Football must not forget its inclusive responsibilities in the rush to get fans back into stadiums

Dr Christopher Brown

doi:10.1080/23750472.2020.1858147

Football must not forget its inclusive responsibilities in the rush to get fans back into stadiums

Dr Christopher Brown

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

85 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

It is imperative that the English Premier League and the Football League clubs consider disabled supporters when planning for the return of fans in stadiums. While it is understandable that the English football clubs are eager to welcome fans back as soon as possible, I argue this must not be at the expense of disabled supporters. Utilising the theory of ableism, I highlight the inequitable matchday experiences of disabled football fans at the English Premier League and the Football League clubs pre-COVID-19, a situation I argue cannot be exacerbated by neglecting disabled fans as part of the return of fans to stadiums. This commentary emphasises the importance of English football clubs grasping the opportunity to positively change how disabled football fans are treated. The piece concludes by calling for sustained lobbying for inclusion, and the need for future research to focus and explicate the experiences of disabled football fans.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1-6
Number of pages	6
Journal	Managing Sport and Leisure
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/23750472.2020.1858147
Publication status	Published - 9 Dec 2020

Keywords

Disabled people
Football clubs
Stadium accessibility
COVID-19
Inclusion

Access to Document

10.1080/23750472.2020.1858147

Football must not forget its inclusive responsibilities in the rush to get fans back into stadiums
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Managing Sport and Leisure
Accepted author manuscript, 167 KB

Cite this

@article{32a19c0bf79841c89be941932ee44a9d,

title = "Football must not forget its inclusive responsibilities in the rush to get fans back into stadiums",

abstract = "It is imperative that the English Premier League and the Football League clubs consider disabled supporters when planning for the return of fans in stadiums. While it is understandable that the English football clubs are eager to welcome fans back as soon as possible, I argue this must not be at the expense of disabled supporters. Utilising the theory of ableism, I highlight the inequitable matchday experiences of disabled football fans at the English Premier League and the Football League clubs pre-COVID-19, a situation I argue cannot be exacerbated by neglecting disabled fans as part of the return of fans to stadiums. This commentary emphasises the importance of English football clubs grasping the opportunity to positively change how disabled football fans are treated. The piece concludes by calling for sustained lobbying for inclusion, and the need for future research to focus and explicate the experiences of disabled football fans.",

keywords = "Disabled people, Football clubs, Stadium accessibility, COVID-19, Inclusion",

author = "Brown, {Dr Christopher}",

note = "This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Managing Sport and Leisure",

year = "2020",

month = dec,

day = "9",

doi = "10.1080/23750472.2020.1858147",

language = "English",

pages = "1--6",

journal = "Managing Sport and Leisure",

issn = "2375-0480",

publisher = "Routledge",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Football must not forget its inclusive responsibilities in the rush to get fans back into stadiums

AU - Brown, Dr Christopher

N1 - This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Managing Sport and Leisure

PY - 2020/12/9

Y1 - 2020/12/9

N2 - It is imperative that the English Premier League and the Football League clubs consider disabled supporters when planning for the return of fans in stadiums. While it is understandable that the English football clubs are eager to welcome fans back as soon as possible, I argue this must not be at the expense of disabled supporters. Utilising the theory of ableism, I highlight the inequitable matchday experiences of disabled football fans at the English Premier League and the Football League clubs pre-COVID-19, a situation I argue cannot be exacerbated by neglecting disabled fans as part of the return of fans to stadiums. This commentary emphasises the importance of English football clubs grasping the opportunity to positively change how disabled football fans are treated. The piece concludes by calling for sustained lobbying for inclusion, and the need for future research to focus and explicate the experiences of disabled football fans.

AB - It is imperative that the English Premier League and the Football League clubs consider disabled supporters when planning for the return of fans in stadiums. While it is understandable that the English football clubs are eager to welcome fans back as soon as possible, I argue this must not be at the expense of disabled supporters. Utilising the theory of ableism, I highlight the inequitable matchday experiences of disabled football fans at the English Premier League and the Football League clubs pre-COVID-19, a situation I argue cannot be exacerbated by neglecting disabled fans as part of the return of fans to stadiums. This commentary emphasises the importance of English football clubs grasping the opportunity to positively change how disabled football fans are treated. The piece concludes by calling for sustained lobbying for inclusion, and the need for future research to focus and explicate the experiences of disabled football fans.

KW - Disabled people

KW - Football clubs

KW - Stadium accessibility

KW - COVID-19

KW - Inclusion

U2 - 10.1080/23750472.2020.1858147

DO - 10.1080/23750472.2020.1858147

M3 - Article

SN - 2375-0480

SP - 1

EP - 6

JO - Managing Sport and Leisure

JF - Managing Sport and Leisure

ER -

Football must not forget its inclusive responsibilities in the rush to get fans back into stadiums

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this