The Adventures of Wheelchair Boy: Broken record…

There are some subjects that I keep going on about, a bit like a broken record, and that's because it means a lot to me. For example, I have written numerous posts explaining how the majority of football grounds treat disabled people much worse than other ‘normal’ fans (links below):
•    http://theadventuresofwheelchairboy.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/no-disabled-fans.html
•    http://theadventuresofwheelchairboy.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/level-playing-field.html
•    http://theadventuresofwheelchairboy.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/in-away-end-sort-of.html
•    http://www.transfermaster.com/blog/view-post/I-am-a-fan-too

The situation has been partly resolved by certain clubs such as Crystal Palace but it’s nowhere near perfect. That’s why I’m taking photos of the various away grounds I visit this season and compiling a detailed letter to send to those in charge of the beautiful game. Journalists from the BBC and the Guardian (David Conn actually interviewed me last month for his article: http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/07/disabled-fans-premier-league-grounds) have done brilliantly to report on the matter and highlight the issues so that people who are not disabled football fans realise it’s not acceptable.

However, I believe hearing directly from a downtrodden football fan is more likely to make the FA and Premier League listen. As with a lot of things in life, I’m fed up with the constant rhetoric of “access must improve”. They are empty words to me and I will not be happy until actual changes take place. I want those in charge of the game to step in and force clubs to resolve any issues. I have been taking pictures (you can see a few below) so that is perfectly clear why I’m disgruntled.

I no longer accept the response from a lot of clubs including Liverpool that the “ground is old”. That is a broken record! Yes, stadia such as Anfield were built decades ago but with the obscene amount of money in the modern game, any club in the English top flight can easily afford to make the minor adjustments to improve disabled facilities. I’m not asking for all old stadiums to be knocked down and replaced by state of the art architecture because I know that is an unreasonable suggestion for smaller clubs but just small adaptations such as a raised viewing platform for wheelchairs.

Another broken record that is being repeated all the time is me begging for more people to pledge to my crowdfunding campaign (here is the link again if you haven’t seen it yet: http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/carony-classic-wheelchair-system). The page has only been live for just over a week and I’m pleased to report that 31 backers have donated an incredible £1105, which is 30% of the overall target figure. I cannot believe how supportive family, friends and total strangers have been since I begun. I am absolutely overwhelmed but do not want people to stop giving. I accidentally put an irreversible deadline on so there is only 20 days left, which seems a lot but time will fly.

Bye for now!