Leicester City isn't playing fair say disabled couple

From today's Leicester Mercury:

Leicester City isn't playing fair say disabled couple 

A couple say that Leicester City is forcing them out of their season ticket seats and segregating them in a disabled section away from their friends and family. 

Wigston couple Colin and Mary Holden have been told by the club they must give up the Walkers Stadium seats they have held for four years and sit elsewhere if they want to continue to qualify for concessions for disabled supporters. 

Mr Holden, 67, has angina, back condition spondylolysis and arthritis in his hips and knees. His wife, 66, has walked with a cane since she damaged the muscles and nerves in her back in a fall. 

Both are registered disabled but do not use a wheelchair so are able to sit among able-bodied fans.

In a letter to the couple, seen by the Leicester Mercury, the club says it is introducing designated areas manned by "specially trained safety stewards" to provide "better provision, support and assistance on match days".

As a result, they have been informed they must change their current seats in the JCC Lighting Spion Kop if they wish to continue to benefit from reduced prices. They will have to move into the East Stand, three sections away, and sit apart from the friends and family they currently sit near. 

Mr and Mrs Holden pay £140 for two season tickets but if they choose to remain in their current seats they say the season tickets will cost them upwards of £500. 

"To say we are disappointed is an understatement," said Mrs Holden. 

"We have sat in there for the past few seasons with no trouble and now they are telling us either we move or we pay a lot of money to stay where we are. 

"We feel that they are forcing our hand to do what they say. 

"We want to stay in the seats close to our friends and family, but the club is segregating us from them. 

"We have been loyal supporters for several years and they did not even ask our opinion. They just said this is what we have got to do or else." 

Mr Holden said: "We feel we are being victimised and it is wrong to treat disabled people this way. 

"We enjoy the football, but if they want to be like that then they will lose the support." 

Mr and Mrs Holden's daughter, Helen Hodgkinson, 31, and her husband David, 37, from Hamilton, Leicester, act as carers for the couple and qualify for free tickets as a result. 

Mrs Hodgkinson said: "I am absolutely disgusted. It is only last week that the club were talking about respect for the players and the referee, but we feel that we are being shown no respect."
Nobody from the club was available to comment. 

But according to the letter, the changes have been brought in to allow "health and safety officers to audit attendance and, in the event of an emergency situation within the stadium, pay greater attention to the needs of our disabled supporters".