01/03/2026
International wheelchair day, 1st March 2026.
Although not all our members / BWFC fans with a disability are wheelchair users, some fans are.
The reality for fans who are wheelchair users (in general not specific to a club):
♿ Access - limited entrances, broken lifts, difficult routes, uneven paths, high kerbs.
👀 Viewing - blocked sightlines, fans standing infront of wheelchair platforms or in gangways, stadium structure causing blocked sightline, not enough spaces together
🚻 Facilities - too few accessible toilets, not always a Changing Places Toilet, fans using accessible toilets to avoid queues in toilets therefore creating longer queues for disabled fans.
🚗 Travel - very limited parking, often difficult to book, public transport can be inaccessible, cost.
🍔 Refreshments - high counters, crowded concourses, not easy to navigate through with a wheelchair, heavy doors making it impossible for wheelchair user or relative/friend/personal assistant to push a chair and carry refreshments.
🎟️ Ticketing - complicated booking systems, often have too book disabled fan and other family members separately, including for away matches, some clubs make disabled fans contact them directly for disabled ticket, but remainder of family purchase through own club. Not all fans able to use ticketless option, fans with disability and family members often seated separately.
🌧️ Exposure - little shelter from weather, often exposed to all the elements with no option to move to shelter from the rain.
🧑🤝🧑 Inclusion - lack of awareness, feeling left out, disability slurs, not always aimed at the fans but often disability slurs shouted at players / match officals, disability slurs are never acceptable!
Football should be for all
