Mansfield Town

We bought our tickets in advance direct from York

Prior to the match we had a meal at the Widdecombe Fair pub (fayre & square) at Mansfield.

On reaching the ground we parked in the overflow car park which I had booked 2 weeks prior to the match. The main car park was sold out. £5 charge. This was a bit of wasteland & very uneven, not reallysuitable for wheelchairs, but we were grateful for the space.

Entering the ground we passed the accessible toilet & the wheelchair spaces were on a raised platform just in front of us and on the right side of our own supporters. As there were only 2 wheelchairs there, there was plenty of room to choose our positionsfor the best view of the pitch, though not all spaces had an unobstructive view.

There were 3 rows of seats in front of us, but they were covered over so no-one could sit there.

The refreshments were a few yards from where we were but if your under 5 ft or in a wheelchair don’t bother going. Someone else bought us a meat & potato pie which was cold & horrible.(went in the bin)

There were plenty of programme sellers inside & outside the ground, so we didn’t enter the club shop.

Although I knew where the stadium is there was no signage to it for strangers to the area. We went up Midalnd Road and parked ouotside the disabled entrance as there was room for 6 with blue badges and on a first come first served basis, otherwise you would have to park in the retail outlets opposite.

Plenty of wheelchair spaces (2 areas of 12 spaces each) elevated although not very high. Only 3 rows high and the seats in front are not netted off so supporters stand up. Not fully undercover and would get wet if it rained. Carers are supposed to sit alongside but if the wheelchairs are at the back of the area they cannot see as there is a concrete barrier with a handrail on it for the other supporters to use when going up steps.

The Tannoy system is terrible and you cannot hear it at all. Stewards helpful but disappeared at 3pm when match started.

Travelled to Mansfield from Liverpool via the Buxton route, easy to find stadium. Because of the large crowd we had been permitted to park in the retails park at the rear of the away end cost £5 given reciept to put in car window, otherwise can only park for 2 hours and fines are handed out otherwise.

Entry into stadium was easy from the car park, decent accessible toilets. Access into wheelchair area easy but with three rows of seats in front little scared incase those in front stood up, but thnks to them they sat down and the view of the game was good.

Stewards on the day were reasonable although they had been drafted in for such a big game, and many were door staff who may not have understood the needs of football fans, but thnakfully I encounterd no problems. This is a small stadium but I would visit again without hesitation all in all a good day out, getting away after the game was also easy.