A disabled football fan says she is considering no longer following her club on away days in League One because of poor facilities at numerous grounds.
Alex Steward, 27, is a Derby County fan and wheelchair user who has followed the Rams for the past decade.
She says issues at games range from badly obstructed views of the pitch to poor access to toilets.
“When you are paying the same price [to attend] you just want to enjoy the football in the same way,” she said.
“Disabled fans don’t want special treatment, we just want access to the same facilities and have the same experience.”
Supporting Derby County and attending matches has been a big part of Alex’s life since she was a teenager.
She shares of love of the Rams with her father Mark, and they have watched games at Pride Park and across the country together.
“It started about 10 years ago when all my friends started going out and because of my disability I needed a parent with me at all times, so it was finding something that both me and my dad would like to do,” she told BBC East Midlands Today.
“We came to one match and I was hooked and we got a season ticket the next season.
“It means a lot to me. It’s like, for 90 minutes you don’t think about anything else, even on a bad week I know I’ll be leaving the house to go to football on a Saturday, I know I’ll be getting out.”
Both knew that Derby’s relegation from the Championship in 2022 would mean trips to smaller stadiums, but they say the inconsistent access to facilities and adequate seating has surprised them.
At times they have found themselves sat at pitch level and unable to see match action over the advertising boards. They have also been sat among home fans.
“I do get upset sometimes,” Steward said. “But this is the first season where I have come away from an away match and thought ‘I don’t really want to go to away matches if they are like that’.”
Level Playing Field, a charity that campaigns for equal access to sport for disabled fans, found a rise in people saying there was a lack of accessibility at sport stadiums when surveying fans in 2022.
The English Football League says it is working with both the charity and clubs to help improve matchday experiences across all its competitions.
“We are implementing a range of measures to enforce and improve disabled facilities,” the EFL said.
“We are committed to a programme of continual improvement, in conjunction with our clubs and level playing field, ultimately to help clubs meet their legal responsibilities under the 2010 Equality Act.”
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