Man City and Man Utd slammed over amount they’re charging disabled fans a season for parking at home games

Man City and Man Utd have been slammed on social media over the amount they’re charging disabled fans a season for parking at home games.

This move has caused an uproar among fans and supporters, who argue that it is unjust to impose such a significant cost on disabled fans, £228 per season at City, especially considering that parking was previously provided free of charge., while it up to £333.50 at Man Utd.

The decision has sparked widespread criticism on social media, with many fans expressing their dismay and frustration at the clubs’ decision ahead of the 2024/25 Premier League season.

The charges have been labeled as “disgusting” and “greedy,” with some fans urging the clubs to rethink their decision and reinstate free parking for disabled fans.

The issue has shed light on the broader difficulties faced by disabled fans when attending football matches, including accessibility challenges and the financial burden of attending games.

Many disabled fans depend on accessible parking spaces to attend matches, and the introduction of charges for these spaces has been viewed as a significant obstacle to their ability to support their clubs.

The controversy has also brought attention to the clubs’ dedication to their disabled fans and the broader issue of accessibility in football.

Some fans have called for the clubs to take more action to support their disabled fans, such as offering free or discounted parking and enhancing accessibility at their stadiums.

The matter of parking charges for disabled fans is likely to remain a contentious one, and it remains to be seen whether Manchester City and Manchester United will reconsider their decision in response to the criticism they have received.

Before anyone from the other side of Manchester tries to take the moral high ground, perhaps check how much it costs at Old Trafford… pic.twitter.com/ZCdpgChg4H

— Kieran Maguire (@KieranMaguire) August 2, 2024

Manchester United have increased the parking price for blue badge holders at Old Trafford from £276 in 23/24 to £333.50 in 24/25. A 20% ⬆️#Glazernomics

— Kieran Maguire (@KieranMaguire) August 2, 2024

The Manchester City Disabled Supporters Association said in a newsletter:

Parking

An urgent message from the DSA Committee to all members and all disabled City fans.

Early in July, we were informed by the club that they intended to introduce a charge of £12 per match for blue-badge parking on the official car-parks, which had previously been provided free-of-charge, on a first-come-first-served basis, with priority given to season ticket holders, with immediate effect for the 2024/25 season.

Their justification for this was a claim that around 50% of the spaces, which were booked, last season, were left unused, as a result of spaces being booked by fans who then did not turn up.

They claimed that the only way to solve this problem is to impose a charge on everyone.

They also claimed that the only way to increase the number of available blue-badge spaces is for charges to be imposed on all disabled fans.

This decision was made without any consultation with the DSA or even with City Matters (our fans’ advisory board). We were only contacted after the decision had been made.

We made clear that the DSA committee do not accept their reasoning or their proposed solution to their perceived problem.

In particular, we are very concerned that these decisions are being made on the basis of flawed assumptions and without any attempt to consider alternative solutions to the perceived problems.

We feel that it is wholly inappropriate to hit disabled supporters, many of whom are living on benefits or low incomes, with a sudden increase of £228 in the cost of attending league games, after many have already committed to paying for their season tickets.

If, as they claim, the only reason for imposing this new charge is to solve a problem with spaces being booked and not used, we have suggested a number of alternative solutions, which should be tried before imposing such measures on to disabled supporters.

Firstly, as we have already discussed, the booking and cancellation system for parking is not fit for purpose.

It has been impossible previously for disabled fans to make late cancellations and has also been extremely difficult to make cancellations at any time, due to the lack of an online option to do so and the constant problems with getting through to the Access Team by phone, particularly in the run-up to home matches.

The club has had great success in recent seasons in using the ticket exchange to fill up potentially unused match tickets, so should be perfectly capable of finding a system to solve the problem for disabled parking.

In response to our complaints, the club has acknowledged that there has been a problem with cancellations and have agreed to improve that situation by introducing a new online cancellation system and allowing cancellations up to kick-off time.

They have also decided to change the charge to £6 (E7 if only 1 person in a car) for the coming 2024/25 season but still £12 for the following season.

We still feel that this is not acceptable and not appropriate, when they should first get the new cancellation systems in place and properly publicise that those who book and don’t cancel, if unable to attend, could be prevented from making future parking bookings.

As mentioned, Man City and Man Utd have been slammed for the amount they’re charging disabled fans a season for parking at home games…

@Brett_leverton: I suppose they have to get money to pay these fines they keep getting somehow.

@1882UTC: Just get de bruyne n co to drop their weekly wage by 10k to cover it. Job sorted. 👍

@lawnsower: They’ve got to cover that £2m fine somehow haven’t they?

@DavidGJohnston0: Is this a new way to get additional season tickets from ‘legacy’ fans? English supporters, esps the bigger sides, will be edged out over the course of the next few decades. It’s really poor from the custodians of these clubs. It’s the supporters club, they’ll be there long after.

@OneEyedLycan: As a season card holder for 25 years and a disabled fan I am disgusted to read this, unfortunately it’s not the first time the club have decided to do something which inhibits disabled fans in favour of profits

@wayneref99: That £2m fine really hurting then.

@Spannerball: PL clubs behaving as bad as banks, always after more revenue, but this move has to be one of their lowest so far.

@junglejimk: That is pretty poor.

@DanKeley: An absolute disgrace this!

@cranefiestaof4: Disgraceful

@richardbridge1: The very fact that they charge £6 for first season and then £12 the second season completely destroys the essence of their argument that it is not about further monetisation of football. More social cleansing @SaveConcessions @HammersUnited2

@TayyibAbu1: Modern football really does suck

@kick_in_grass: Utd haven’t in the past covered themselves in glory here either. I have a pal who is a disabled (now former) season ticket holder – he was treated poorly too both on pricing and being moved.

@1894Aaronmcfc: Disgusted @ManCity

@mikecawston: Top level football is gross. Independent regulator now.

@liambarwick27: What’s got into all the clubs this summer?? This is appalling.

@garyrudland1: Money grabbing hardly a good look is it ? They must be short of money 💰

@KippaxWill: Absolutely fucking disgusting from the club. @ManCity hang your heads in shame.

@Rob_Everitt13: Football is getting increasingly more rotten isn’t it?

@JerseyBeans: Real classy… 😡

@James_Halfpenny: Pretty grim this.

@mitton_simon: Some days I wish it was 2008. Part of our soul has left the building. This has to be reversed. On top of ticket prices, this is utterly preposterous. We used to be more mindful of the wider community who came each week. Nothing beats being at the game, however access is drifting.

@Anything_Matt: Fix that @ManCity. What an awful decision to make.

@ttomconnolly: despicable @ManCity. boasting record revenues and profits and pulling stunts like this. shocking.

@c_r_5: Football was better before PSR and clubs absolutely price gouging every single penny out of every single fan. Squeezing them until the eyeballs pop. Horrific state of affairs. Well, if it isn’t the consequences of my own actions – all the fans & medieval types who wanted PSR

@TomRoberts_: I don’t understand why they would do this. The club wallows in money.

@HistMatters2020: Both Manchester clubs seeing who can be the shittiest to their fanbases it seems

@1GoldPLTrophy: The things you’ll have to do when you’re getting sent to the isthmian counties foundation league

@ianham08: Come on you cant blame them. The Sheik must need all the money he can get.. 🙄

@Sharpster84: @ManCity come on blues wtf? This is absolutely embarrassing

@daandydan: The club are starting to lose touch with their match going fans, and this is just another example of it. This decision needs reversing ASAP @ManCity

@cfc_since_93: Actually despicable behaviour. The Prem clubs have so much money but they still find new ways to fuck over fans.

@ole_was_right: There’s a special level of hell reserved for this— which becomes particularly abhorrent when you consider that they are owned by a fucking government, with neigh-on unlimited resources

@DavidCraigen2: Seems a bit steep. Perhaps £115 would be nearer the mark.