Disabled Coventry City fans to set up supporter forum

The Coventry Building Society Arena has wheelchair user spaces and portable radios for visually impaired fans

Coventry City FC has met disabled supporters to discuss making the club more accessible.

The aim is create a fan-led Disabled Supporters' Association (DSA) to enable fans to raise concerns.

About 30 people attended Wednesday's meeting at the Coventry Building Society Arena and discussed matters such as parking and stadium access.

Liam Bird from Level Playing Field said there was a "really good appetite" from supporters to get involved.

'Quite stressful'

Visually impaired fan Matt Nunn told BBC CWR his journey from the car to home fixtures could be "quite stressful".

"Around the stadium there are dropped kerbs and tactile pavements but there's nothing tactile which leads you into the arena," he said.

"It does make life quite difficult to get through a sea of people if they don't know that there's a route that needs to be taken for someone that's visually impaired."

Level Playing Field, a charity which campaigns and advises on removing barriers for disabled sports fans, carried out an audit on Coventry's home ground last year.

Paul Michael, managing director at Coventry Building Society Arena, said the arena was "actively working through" recommendations from the charity's report and committed to making the stadium accessible for all.

"We look forward to working with Coventry City and listening to any supporters' groups about how we can continue to improve the experience for all visitors," he added.

Stadium bosses said they were committed to supporting the individual needs of visitors

Mr Bird, who described the meeting as "fantastic", is helping set the DSA up.

"[Volunteers] want to bring about better access and inclusion for fans who are attending football at that stadium," said Mr Bird.

Coventry City FC said in a statement it had seen a 40% increase in disabled season ticket holders this season.

The DSA would "work towards building a stronger relationship and effective communication between us, as a club, and also non-disabled fans," the statement added.

There are about 60 associations for disabled supporters at clubs across England and Wales, said Mr Bird.