Manchester United

It may seem strange to rate such a prestigious and usually very good ground so low, and I am lead to believe that things have improved immeasurably over the last few years, but this was my experience on the day of the David Beckham match for UNICEF, 14 November 2015. All of this has to be considered alongside the sheer volume of people, 75,000, and all looking to arrive and depart the stadium at the same time. The disabled parking, on the face of it not bad, until you consider its on the opposite side of the stadium to the one wheelchair designated entrance. Again, its a half mile walk around the stadium, ok on any other day, not with 75,000 other fans milling around. The low rating for access is really, if you have only one wheelchair access entrance, why put the disabled parking as far from it as possible? Also, on the day there was a shutter brought down the entrance to the disabled concourse, having got through the throngs to within 20 metres of the wheelchair entrance, in pouring rain, with two wheelchair users, the gate stewards felt comfortable continuing to bring the barrier down. There advice was we should wheel up a 1 in 5 incline slope, go around the museum in the crowds and pouring rain, to the other end of the concourse where the barrier way still be open. Not at all disabled friendly. Now for the c change. Once we got to the wheelchair entrance the staff and stewards were outstanding. They sped us through out of the rain, escorted both us and our carers to our seats and offered to get us a warm drink from the concession stand whilst we soak up the atmosphere. The staff and stewards in the stadium were beyond excellent, the experience inside the stadium was one never to forget. Outside however leaves a lot to be desired. Would I go again as a wheelchair user, in a new York second, the staff inside, the stadium, the atmosphere and the welcome at the wheelchair entrance more than made up for the shortcomings. I am not even going to mention the 3 hours it took to get back onto the M60.

Since writing the previous comment changes have now taken place at Manchester United. The club have now introduced Family Accessible Seating, and we had the pleasure of attending a game recently. The Family Seating is very high up in the stadium, so may not be advisable if you have visual problems, but the option is there now, which wasnt the case last year. The Club have also installed a Changing Places Facility. This facility was very spacious, had a Hoist and a Movable Padded Table / Bed, as well as the usual Sink, Toilet and Waste Bins. We were also met by an Access Steward who guided us through the crowds to our seats, holding lifts and opening doors for us. She also came back at the end of the game to help us vacate the Ground also. The Family accessible Seating is some distance away from the Food and drink Facilities, but once again, united have forseen this issue, and a United Staff member comes and takes your food and drink orders and goes to get them for you while you soak up the atmosphere or enjoy the game. A great turn around from the club in the last 6 months. And there look to be plenty more changes for the good coming in the near future.