Women’s football could improve the accessibility of the game for more than a quarter of disabled fans, simply by increasing the information available.
Results from the Level Playing Field survey on disabled supporters of women’s football, showed a ‘lack of information’ was a barrier for attending matches to a significantly higher proportion of fans (26%), than in last year’s annual fan survey across all sports (16%).
The results report is now available to view in full here.
The ‘cost of attending’ and ‘difficulty purchasing tickets’ were both shown to be lesser barriers for disabled fans attending women’s football and 19% of respondents were aged 18-29, which all displays the potential for teams to attract new supporters.
Communication continued to be a key area highlighted for improvement here however, with 38% of respondents rating their club’s ‘communication and marketing when it comes to attracting disabled fans into watching women’s football’ as ‘poor’, ‘very poor’, or ‘non-existent’. 46% of fans listed ‘accessibility information’ as something which would help when planning for and travelling to women’s matches, with only accessible parking ranking higher.
‘Physical access at stadiums’ is the highest ranked barrier, as with the most recent annual fan survey’s results, while ‘anxiety or lack of confidence’ and ‘attitudes of others’ also received high responses, in line with the data across all sports.
Chair of Level Playing Field, Tony Taylor, said: “This important research will be highly valuable as we look to drive accessibility and inclusion in the women’s game, alongside its ongoing increases in attendances and revenue.
“The first-of-its-kind survey has developed our understanding of the unique landscape within women’s football meaning we are better placed to support fans, clubs, disabled supporters’ associations and governing bodies.
“Whilst many of the key areas of concern are comparable with wider sport, the need to improve accessibility information is a key outlier.
“This is something which we will proactively look to work on with governing bodies and clubs. I hope all parties see this as an opportunity to make immediate, simple and impactful improvements in the way they engage with disabled fans now and in the future.
“We hope to see the growth in the women’s game continue over the coming years and with that growth, provisions for disabled supporters must also be improved.”
A full report on the survey results is now available to view in full here.
The 2023 Level Playing Field Annual Fan Survey received over 1750 responses and was open to disabled fans of women’s football and all other sports. The results will be released later this year.