By Ollie Harsley
Within football, it’s vitally important that the views of all fans are listened to and implemented in order to make their experiences at games as enjoyable as they can possibly do so. For disabled supporters, they face a big challenge in having their voices heard and bringing about meaningful change in accommodating different disabilities within stadiums across the country and the wider world. It’s no different when it comes to Hull City and that’s where this story begins.
Quite recently, some City supporters have formed Hull City Disabled Supporters Association. The DSA came out of a working group of fans with varying disabilities with the aim of improving the experience of disabled fans.
Giving insight into the work that the DSA have already managed to do thus far, the group’s interim chair David Batte said:
“We surveyed Hull City fans for feedback on supporting the club whilst living with sometimes very challenging conditions. The response was great and highlighted good points and areas for improvement.
We felt the group needed a formal structure and approached the charity Level Playing Field for support.
We’ve had a very constructive conversation with the club who are supportive and we aim to have a closer working relationship.
We’re looking to reach out to fans with all types of disabilities whether that be wheelchair users or fans with so called hidden disabilities such as Autism.
Feedback is essential in taking the group forward. In the short term, we’re building our objectives and goals and have an interim committee working with LPF.”
The group are on Twitter under @hullcitydsa and have a Facebook group. In due course, they hope to host a welcome meeting with the club and will liaise with Tigers Trust.
The initial points of contact to get in touch with are David Batte and Dan Little. We’d like to thank David for speaking to us and we wish the DSA the very best of luck with the fantastic work they’re doing.
