Club News

Albion celebrate LPF’s Weeks of Action

Albion will be celebrating the work of Level Playing Field during its Weeks of Action which culminates at the home clash with Birmingham City on Saturday (ko 12.30pm).

The leading charity campaigns for an inclusive matchday experience and equal access for all disabled sports fans in England and Wales.
 
The Baggies have been working alongside LPF to further improve The Hawthorns for all attendees, including visiting fans who have access to all of the club’s disabled facilities.
 
Albion will be promoting the work of Level Play Field and their #WeeksOfAction all week, with flagbearers and ball boys wearing LPF T-shirts on Saturday. 
 
Baggies and Blues fans - including Adrian Chiles and former players Geoff Horsfield and Andy Johnson - will unite for a march to The Hawthorns before kick-off, with supporters asked to gather at the Greggs car park from 11am. Representatives from each club will then carry an LPF banner to the ground with all fans are invited to join the “corteo”.  
 
In recent years Albion have made significant improvements at The Hawthorns, including an increase to the number of disability viewing areas, in addition to specially-commissioned raised seats. 
 
The Club have also invested in new accessible entrances and dedicated concourse facilities which includes a sensory room and a large Changing Places toilet.
 
An accessible toilet for away supporters has been built, as well as numerous dedicated ambulant supporter facilities added in all four stands.
 
Click here, to watch fans from Accessiblues, Birmingham’s Disabled Supporters’ Club, on their recent tour of the Club’s facilities at The Hawthorns.
 
The Club’s Health, Safety & Contracts Manager, Chris Harris, said: “There was a lot of thought and effort that went into those initial developments that assisted us in meeting our obligations under accessible stadia requirements. But that was only the start of some wider dialogue with our Disabled Supporters’ Association, The Albion Foundation and Level Playing Field, it’s very clear that technological improvements, along with increasing demand, means that organisations across all sports and entertainment need to constantly review what provisions they make for people.
 
“We are no different here at West Bromwich Football Club, the expertise and information that we can tap into at Level Playing Field, along with the feedback that we get from both home and away disabled supporters, ensures that we constantly look to improve our facilities and enable those supporters to access them as safely and easily as possible.”

Owain Davies, Chief executive of Level Playing Field, added: “The opportunity to share best practice and to listen to disabled fans about their matchday experience is fundamental in improving access and inclusion.

“We firmly believe by constructively engaging with clubs, fans and DSAs we can raise the standards of access and inclusion and not only support existing fans with their matchdays but make it more accessible new disabled fans.”
 
To find out more about LPF, click here
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