Level Playing Field’s ‘Unite For Access’ campaign will start this weekend.
The annual celebration of access and inclusion for disabled sports fans will run from February 28 to March 15, with events set to take place at more than 100 clubs and venues.
The charity’s Patron, Roy Hodgson, has unveiled the official campaign film. Disability has changed the matchdays of the fans featured in this year’s film, and they offer powerful insights on their experiences.
Hodgson said: “The anticipation going into Unite For Access this year has been really high.
“Everyone at Level Playing Field appreciates the opportunity to bring people together during the campaign and I know that is also felt by fans and staff across the country.
“I am sure this year’s film will resonate with disabled and non-disabled fans, as it really gets to the heart of experiencing live sport, which is so important to so many of us.
“Our thanks go to all of the fans, disabled supporters’ associations, clubs and other stakeholders who are involved in the campaign, and we are particularly grateful to the Premier League and EFL for their ongoing support.
“I encourage everyone to take this opportunity, to celebrate access and inclusion over the coming weeks and help us drive it forward. Let us all Unite For Access.”
The Level Playing Field ‘Unite For Access’ campaign launch film is available to view with British Sign Language interpretation and audio description, further down this page, while a full transcript is located at the bottom, or can be downloaded via this link.
The 2025 ‘Unite For Access’ campaign brought together sporting communities across England and Wales. For more information, or to get involved, please get in touch.
Level Playing would like to give a special thanks to all of the contributors and host venues from this year’s film.
This video includes a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter and audio description:
The full transcript of the film starts here:
Sophie
I lost a lot of things when I became disabled.
Sophie
Football became that continuous thread that was still me.
Graphic
Disability has changed the matchdays of all the fans featured in this film.
Lindsay
My first match was in the mid-1970s. I went with my father one very cold winter’s evening.
Mark
I remember the excitement of an 8 year old boy walking up the steps and just looking at the pitch – and that was the thing that even to this day sends a shiver down my spine.
Michaela
I went to my first match when I was 13.
Michaela
It was wet, cold, we lost.
Laura
I came along with my son and it was just amazing to watch his excitement.
Sophie
Standing, singing on terraces – come rain or shine.
Daniel
I was absolutely hooked from day one really.
Daniel
Seven years ago, I went to a trampoline park and I broke my neck on one of the pieces of equipment and was going to be paralysed for the rest of my life
Lindsay
Tinnitus is a very loud, shrill ringing in my ears non-stop – so you’ve got constant pain.
Mark
I lost my sight in 1990 in a car accident.
Mark
There was a guy on a motorbike – he was 3 times over the limit doing 120mph on the wrong side of the road.
Laura
I have a hypoxic brain injury that I got from an asthma attack, and there was this moment of, “Wow life is really, very, very different now”
Michaela
Ronnie is five. I adopted him at 18 months old and he has ADHD and foetal alcohol syndrome, and it just generally means he struggles with sensory processing.
Sophie
I have ME and chronic fatigue.
Sophie
And I’ve also got a Chiari malformation, which is where the brain is too big for the skull – so it’s pressing on the spinal cord, which I don’t mind, because it means I’ve got a big brain.
Daniel
My club got relegated the year I had my accident.
Daniel
I made them play the commentary whilst I was in my bed – so it was pretty depressing whilst I was in that bed.
Lindsay
I gave up my season ticket because I was struggling so much with the noise in my ears.
Lindsay
I was giving up being with people; the routine – to be in the house, on your own
Michaela
I first took Ronnie at two and a half. I was very limited on my knowledge. And he ended the match crying.
Michaela
Was I actually causing him more distress by taking him?
Mark
I was determined that just having lost my sight didn’t change who I was.
Daniel
The first thing I thought about after I got out of hospital was, “When am I going to get back to the football?”
Sophie
I had to think about all these things I’d never thought of before, so access; support. It was quite nerve-wracking.
Laura
As I was making it along to the seats we were going to be sat in, there were just lovely people. They were the ones I fell in love with before anything else.
Mark
I can only begin to imagine what my dad was thinking seeing me back doing something that I loved doing and we had done together.
Daniel
It was really emotional because for those 90 minutes I almost forgot about my injury completely and it took me into a different place.
Michaela
It was some very lengthy discussions with family and friends. Discussions with Ronnie and with the club’s disability liaison officer. Now it’s very much – Ronnie’s in charge of that matchday.
Michaela
He gets to shout and be himself. He also likes to sing along. I call it our own version of football. That’s away from what I had pictured originally.
Lindsay
Seeing the kiosks; seeing the stewards. It was just like coming home. It was like coming back to your family.
Laura
People will understand how you’re feeling; people do want to help you. They want you to be back part of your tribe or even finding your tribe like I did.
Sophie
Why do I love football? I think it’s continuing that sense of me.
Sophie
I’ve lost a lot of things – confidence, friendships, the life that I thought I was going to have – but football remained a constant.
Sophie
That passion never fades. It’s always there in you. You just need to find a new way to support your club.
Daniel
When I went back to the football I was just the same as everyone else.
Michaela
For me, it was that sense of belonging – and now seeing Ronnie sharing that same passion and singing and chanting to the same songs that I did, makes it all worthwhile,
Lindsay
It is a lifeline for me and it’s also a sense of joy and achievement.
Sophie
It was just redefining what I thought a football fan was. I thought it was going to every single game. I thought it was staying until 90 minutes. It’s not. It’s something inside you. And that never leaves you no matter what your abilities are.