Overview

As a young Sheffield United fan I want to travel to away matches to back my team and Burton Albion seemed like a good idea. I am unfortunately confined to a wheelchair and away grounds can sometimes seem daunting experiences: where is the accessible parking, where are the seats, are they accessible, where are there disabled toilets etc.? Supporting your team is a great feeling (especially when you win) and with an understanding of the problems you might encounter, I want to share my experiences of football grounds with you so you can feel a bit more confident about stadium accessibility in the future.

Transport & Parking

Pirelli Stadium is a modern ground so there were quite a few disabled parking spaces right outside the ground. The entrance to the car park is located on Princess Way, Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, DE13 0AR. We got the last available disabled parking space so if you require a space you should ring up Burton Albion F.C directly to book one in advance.

Access

Tickets can be purchased and picked up next to the club shop or inside the club shop. Visiting fans can be in the stand behind the goal and/or the stand at the side of the pitch. The stand at the side of the pitch has indoor facilities so you can escape the cold at half time. However the stand behind the goal has no indoor area and you are positioned in front of the terrace area where fans can sometimes get a bit excited so if the cold and noise is a problem be aware. With both stands you are at the front so your view would not be obscured.

Toilets

The stand behind the goal had one disabled toilet and there were not enough toilet facilities for all the fans in the stand so some people were abusing the use of the disabled toilet by queuing outside it. The toilet was not well designed because it was very narrow so might make transfers a bit difficult. The facilities at the side of the goal were better but we did not see the toilets.

Staff

The stewards were very helpful but not all of them were knowledgeable about the stadium. A young man took us to the away stand and let us in through a gate but informed the man scanning the tickets that we were in the side stand. A few stewards then came and found us to tell us we were in the stand behind the goal. Another young steward led us to the stand behind the goal but we had to push through the fans waiting outside to get to our seats.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

Unfortunately the game was a disappointing 0-0 draw and there was a lot of congestion on the way out of the car park. The small nature of the ground meant it was a very family friendly club so even though there was some confusion the staff tried to make our experience as good as possible.