Derby County forum discusses disabled access to football grounds

The event was held at Pride Park Stadium

Derby County have hosted a forum for disabled supporters to discuss ways of making football stadiums more accessible.

About 50 delegates from football clubs around the Midlands attended the event at Pride Park Stadium on Monday.

The forum was organised by the charity Level Playing Field, which works to improve disabled access and facilities at sporting venues.

A campaigner at the event said he doubted the fight would ever end.

Earlier this season, Derby County fan Alex Steward described the problems she had encountered while trying to follow the Rams at away games in League One as a wheelchair user.

Issues included badly-obstructed views and poor access to toilets.

Gary Dempsey has been a Derby fan for many years

Gary Dempsey, chairman of the Derby County Disabled Supporters' Club, spoke at the regional conference on the issue.

He said: "I don't think there will be an end [to the campaign]. We will always be fighting, always trying to catch up.

"The end goal is that people with disabilities can come to a football match and enjoy it in the same way that everyone else enjoys it.

"Unfortunately there are barriers that need to be removed and we need to constantly keep on fighting those barriers, but whether it ever will end I really don't know."

The group recently donated £6,000 to buy headsets, so blind and visually-impaired fans visiting Pride Park - including away supporters - could access an extra descriptive audio commentary provided by the club.

The service is used at many grounds by football fan Charlie Beeston, a University of Nottingham student and chairman of the new Lincoln City Disabled Supporters' Association.

Mr Beeston, who is registered blind, said: "Enhanced audio commentaries are an absolute game-changer. You can always attend football matches and enjoy the atmosphere, but when you are able to fully understand what's going on you can have those conversations at the pub after the match and talk about what's happened."

Tony Taylor said he wanted to see further innovations

Tony Taylor, chair of Level Playing Field, said: "What we're trying to get away from is the idea that there are minimum standards that we expect for disabled people. We want to go above and beyond that.

"Anyone who is non-disabled will expect the very best, and disabled fans have every right to do that too and let's not forget that one in four of the population are in one way or another associated with someone with a disability."

Later this month the charity will stage its annual "Unite for Access" campaign to highlight what it believes is needed to make the matchday experience memorable for disabled fans for what happens on the pitch rather than off it.