House of Lords condemns lack of access for disabled football fans

  • London
Disabled fans struggle to get access to Premier League grounds. Credit: PA

The Premier League has been criticised during a House of Lords debate over the facilities they provide for disabled fans.

The peers were discussing the Accessible Sports Grounds Bill which would give local authorities powers to force clubs to make their stadia more accessible.Paralympian Lord Holmes of Richmond said a Chelsea fan had been told to wait until the club has a new stadium in 2022 before the accessibility at Stamford Bridge would be improved.

Research by the Level Playing Field charity found none of the London clubs had the recommended number of spaces for wheelchair users. Arsenal came closest - based on the size of their stadium, they are recommended to have 250 wheelchair spaces but only have 240.

But Crystal Palace, Watford and Tottenham were bottom of the list of Premier League clubs for providing wheelchair spaces. All three had fewer than 40% of their recommended numbers.

  • Arsenal: 240 spaces - 96%

  • West Ham: 11 spaces - 57%

  • Chelsea: 108 spaces - 50%

  • Crystal Palace: 66 spaces - 39%

  • Watford: 54 spaces - 37%

  • Tottenham: 56 spaces - 28%

Lord Holmes said he would put pressure on sponsors and broadcasters to ask the clubs to take action.

The bill is a private member's bill and will probably need Government support to become law.