Submitted on
Thursday 26 May 2011
by
Jackie Newing
It appears that Nottingham Forest has inadvertently led its disabled supporters to believe that the club were advised directly by Level Playing Field about ticket pricing and that we apparently have sanctioned their increases for next season.
This is simply not correct and we have only advised Nottingham Forest directly with respect to their stadium and general policy. Further, we have received numerous complaints from Nottingham Forest disabled fans who have informed us that there has been no consultation about ticketing prices between themselves, the Disabled Supporters Association (DSA) and the club. We would recommend that the club meet with their disabled fans as a matter of urgency.
At the Football League Seminar earlier this season we expressed our views to all attendees as follows:
Our guidance on this subject is very clear in that we do not believe that clubs should offer routine concessions based purely on a fan being a disabled person as this does not embrace the social model of disability. In our view, concessions should be applied across the board for more general reasons including marketing of tickets to underrepresented groups, etc. and not purely because someone is considered to be a disabled person. Ticketing prices and management should be applied equally in line with non-disabled fans and as advised by the Football Association and Football League in their guidance documents. Further, it is our view that where a personal assistant is required by a disabled fan as a reasonable adjustment to enable them to access the match day service, then a complimentary ticket should be provided by the club such that there should be no increase in overall ticketing costs to the disabled fan.
Level Playing Field always advises clubs to consult with their own local disabled fans (ideally this should include the DSA where one exists) when considering any changes to services, and especially any changes to ticket prices. We also recommend that a club should consider staged increases to ticket prices over several seasons when removing any existing concessions.
We would recommend that only clubs that provide an equal service and adequate facilities (such as good sightlines and easy access) for disabled fans should consider any moderate increases to existing ticket prices and especially given the current financial climate. If any seating conditions are poor or unequal (such as lack of shelter, no choice of seating areas etc.), then it would seem only right for the club to continue to offer a concessionary price in those seating areas in the same way as a club would do in areas where for example pillars might obscure a fan’s view, etc. and until such time as the facilities were improved. However, what we really want to see is clubs making the necessary adjustments to meet their duty to disabled fans and to ensure that football is finally equal and fairly available to all.
Joyce Cook, Chair Level Playing Field
26th May 2011