An estimated 22% of the UK population are disabled, making disabled people the largest minority group in the UK.
Still, many disabled sports fans feel that attending live sports is not possible, due to the environmental and societal barriers that disabled football fans face, which make matchdays inaccessible.
The most recent Level Playing Field Fan survey found that 28.5% of disabled sports fans considered the attitudes of others to be a barrier when attending live sport, and over a quarter of disabled fans, 36.5%, said they are unable to attend certain sports or sporting venues due to lack of accessibility.
Today Luton Town Football Club is proud to participate in Level Playing Field’s new national campaign, 'Unite For Access' – a celebration of accessibility and inclusion for disabled sports fans.
Hatters players including Jordan Clark and Luton Town Disabled Supporters Association patron James Shea, pictured above with one of our most famous fans, Nicky Toone, will be sporting special 'Unite For Access' T-shirts in the warm-up before the game against Swansea City at Kenilworth Road.
As part of the club's commitment to ensuring everyone has an enjoyable matchday experience at Kenilworth Road, this season we have introduced a designated disability stewarding team (pictured above and below) to help supporters in the disabled areas in the Enclosure and Kenilworth Road Stand. This was implemented to improve the experience we give to our wheelchair users mostly, but also other disabled fans who use those parts of the ground.
Here at Kenilworth Road we also offer visually impaired supporters the use of audio headsets to listen to Simon Pitts’ commentary of the match, with more headsets available this season than ever before. Click HERE to find out how to order one.
Level Playing Field is the leading charity advocating for disabled sports fans in England and Wales, and our dedicated 'Unite For Access' matchday is one of many happening across stadiums up and down the country over two weeks.
As a club, we believe that all people should be able to attend live sports, regardless of disability. We are committed to making Luton Town Football Club accessible to all, and will continue to take steps to improve, but we also call on all supporters to come with us on this journey, we all have our part to play.
We know that talking about disability can be daunting sometimes, it’s a complex subject matter. That’s why we invite all supporters, disabled and non-disabled, to engage with us on this important campaign and to ensure access and inclusion is at the heart of everything we do.
Good disability access benefits everyone… and that's why we ask all to:
If you want to know more about the work of Level Playing Field please visit www.levelplayingfield.org.uk, or find them across social media by searching Level Playing Field.
