| NADS Roving Report CFR Cluj v Chelsea, Dr. Constantin Radulescu Stadium 01.10.08
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NADS Roving Report
CFR Cluj v Chelsea, Dr. Constantin Radulescu Stadium 01.10.08
Aeroplanes and wheelchairs do not mix. If you are a wheelchair user wishing to travel by air you must accept this and be prepared to feel like a 2nd class citizen. You are totally in the hands of airport staff, there is no point in complaining about it as I am sure all airlines are perfectly aware that disabled people are not suited to boarding aircraft. However, we are in the year 2008, when will things improve?
The flight was 2 hours and 15 minutes long and we arrived in Cluj at 10.15 local time. The Transylvanian region of Romania is the best part of the country to visit for a wheelchair user, as its inhabitants are generally more conscientious than in the rest of the country and the politicians care more about the upkeep and maintenance of the roads, paths, public buildings and countryside. I was delighted to find a disabled toilet in the airport when we landed; it gave me confidence for the day that someone in Cluj has thought about the needs of disabled people.
Bucharest, the Capital of Romania, has a population of around two million and is in the south of the country. Cluj-Napoca (to give it’s full name) has about a fifth of this population and a quarter of them are students. It is in the north of the country, in the heart of Transylvania. Tickets for the match cost about one weeks average wage in Romainia. It was a dry but cloudy day but was not cold. I wore a t-shirt and fleece during the day and a light jacket as well after dusk.
The daytrip had been arranged by ThomasCook Sport (TCS) who are Chelsea’s Official Travel Partner. They are aware of my ‘special needs’ and arranged for a car to follow the coaches to save me the indignity of being lifted up and down the coach steps. TCS provided everyone on the trip with a ‘coach allocation card’. There were 5 coaches on the trip and everyone kept the same coach throughout.
The coach card proved invaluable on our drivers approach to the Stadium both with us in the car (to prove we were part of the party following the coaches) and without us (to prove it was an official car and not just someone picking his mate up after the game!) I was pleased with the extra effort TCS went to to cater for me. A wheelchair accessible vehicle would have been better (to save me having to transfer in and out of my wheelchair) but with Paul (my PA)’s assistance I could manage this alternative.
TCS had obviously arranged with Officials at Cluj that I would be attending the game in my wheelchair because on arrival at the gate, as soon as we showed our ‘normal seat’ tickets the stewards knew who we were, let us in and showed us down one ramp, across a concourse behind the bottom tier of seating and then up another ramp to a raised wheelchair platform directly behind the goal. I was also handed a free programme on entry which in truth was nothing more than a 6-page leaflet.
You can see below this platform. It probably would not have passed a health & safety inspection in this country (2 wheelchairs would barely pass each other on it) but it provided a perfect un-obscured view of the match. I was the only Chelsea fan and I counted 8 other wheelchairs. Ambulant disabled shared the same platform. All the Cluj fans I met there made me feel very welcome and the atmosphere in the whole stand was fantastic.
There was a very good clean, tidy and spacious disabled toilet just by the exit. There were also good disabled toilets in the City centre. Our exit from the stadium was very quick and hassle free, helped no end by the fact that nearly every Cluj fan stayed behind to applaud their team off the pitch. There was no stampede, and we were by our car in minutes. Our car set off immediately, before the majority of the Cluj fans has even left their seats.
We were at the airport half an hour before the main party. Even though we were given boarding passes for the inward and outward flights at Gatwick, the airport staff insisted on checking everyone in again. This obviously caused a long delay. Myself and Paul were probably in the airport for about 90 minutes before I was man-handled up the steps of the aircraft and then carried to my seat (all rather undignified but I guess usual behaviour for Romanian special assistance teams).
On landing at Gatwick the ambi-lift was very quickly in place to lift me down from the aircraft (very unusual for Gatwick who are usually amongst the slowest in the world) However the usual procedure is to put me in a narrow isle chair to get between the seats and then transfer me to my own wheelchair once inside the ambi-lift. This time my own wheelchair was nowhere to be seen.
I was wheeled off the ambi-lift, into a minibus and driven to the terminal building. Then I was wheeled off the minibus and into the terminal building itself. I was still sat in this very uncomfortable chair. Spending five minutes strapped into this chair is a very uncomfortable experience. This time I was even kept waiting for 40 minutes in the airport still strapped into it.
The airport authorities had informed the baggage handlers that this flight (being a football flight) had no luggage so were sent home. The hold of the aircraft therefore was untouched as the plane taxied to its’ parking slot. One small problem for me though – my wheelchair was still in it! After another half an hour it appeared and I regained my independence.The delay resulted in our car being parked for more than 24 hours so our parking charge doubled. I eventually got home at 5.10. (26 hours and 10 minutes after leaving).
Journey – Air then Car includes my PA. TCS very good Carparking at Gatwick Expensive but secure Food/Drink No hot food available :( Comfort No problems Access A fair walk from coaches and hilly but all ramped Toilets Very good but no vertical rail Stewarding Very helpful & organised