Hartlepool United

I would like to thank Lisa the supervisor at the game who listened to my needs, took me to the seats and asked if I was OK and if I needed anything else I was only to ask, she told me where the toilets where. Also Aran who took me to the toilets and said I was only to ask for help and he would try to help me. Thank you very much for a most enjoyable night.

We bought our tickets in advance from York, but there wasn’t any parking places available at Hartlepool

Arriving at the ground on a freezing day in sleet. We parked on the main road close to the ground.

The club shop wasn’t wheelchair accessible as it had a step into it.

We went to the far end of the ground to a wheelchair accessible entrance and our tickets were checked and the big gate opened for us.

Not one steward spoke to us or directed us where to go, but we knew from previous visits.

I went to a tea bar for pies (£3 each) which was not wheelchair accessible as it was down steps.

We were situated with our own fans in the corner of the ground pitchside, but we were unable to see any of the goal area as the stewards & police blocked our view and refused to move. 2 smoke canisters were lit and a steward kicked them in our direction, all the smoke blew over us and one steward got a bucket of sand and carried the smoking bucket immediately in front of us.

The stewards are not trained and are very rude. Clearly the worst ground in the league.

We previously bought our tickets from York but on ringing Hartlepool for a parking space three weeks earlier, I was told there werent any as they were all sold to season ticket holders.

The stewards werent helpful at all.

The club shop had a big step into it, not accessible although we were told they had a ramp if we went inside to ask & if they werent too busy.

A steward let us into the ground and another steward just said “follow me” we did but he just walked on & left us when we hadnt got access to follow him.

We couldnt get through to the only tea bar as it was on the opposite side of the ground to where we were and there were steps involved we were told later.

There were wheelchair accessible toilets though.

We were situated pitchside infront of our own fans (away end) but in the far right corner and we couldnt see the left corner of the pitch.

There were 6 wheelchairs and it was full and only room for one carer to sit down. 3 other carers went to look for seats elsewhere and 2 others stood up at the end of the stand. It was raining and as usual pitchside the rain was blowing in on us.

This was by far the worst ground we have visited this season

This was our third visit as away fans in as many seasons to Victoria Park. We have travelled on each occasion in a wheelchair accessible minibus which is part of our Club’s official away travel. The ground is in the town centre, overlooking the sea (beware the seagulls), next to a large supermarket. On the previous two occasions we have been able to disembark from our minibus on the same side of the road as the ground. This time we were directed to a space opposite the ground and then had to cross the very congested narrow road from behind the parked minibus (and the reverse at the end of the game), not ideal in a wheelchair, but at least the kerb was reasonably dropped.

The entrance for away wheelchair fans is through the car park at the right of the club shop. Beware the speed ramp at the entrance to the car park. I remembered that this was the way in we had used on previous visits but I am not sure that the steward guarding the car park entrance knew this and on this visit no other steward approached us as we arrived to check that we knew where we were going. I can’t remember the greeting or otherwise we had on arrival on our previous two visits. You are aiming to go through the gate at the far left hand corner of the car park, then down the hill to a gate in the metal railings this side of the corner. On this visit we were slightly perturbed by the very large prefab building that has appeared across the rear of the car park but there is still a narrow but accessible path around the left hand side of it.

Once through the gate, you keep to the left, go up the hill, and along in front of the old unused terracing to enter the stand in front of you, through what is the side wall. On this occasion we arrived around 2 pm and were immediately admitted without any problem. Last year I can remember being desperate to get in to use the loo after a 4-hour journey and the stewards being very reluctant to let me in, early, as they saw it.

Away fans who are wheelchair users are accommodated in the away stand behind the goal in the right hand corner (under cover), which is the opposite end to where ambulant away fans enter the away stand (hence the route round the car park). The wheelchair area is at the front of the stand but raised around 18” from the pitch which does help to give a good view but this is slightly off-set by the iron railings on top of the concrete if your eyes happen to be on level with them. There is room for I would estimate around 6 wheelchairs with a row of fixed seating behind for those accompanying the wheelchair fans. My husband chose to stand at the side of my chair and he was allowed to do so. We discovered on this visit that this area gets the winter afternoon sunshine in the first half, which at what is generally known as a cold ground (on the sea front), is very welcome. The tea bar is at the opposite end of the away stand and the path to it involves 4 steps (3 plus 1).

The accessible toilet is on the left by the metal gate that you enter through. Interestingly it has about an inch step into it but the ladies and gents toilets opposite it have flat access! I reported to Steward 37 and asked them to report for me, that the accessible toilet had no hot water (it is a single tap and the tap itself turned beyond the edge of the hand bowl before any hot water was produced so I could not turn it any further), no hand soap, no paper towels, no hand drier and no waste bin of any type. He did concede that this was not acceptable. I would therefore recommend taking your own supplies and ask the next reviewer to check out any improvement and report back. On the plus side there was evidence that the loo had been recently cleaned, although the cubicle itself could benefit from a general spring clean.

If you are there early as we were and the practice net is in front of the wheelchair area, as it was for our visit, take our advice and don’t go into the wheelchair area until the practice net is finished with. We watched the warm up from the low gate on the right by the home stand and the stewards stood there were happy for us to. We say this as we lost count of how many balls came over into the wheelchair area and we know from bitter experience that being hit with one is not good!

There is no headset commentary at Victoria Park for visually impaired fans which means my husband has to try and follow play through the l cm aperture of his spy glass. Last season this proved virtually impossible for him due to the number of club officials walking through the wheelchair area during the game, as he had to re-find the ball after each interruption. (The numbers were such as to annoy me with full vision.) We asked the stewards to direct people round the back of the wheelchair area but they still persisted, leaving us no choice but to move my wheelchair forward so there was no room for people to walk in front. We were then told we were causing an obstruction. When the solution was to put a steward either side to prevent the “walk throughs” they stood so that my husband was prevented from seeing a goal. On this visit the amount of passing officials was less and when my husband explained the problem to the officials at half time the numbers reduced more.

Yes we have continued to visit Victoria Park when our team has played there and will continue to do so but not one of our favourite grounds for all the shortcomings I have described.