Bolton Wanderers are proud to dedicate Saturday's match against Stockport County as the 'Unite For Access' fixture - a celebration of access and inclusion for disabled sports fans.
The Level Playing Field campaign will see sporting communities across England and Wales come together at matchdays throughout March, including the Whites' home fixture against Stockport at the Toughsheet Community Stadium.
As part of the Unite For Access celebration, Wanderers' matchday squad will warm-up in dedicated t-shirts in support of the campaign ahead of kick-off on Saturday afternoon.
There are more than 16 million disabled people in the UK, representing almost a quarter of the population, as the largest minority.
Many of those disabled people are sports fans and we believe all supporters should be able to enjoy matchdays. Structural and societal barriers can prevent many disabled supporters from having that experience, however.
Everyone can have an impact on making matchdays more inclusive. The 2024 Level Playing Field Annual Fan Survey results revealed ‘attitudes of others’ is the second most common barrier to disabled fans. We want to be part of a change in attitudes, to change matchdays for the better.
As a club, Bolton Wanderers remain committed to ensuring our Football Club is accessible to all and representatives of BWFC, Bolton Wanderers in the Community, the Bolton Wanderers Disabled Supporters’ Association and the Bolton Wanderers Supporters’ Trust, have met regularly to continue delivering access and inclusion for all at Bolton Wanderers.
A Level Playing Field audit on access will take place during the next twelve months, and Bolton Wanderers plan to build on the significant progress made in response to the audit completed in 2023, which included the development of the Changing Places Facility, the opening of our Wellbeing Hub, a quiet room, improvement to the accessible toilets, dementia friendly concourse signs and audio descriptive commentary.
For full details on all of this, please click here.
Disability can be a complex subject matter, and that is why we invite both disabled and non-disabled fans to engage with us through this important campaign to ensure access and inclusion is at the heart of everything we do at Bolton Wanderers Football Club.
To find out more about the work of Level Playing Field, please visit levelplayingfield.org.uk, or find them across social media by searching Level Playing Field.