gersnet article (image) Standing up for Ibrox accessibility improvements

[craig 5,195]

49 minutes ago, catchdavid said:

Things like that to me are all down to the attitude of the individuals involved. I’ll give you 2 examples of contrasting experiences I personally have had with stewards. Before the home match v Hearts in August last year, the match commander David Martin made a decision, in conjunction with Police Scotland, to close off the perimeter of the stadium at 2pm from then on due to heightened security concerns. All well and good and understandable to a point. Unfortunately though, no one at the club thought to let myself and other disabled fans and their carers (who parked behind the Broomloan) know. So there was myself, my best mate and 4 hyper children in the car with us barred from parking up and the stewards couldn’t have been less interested and even became confrontational. We eventually had to go home as I couldn’t find anywhere that we could park that I would manage to get my Son to and from in his chair. I took it straight to David Martin directly and he did nothing. On the flip side to that though, there’s a lovely lady who’s a supervisor that regularly makes a point of, before home matches and at half time, coming over and chatting away to my Sons and I, asking how they’re getting on etc A few years ago she arranged for my oldest Son and my Dad (who she always used to chat to and ask after as well) to visit Auchenhowie together to be shown around, meet Mark Warburton and the squad and generally be made a fuss of. My ex Mrs took them along as I was working and they both had a ball. My Dad passed away less than a year later (in September 2016) and at my first match back at Ibrox without him the same lady came over and gave my Son and I a huge hug when I told her the news. Although I shed a tear or 2 that day, I took great pride in telling her how happy and beaming my Dad had been when I saw him later that day after his trip to Auchenhowie and how grateful I was to her for arranging it for them both. Okay she went above and beyond but it’s lovely and heartening to know there are such people involved at our great club where the smiling faces and making our supporters day, like she did with my Son and Dad, is reward enough. Even if they won’t all do that, a bit of compassion and common sense dealing with a situation like you described should be a minimum prerequisite for any member of staff in the stadium surely. Anyone who can’t do that should be dealt with accordingly in my opinion.

Sounds like Tiny.  But I guess it could be any number of staff the club employ.

[pete 2,499]

3 minutes ago, pete said:

Personally if I was you I would grab the bull by the horns by explaining in a pm what your problem is and open the door for debate.  It is you that wants a result and FS has said he is willing to talk as long it is is not a slagging match. I know it is sometimes difficult to swallow your pride but in this case I would really try to start from the beginning. You have got the contact you wanted so I would say don't throw it away by saying he now has to contact me. Who starts the debate is not important it just has to start for you to gain anything. And remember as I said before if you lose the plot you have lost the argument.

One last bit of advice. Write your problem down out with the site with words or such and paste it onto the site. If your post crashes then you don't have to write everything over again. 

[Gonzo79 13,613]

Just on the safe standing thing...the atmosphere was rubbish today.

 

Perhaps that reflected in the team's performance.  It's opinion based but I think it would have.  

[Bill 13,717]

13 minutes ago, Gonzo79 said:

Just on the safe standing thing...the atmosphere was rubbish today.

 

Perhaps that reflected in the team's performance.  It's opinion based but I think it would have.  

I've never been convinced that standing created the better atmosphere in days gone by. More likely it was the greater amount of alcohol I remember being consumed before and during the games. Maybe we could campaign for a Safe Pissed section?

Edited February 4, 2018 by Bill

[Gonzo79 13,613]

I'm all for it.

[aweebluesoandso 290]

18 minutes ago, Bill said:

I've never been convinced that standing created the better atmosphere in days gone by. More likely it was the greater amount of alcohol I remember being consumed before and during the games. Maybe we could campaign for a Safe Pissed section?

I was sixty one a few weeks ago so i want a Still Game section, for us pure mad mental one foot in the grave coffin dodgers.

[Gonzo79 13,613]

I think the Copland Road stand already aligns with that.  They sing about twice a season.

[pete 2,499]

9 minutes ago, aweebluesoandso said:

I was sixty one a few weeks ago so i want a Still Game section, for us pure mad mental one foot in the grave coffin dodgers.

Snap!

[forlanssister 3,050]

 

 

 

This was on the first visit to Dingwall earlier this season.

 

Obviously the reaction to this photo did some good. This time round before kick off I spoke to one of the higher ranking Policemen and asked if us in wheelchairs could go in front of the hoardings and he said yes and he had absolutely no problems or concerns in accommodating such a request. Although you can't work it quite from the above photo this made a massive difference to the view for us wheelchair users. After about 15 minutes a Steward came down and told us all to go back behind the hoardings citing their favourite catch all "Health and Safety", we declined his request citing the Police response, he came back 5 minutes later and asked if the carers would go behind the hoardings a request we acceded to. A wee bit of common sense by all parties which made a huge difference to our view and enjoyment of the game. This lasted till Cummings goal and the invasion of the Neds then the Stewards came en masse and lined up like in the photo above though there was nobody where the 4 Police are grouped in that photo. I just hope the Neds haven't ruined it for any subsequent visit to Victoria Park for us wheelchair users.

 

Tuesday sees us visit Partick Thistle who are moving us out of the front of the Main Stand which I quite liked as it was slightly elevated, sheltered and afforded clear unobstructed views and into the Jackie Husband Stand with the rest of the Rangers fans.  It looks to be a decent area and if we can see over those standing up in front of the platform (it's hard to tell from certain from the photos but looks promising) it will a very welcome addition indeed and one like the new St Mirren area puts larger Club's to shame.

 

 

 

St Mirren's recent addition in their Main Stand.

 

 

 

Nice to see at least some sections of Scottish football taking the matter seriously and showing it's more a case of a willing mind than a fat wallet.

 

News reaches me that UEFA have now started the process of moving the recommendations of the Access For All report http://www.cafefootball.eu/sites/default/files/contentfiles/pdfs/UEFAandCAFEGoodPracticeGuideENG.pdf  from being merely guidelines and becoming regulation. I doubt this will be an overnight implementation but it's a most welcome development and can't come round soon enough.

 

Meanwhile the SFA announce that after 2020 all Scotland games, semi-finals and finals will be played at either Hampden or Murrayfield probably the worst to grounds in the country for wheelchair fans. Makes you proud to be Scottish eh?

[Gonzo79 13,613]

As much as I understand the concerns, Scottish football isn't exactly rolling in cash.