Milan trip

NADS Roving Report

Internationale Milano v Chelsea, San Siro 24.02.10

A 7.30 flight from Gatwick meant leaving my house at 4.30. My PA Paul was round on the dot and we were at Gatwick within 40 minutes. I am usually given my match ticket by ThomasCook Sport (TCS) as soon as I get to Gatwick but this time I wasn’t given one. I do feel happier paying for and having a ticket in my possession when I attend a football match. However, no-one would give me anything and no-one really seemed to know why not. I’d not been charged but Chelsea had told me the previous day that I just had to go to gate 11 at the Stadium, so I just placed my trust in them.

There were 2 flights out of Gatwick each with 360 supporters on board. Our Airbus A300 Monarch Airlines flight (with 10 seats in each row) left, on an overcast, drizzly, dull morning about 10 minutes late. Once we were all comfortable in our seats we were played a short video featuring Joe Cole wishing us an enjoyable day. This was a nice touch by the club and TCS.

I had received an email from TCS the day before advising me that I would be on coach 2. I had visions of being carried up the steps of the coach to the front seat but on questioning this I was quickly informed that coach 2 had a wheelchair lift at the back and some seats had been removed enabling me to sit in my chair on the coach.

I was a bit worried about keeping all the other packed coaches waiting as any wheelchair user is always a lot later off the plane than his able bodied compatriots. Aisle chair, assistance crews, ambi lift etc can all take up to an hour. However, when arriving at Milan airport at a normal (working hours) time of the day (10.30 am). The assistance crews were planned and ready as were the aisle chair and ambi lift. In all I was off the aircraft about 20 minutes after the last able bodied passenger.

I was quickly wheeled straight through passport control (well, I still had to show my passport obviously) but I passed queues of other supporters still showing theirs so got to the coaches well before the last supporter. As soon as I arrived, the coach driver rose from his seat, walked down the steps and to the back of the coach. He opened a panel and pulled out a folded metal platform. He then located a remote control connected to the electrics of the coach via a curly wire. He pressed a button on this remote control and the platform moved out, down and flat to the ground. I wheeled onto it and was lifted in my chair to the level of the coach floor. I wheeled myself off the platform, into the coach and twisted so I was facing down the coach. The coach driver bolted my chair to the floor of the coach and I felt stable, safe and secure. I also felt just like any other fan on the trip and could chat to those around me about all things Chelsea.

The coaches all arrived in the centre of Milan at about mid-day. We were told to meet them in this same position at 6 O’clock to be taken to the San Siro. We had been dropped off right outside the Castello Sforzesco (the Castle of Milan) so our first sight seeing opportunity was not long in coming. We went in, had a quick photo taken (see below left) and walked through the opposite side. This lead us further into the centre of the city. Milan Cathedral (Duomo in Italian) is the centre-point of the City with streets either radiating from it or circling it. It stands 45 meters high. The cathedrals 5 wide naves are divided by 40 pillars and it has countless spires and arches. The famous ‘Madonnina’ is atop the main spire and is made from bronze; and there was I thinking he scored the ‘hand of god’ goal that knocked England out the world cup in 1986!!!.


Me and Paul inside the 'Castle of Milan'	Me and Paul outside the Milan Cathedral

Paul and I had a pizza each and cups of coffee in a few of the many restaurant / bars that lined each street. Each one had its own glass paneled ‘conservatory style’ extension on the path outside it. Most of these had electric heaters or patio heaters in them giving out extra warmth.

MacDonalds came up trumps yet again for providing a disabled toilet. It wasn’t exactly Doc M standard but was just about useable and much needed.

Many fans were starting to congregate around the pubs and bars and as we walked down one particular Street I heard someone call my name. It was Jason Cundy, ex Chelsea footballer and now Sky & Chelsea TV presenter / pundit / expert as well as voice on TalkSport. I’ve met him many times at Chelsea Events at Stamford Bridge and at the training ground at Cobham. He was at the game during his time off as simply a Chelsea fan with his eldest son and friends. We stayed with them for half an hour before making our way back to the coaches by the Castle.

It was about a half an hour drive to the Stadium and we arrived at dusk. When I got off the coach I made a beeline straight for the TCS Rep and said to her that I had no ticket and needed to get to gate 11. She referred me straight to her boss and explained the situation. I went with him, Paul and an Italian translator to the officials stood by the entrance.

On our way there we could see three huge concrete spiral walkways. They may have had steps in them (I didn’t think to ask anyone) but I would guess they were just slopes that the supporters use to get to their seats at the top of the stadium. The only other places I have seen them are at The City of Manchester stadium and at Homebush Bay in Sydney (the 2000 Olympics main stadium). I couldn’t help thinking how fantastic this would be to enable wheelchair access to raised level disabled viewing platforms at an ideal stadium.

Anyway, at the entrance the translator said his bit explaining who we were, I was asked my name, it was checked against a list and I was allowed in. This is where we met Mark Stevens and his mother. Mark goes to many Stadiums around Europe. I met him in Turin last year when Chelsea played Juventus. Mark is a member at Chelsea even though he is a Charlton fan at heart. He may have a long wait though to see Charlton play in the San Siro! Mark was the NADS disabled supporter of the year last year.

When we got to Gate 11 we were given a tiny orange slip of paper that simply stated the entrance we should use to gain access to our space. We walked round at least a quarter of the stadium. We passed one concrete entrance after another and eventually came to entrance number 19. A steward ushered us through and pointed to our location. I asked where the disabled toilets were and again he pointed and threw his arm round in an arch. I think I got the drift! So the first thing to do once inside the stadium was find the disabled toilets. We walked behind the long row of wheelchairs and into a wide concrete tunnel.

I’m guessing as I didn’t pay for my ticket then no-one in this long row had either but to not even issue tickets? Come on Inter, move into the 21st century and treat disabled and non-disabled the same!

We opened the first door we came to in this tunnel and there was the toilet. It was very shabby to say the least; smelly, damp, cold and just a concrete shell to be honest but it was at least useable as it did have a suitably placed hand rail. Doc M standard is certainly wasn’t, there was a sink but no towels, no toilet paper and no soap. Perhaps swine flu hasn’t got as far as Italy!

The Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, originally and commonly referred to as simply San Siro because of its location, is named in honour of Giuseppe Meazza the two-time World Cup winner (1934 & 38). Its construction was completed in 1926 and it was originally the home and property of AC Milan only. In 1947 Internazionale became tenants and the two have shared the ground ever since. It was renovated for the World Cup in 1990 with an extra tier being added but the stadium to me has an untidy, cold feel to it and is antiquated in many ways. However with 85,000 people in it, it is extremely noisy and creates a fantastic atmosphere. At pitch level the stadium circumference is no larger than any other large stadium but all sides of the stadium just seem to go up and up. We could barely see the Chelsea supporters up to our left but they still made themselves heard!

Chelsea had been allocated five wheelchair places and took up 60% of this allocation. I guess I find this disappointing but perhaps others were put off because they knew the poor facilities and pitch-side location we had. Many disabled fans I fear are put off by the fact that they also have to pay for a PA to travel with them. This is something I have mentioned to Chelsea but no concessions have yet been given.


Our location in the Stadium	Our view of the match
(I am sending a text message, not asleep!)

The match finished at 20 minutes to eleven local time and by 5 minutes to eleven we had exited the stadium, bought a drink (none available to us inside) got to and boarded the coach and were ready to go. However, the other supporters were all held in the Stadium for 45 minutes after the end of the game by the police. Many fans were quite angry about their treatment by the police when they returned to the coaches. It is illegal in England for this to happen. Chelsea are not allowed by law to treat Italian fans this way. When they all come to London on March 16th for the return leg, they will be free to board their coaches as soon as they wish.

After that delay I just wanted to get back to the airport as soon as I could. The coaches left at ten to midnight and by 20 past we had moved about 400 yards. Most of the supporters on our coach didn’t care much as they were all asleep in their comfortable seats. I was sat in my wheelchair though, I had no way of getting my body into a relaxed position, I had nowhere to rest my head. All I could do was be awake and watch the digital clock on the coach tick round the minutes.

The coach pulled up outside the airport at about 1.20 then the usual airport delays and the unbelievable in-efficiency of the ambi-lift crew (they set it all up for us to enter the plane through the front door, just to be told by the airline staff on board the plane (when they opened the door looking surprised to see us) that we had to use the back door [as Paul had suggested to them 15 minutes before].

We took off at about 2.30 and arrived back at Gatwick at 4 am. Still, every cloud has a silver lining; we were an hour behind so it was only 3 am! To say I was tired was a bit of an understatement although not being in my wheelchair on the plane or in my own car meant I could at least sleep a bit on the way home. In case you’re wondering how I drove home while I slept; my PA Paul drove my car. Paul had left his car at my house and returned to his home after we got back at 4.45. I was in bed by 5.15 and got up at 12.30 the same day.