BBC News Report: Wrexham FC in row with disabled supporters’ group

BBC News Report: Wrexham FC in row with disabled supporters’ group

The following article appears on BBC News website. 

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A row has broken out between a football club and its disabled supporters’ group.

Wrexham FC said the club’s Disabled Supporters Association (DSA) went “on strike” after it had a ticket and an on-pitch presentation request refused.

The DSA usually assigns the spaces for wheelchair users but the club said it had to do this itself at a recent match and is now running it itself.

The DSA said the issue was about the presentation.

Wrexham Supporters Trust, which runs the club, spoke out following a “growing social media storm”.

The row centres around the club refusing a request for complimentary match tickets and a pitch presentation for to the DSA after being recognised for an award at a fans’ diversity ceremony in London.

The DSA is part of Allies in Access group and it wanted a similar Midlands-based association to visit for the Ebbsfleet match on 12 October and have the presentation on the pitch.

The club said it was unable to help due to “competition rules” but an offer remained open for a pitch-side photo call on a non-match day as a compromise.

However, following the disagreement and “strike”, the club’s statement said the DSA’s “presence will not be required on the platform… for the remainder of the season”.

“Our disabled supporters rely on the provision of services and we have to ensure they continue to receive a high-quality service without the potential for any possible disruption as it really makes a difference to their match day experience,” the statement said.

“This has been a difficult decision to take by Wrexham AFC but we must ensure the services for some of our most vulnerable supporters are never placed in jeopardy and taking these services in house is the most sensible solution at this time.”

The DSA said the “sour point” was the club’s response to refusing the presentation.

The DSA claimed it had been told that was because it was not a club-related matter.

A statement added: “Rightly or wrongly, this was taken very negatively by members of the Wrexham DSA committee who took it in the context of ‘despite the hours we give to the club on a match day, we are not club related’.”

It said that left some committee members frustrated and said they would not be on duty for the game against Ebbsfleet.

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