Personal Information

Accessing the FIFA World Cup, Germany 2006

You could say that my planning for the 2006 World Cup Finals in Germany started when I renewed my ‘englandfans’ membership in June 2004 as I renewed only to enable me to get World Cup tickets. As it happens, I ended up getting all my tickets directly from FIFA and so the englandfans membership proved fruitless. So July 27th 2005 was the day that my planning began in earnest. That was the day that I booked the Hotel in the centre of Germany. This was before England had even qualified for the finals. Obviously, not knowing the match venues, somewhere in the centre of Germany would minimise the travel. I have to say I was confident that they would qualify however, as they were top of their group and even if they were pipped by Poland, they could still finish second and qualify through the play-offs.

England qualified comfortably though and I was all set to book my flights immediately following the draw in early December 2005. After the draw I could still change hotels (availability permitting) at no cost to somewhere nearer to where England were scheduled to play but whilst listening to ‘TalkSport’ the day before the draw I found out that flight prices would double in cost as soon as the match locations were arranged. I decided to book the flights to our hotel City (Cologne) straight away. I always use British Airways if I can but all flights to Cologne on the dates that I wanted were booked. Instead I used bmi’s website and booked with them the flights and a hire car so we could get around.

I can drive but have never attempted to book a hire car with hand controls. My carer/friend Paul was happy to do all the driving and I can still just about transfer from my wheelchair to the passenger seat of any car so that seemed the best thing to do. I prefer to use my powerchair when out and about but getting one of these in and out of a car boot is no simple task so I would take my manual chair and Paul would push me around.

So we had a ‘disabled friendly’ room in a hotel, the hire car and the flights all booked for the first week of the World Cup (10th – 17th June). All we needed were the teams to watch! England were one of the top 8 seeds for the draw and the hosts Germany (another top 8 seed) would play the first game on Friday 9th June. I thought I would be quite safe then not to miss the first England match if I booked Saturday return flights. Not so! England were drawn to play the 3rd match at 3pm (Germany time) in Frankfurt. Our flight was due to land at 12.50 on the same day in Cologne. We had no chance of getting there in time so I didn’t even apply for tickets for that match.

Englands next match was on Thursday 15th June at 6 O’Clock in Nuremberg. So this was a possibility (though a distance away). The draw then through up another disappointment as Cologne was to host Englands final group match 3 days after we leave.

So now I had to fill our week up with other games at grounds not too far from Cologne. FIFA restricted all fans to apply for tickets for just 3 matches. I estimated applications would pour in for the England games but I figured I would have more chance of getting a ticket for the England match if I applied for ‘less appealing’ games too.

I hadn’t really appreciated that ‘less appealing’ to me would not really be less appealing to the fans of the participating countries. I was thus relieved and delighted that I got a wheelchair ticket and a carer ticket for all 3 matches I applied for. Only 35 euros each pair too! (about £24 – half the cost of tickets for Chelsea – but then you get what you pay for!!). So we were all set for our Flight to Cologne. Of course on our non-matchdays, not only would the football be on in every bar in Germany (big screens in beer gardens outside as it happens) but we were also intent on seeing some of Germany too; we had day trips to Bonn and Aarchen.

My First Match

Match 8: Portugal v Angola, 11/06/06 Cologne 21.00 KO (Result: 1-0)

Stadium: RheinEnergieStadion (Capacity 45,000). This is a football-only arena constructed on the site of the old Mungersdorf ground. Opened in 2004

Travel: By car (30 minutes through City Centre)

View: 8/10 - Raised about 4 meters above pitch level but with several rows in front so when those in front stood my view was slightly obscured. (See below)

Ease of Access: 10/10 Entry point was clear from ticket and we were shown to our space by a steward. It was a comfortable and spacious wheelchair enclosure (See below)

Parking: 10/10 Received disabled car pass from FIFA (shown below) and the entry, parking and exit after the game were all excellent.

Food & drink: 5/10 Pork sandwich, chips (though more like pringles) and coke.

Our Hire Car for the week (from Alamo).

Toilet Facilities: Didn't use

Comments: At half time Paul walked along the wheelchair enclosure and counted space for 100 wheelchairs. About 20 of these spaces were unused.

My Second Match

Match 10: Czech Republic v USA, 12/06/06 Gelsenkirchen 18.00 KO (Result: 3-0)

Stadium: Home of the 2004 Champions League Final. It has a fully closing roof, removable pitch and an impressive massive 4 sided TV scrreen suspended from the roof (Capacity 58,300)

Travel: By car (Stadium is close to A2 motorway, about an hour from Cologne)

View: 8/10 - We were several tiers up and like in Cologne, when those in front stood my view was slightly obscured. (See below)

Ease of Access: 4/10 Entry point was incorrect on ticket and we had to walk completely around the ground. We were shown to our space by a steward but the long delay resulted in us missing the kick-off. It was a comfortable wheelchair enclosure (See below).

Parking: 7/10 Received disabled car pass from FIFA (shown below). Entry to car park was hap-hazzard, no-one seemed to know where to go. Road to car park was very slow but in the end we got very close to the Stadium entry.

Food & drink: 3/10 Pretzel and coke. Instantly forgettable.

These are the 3 tickets from the matches. I got 2 tickets for all games. The escorts tickets were free and they all had our names printed on them. All had clear colour coded information on where to enter the ground.

Toilet Facilities: Didn't use

Comments: This ground (having a closable roof) generates an electric atmosphere. For those that have been to the Milleneum Stadium in Cardiff the atmosphere is very similar. The roof was open on this occassion.

My Third Match

Match 19: England v Trinidad & Tobago, 15/06/06 Nuremberg 18.00 KO (Result: 2-0)

Stadium: Frankenstadion. This stadium is one of three for this Germany World Cup to feature an athletics track. It was opened in 1928 but has undergone many stages of upgrade. The last of which was completed last year. (Capacity: 41,026)

Travel: By train from Cologne Station to Nuremberg Station. Then onward travel via 'free' shuttle train to stadium.

View: 10/10 - We were on a raised platform and in the front row. A perfect view and close to the action (See below)

Ease of Access: 10/10 We were shown by a Steward straight to the correct space within minutes.

Parking: N/A

Food & drink: 7/10 Those with match tickets were allowed into the grounds. The grounds had numourous beer tents and food stalls. I had a hotdog, a drink of coke and an ice cream.

Toilet Facilities: I got the feeling that I was the first person to use the disabled toilets that day. They were unlocked by the Steward who showed us where they were. They were imaculately clean and tidy but the toilet was in the middle of a wall with no verticle grab rail; just two drop down rails.

Comments: The picture above left shows the amount of space for wheelchairs at the ground and the picture directly above shows me sat on the train from Cologne to Nuremberg. We were travelling for 10 hours on the train that day so I needed a bit of comfort and as you can see I got it. There was also a very good disabled toilet in a bathroom just behind these seats.

To conclude, my first experience of the World Cup was one to remember for all the right reasons. The atmosphere in the Cities hosting each match was fantastic. Regardless of the teams participating in the match; the buzz, level of anticipation and excitement were electric. It was worth being in Germany just for this but added to seeing the smiling faces and bright colours, being amongst the boisterous but friendly supporters and hearing the jovial banter, it was an experience never to be forgotten.

Being a wheelchair user made absolutely no difference in being able to sample all this for myself. The idea of travelling abroad to an event like this need not be regarded as impossible or even difficult if you are a wheelchair user. You do need to plan in advance and you should not expect facilities to be like they are in your familiar environment. However with the support of a good PA or friend (or both in my case) there is no reason why you cannot enjoy it every bit as much as anyone else.

I have been to many of Europes top football Stadia supporting Chelsea (The Nou Camp Barcelona, the Olympic Stadiums in Rome and Munich to name just three) but the Stadiums selected by FIFA that I went to for this World Cup were by far the best in respect of facilities for wheelchairs that I have experienced. The next international football tournament is the European Championships in Switzerland and Austria in June 2008 and the next World Cup is in South Africa in June 2010. I am looking forward to going to both.

My Third Match	Match 19: England v Trinidad & Tobago, 15/06/06 Nuremberg 18.00 KO (Result: 2-0)
Stadium: Frankenstadion. This stadium is one of three for this Germany World Cup to feature an athletics track. It was opened in 1928 but has undergone many stages of upgrade. The last of which was completed last year. (Capacity: 41,026)	Travel: By train from Cologne Station to Nuremberg Station. Then onward travel via 'free' shuttle train to stadium.
View: 10/10 - We were on a raised platform and in the front row. A perfect view and close to the action (See below)	Ease of Access: 10/10 We were shown by a Steward straight to the correct space within minutes.

Parking: N/A	Food & drink: 7/10 Those with match tickets were allowed into the grounds. The grounds had numourous beer tents and food stalls. I had a hotdog, a drink of coke and an ice cream.

Toilet Facilities: I got the feeling that I was the first person to use the disabled toilets that day. They were unlocked by the Steward who showed us where they were. They were imaculately clean and tidy but the toilet was in the middle of a wall with no verticle grab rail; just two drop down rails.	Comments: The picture above left shows the amount of space for wheelchairs at the ground and the picture directly above shows me sat on the train from Cologne to Nuremberg. We were travelling for 10 hours on the train that day so I needed a bit of comfort and as you can see I got it. There was also a very good disabled toilet in a bathroom just behind these seats.