in a motor scooter could press the wrong button and hit the stupid tube thing and topple over the edge.
Apart from that the view is excellent, but spoilt by some stewards climbing over seats to get into our ” private box” lol to leave via our door..
Leaving the stadium is very easy so is the way on to the main roads out..
Good disabled toilet, we didn’t sample refreshments so can’t comment on them,
The only thing that would make us think again about going is that safety aspect of the stupid small tube, if they could put a glass panel or metal bar higher up would be a massive improvement.

I’m sat on the floor in the disabled end because my seat and other carers are blocked off and whilst I have been told just to find a seat anywhere being a carer I cannot do that.I find in this day and age to be disgusting and disrespectful.

Easy enough ground to locate, a few weeks pior to pur game I emailed Norma Sherratt the DLO who was ever so helpful and who gave me details of the car park we were to use, this is directly behind the away end. Stewards were very helful and pleasant, showing the way to the slope that leads to the viewing platform. On the viewing platform for wheelchair users there’s nowhere for carers to sit unless they sit in the stand at the side, which is ok unless they are needed. I didn’t need the toilet so no comment. After the match has finished trying to get to the lift can be a tad bedlem as able bodies fans surge towards the stairs. The lift is only small an only two wheelchairs can fit in at any one time.

Enquired about Disabled Parking from Ticket Office and told to go to car park number five. They took my car details and Rigistration Number and gave me a Post Code for Sat Nav purposes. They said my name would be on a list held by the steward and I would have to pay him/her £5.00. On arrival there is no accessible parking in that car park and I had to park in a normal bay as near to the exit as possible and on arrival several bays were vacant. However there was a problem at the end of the game as cars were parked either side of me and there wasn’t room to get my wheelchair down the side of the car. My helper doesn’t drive so the car could not be moved to make it accessible. It was the last match of the season and Wigan were crowmed champions. There were prolonged celebrations by their fans and it was an hour before the neighbouring drivers returned to their vehicles. The car park is about 300 yards from disabled entrance GATE Q and lift to North Stand Platform (behind Right Hand corner of the pitch.) Accessible toiled at bottom of short gently sloped ramp to platform. Lift less than 10 yards from the ramp.

View of pitch was generally good with the row immediately in front of platform netted-off. However with just under 5000 visiting supporters in the North Stand the view towards the goal and left hand corner of the pitch was sometimes limited by supporters standing behind and slightly to the right of the goal.

Stewards polite, helpful and well trained. I did not use any of thecatering/refreshment facilities but there seemed to be several serving areas for these along the length of the stand.

A major concern and problem is the lack of any facility for the helper to be with trhe person who needs help. The seat that she had been allocated was in the row in front but 30 seats to the left from where I was. We had to communicate by phone ! It is a must to consider putting some kind of seating on this platform for helpers – even it is something as basic as mobile chairs. This spoilt an otherwise enjoyable day as Wigan celebrated as Champions and we got a fantastic victory to take us into the play-offs.

Following a bad expreience at Peterborough recently it was nice to be treated excellently at Wigan. Following advice from Norma Sherratt we arrived at Sharpys car park situated directly behind the away stand and we were politely directed to a disabled space by a friendly steward who took the time to speak to us and guided us to our turnstile. This experience was a credit to Wigan Athletic and Norma. Many thanks Mick Jenkins Walsall supporter.

Although a wheelchair user I travel by coach. The surface of the coach park is very rough and had to exit under a very low barrier which was locked. No dropped curbs so a long walk to groud had to be done on the road.

At the ground facilities were good and stewards extremley helpful, even offering help to return to coach park safely.

One draw back at the ground is that personal assistants cannot sit near to you.

Wigan charged £10 deposit to use their audio commentary headsets but it didn’t work. A fellow supporter who follows Wigan says it only works in the home end.

Parking – I contacted Wigan, as advised, regarding parking and spoke with Norma (Disabled co-ordinator) who was most helpful, sending me a parking pass, which I received within 2 days of my request, This was for car park 5, which is approx 100mtrs from the away section. (Be prepared for a 40min wait to get off after though!).

Pre Game – Fantastic, away fans only club, next to the away fans turnstiles, very friendly and welcoming. Pie, peas and gravy in a tray £2!! and the best bit, a lift from inside the club directly up to the disabled area.

View – Wheelchair section is elevated and situated towards the right corner flag, good view of the whole pitch when everyone is sat down…However when fans stand it is impossible to see the nearest goal…VERY FRUSTRATING!! I didn’t need the toilet facilities so cannot comment.

All in all a good day (apart from the result) With Stewards and Staff very helpful. Would I go again? Most definately……..But please try to do something about that frustrating view Wigan as everything else is spot on!

Stadium easy to find well signed. Parking easy to find and plentyfull, in satdium way some 200yards from stadium, park in soccer dome car park, large visitng car aprk which is gravelled not suitable for wheelchair users. Did not use bookable spaces, waiting 40mins to get out is long time. The fans bar area closed, with some 4,500 visitors it may be a problem, but the soccer dome was open for visitors. There is a lift and just as well otherwise disabled wheelchair users would not be able to get to see the game, and ambulant supporters who can’t climb stairs would also have a problem as well. The problem with the lift there is only one and this is some distance away from one of the viewing galleries and presents a problem at full time with the rush of the crowd and was quite difficult and little scarry getting to the lift. The lift is just big enough to fit one wheelchair in and carer, and the wait to get in was long, so if there was an emergency evacuation this could have consequenses for disabled fans. Viewing was a problem from the gallery with fans again standing up, there is lots of space so I would have thought raising the floor would not be an issue, except expenditure which seems an on going excuse for many clubs. All round the facilities are quite good but spoilt by what would be viewed by small things, but they mean a lot to disabled supporters. On a good note all staff/stewards at the club where most heplfull and certainly well trained to deal with disabled supporters. On a sad not another bad day at the office for the team.

Got to wigan with a bit of spare time, so we were making our way to entrance and was called over by a steward to come into the players lounge, it was a really nice and spacious area. It was full of us spurs and they had a selection of food beer and hot drinks, it was a great relief to get out of the sleet and cold, very well thought of and an example of what we should be aiming for in treating away fans, the stewards were very helpful in looking out for us and helping with any requests . Well done wigan

As I have said in previouse comments still stand apart from one of the most importent aspects that affect wheel chair users in this stadium and similar stadiums with the viewing galleries like the Wigan ones. At last it seems someone is listening, the entire row in front of the Wheel Chair viewing area was empty and had netting over to stop people sitting in the seats, HURRAHHHHHHH, an uninterupted view of a game at last a Big THANK you to you WIGAN hope it lasts, keep the information flowing. Only set back was the disabled toilets being used by none disabled, and what a mess although the stewards did clean it up before I used them. Visited by head steward asking if all was ok, and the visiting fans bar was open so able to rest before the game. All in all and excellent evening, other than the result.

AS AN AMBULANT SUPPORTER I FOUND THE EXPERIENCE FAR FROM SATISFACTORY.WE WERE SEATED ABOUT 8 ROWS FROM THE FRONT BUT AS ALL AWAY SUPPOTERS STAND I NEEDED TO SIT DOWN AT HALF TIME MY CARER ASKED THE STEWARD IF WE COULD SIT ON THE 2ND ROW AS THE FIRST 2 ROWS WERE EMPTY.HE AGREED SO WE WENT AND SAT DOWN AND THEN ANOTHER STEWARD CAME ALONG AND SAID WE COULD NOT SIT THERE AS IT WAS FOR HEALTH AND SAFETY REASONS.HE TOLD US TO GO IN THE 3RD ROW AS THERE WAS NO ONE SITTING THERE BUT LO AND BEHOLD AT THE END OF HALF TIME SOMEONE CAME BACK AND TOLD US WE WERE IN THEIR SEATS.WE WENT BACK TO THE 2ND ROW BUT THE STEWARD CAME BACK AND WE TOLD HIM THAT THE SEATS IN THE ROW BEHIND WERE TAKENHE TOLD US WE WOULD HAVE TO GO BACK TO OUR ORIGINAL SEATS.WE TOLD HIM THERE WAS NO CHANCE AS THE STEPS WERE TOO STEEP FOR ME TO CLIMB.HIS ONLY RESPONSE WAS” YOU CANNOT SIT THERE”.I WAS PREPARED TO IGNORE HIM AS I HAD NO ALTERNATIVE BEARING IN MIND WE WERE TOLD WE COULD SIT THERE BEFORE WE MOVED DOWN.EVENTUALLY ANOTHER STEWARD CAME ALONG WITH A BIT OF COMMON SENSE AND ALTHOUGH HE TOLD US THERE WAS “PROBABLY” SOME SEATS OVER NEAR THE CORNER FLAG WE WOULDNT GO UNTIL HE COULD CONFIRM THERE WERE SOME. IF THE 2 FIRST ROWS ARE NOT TO BE USED WHY NOT TAKE THEM OUT AND IF THEY ARE FOR HEALTH AND SAFETY WHY DOES THIS NOT APPLY TO THE OTHER FIRST 2 ROWS ON THE 3 OTHER SIDES OF THE STADIUM. THIS SITUATION WAS CAUSED BY LACK OF TRAINING ON BEHALF OF THE FIRST STEWARD WHO SAID WE COULD SIT THERE AND A TOTAL LACK OF UNDERSTANDING AND COMMON SENSE ON BEHALF OF THE STEWARD WHO KEPT QUOTING HEALTH AND SAFETY BUT WHO WAS NOT CONCERNED ABOUT MINE.