The club could not have been more helpful.
I rang them to let them know I was taking my guide dog and they kept me informed over the previous days to the game over what options were available: I could take a taxi from the station to the ground, walk or get a bus. Then the DLO texted me to give his phone number and arranged to meet me to show me to my seat which was with the Liverpool fans. They also said if I needed refreshments at half-time the steward in my section would get them for me.
Sadly, the headset didn't work, but the steward offered to get me another. I take a radio for these occasions so it didn't matter.
When the game was over, someone kindly showed me to the bus stop - I had taken a bus on the way down.
What a good experience! They really couldn't have done more.
I found it a bit of a trek from the Coach parking to the Away-Disabled Supporters' entrance, but it was, fortunately fairly level, with no inclines to "fight" with.
There was quite a lot of unused disabled parking, actually bang outside the disabled entrance, but we weren't allowed to use that, for some reason.
I did like the fact that the coach parking was all one-way, IE you can drive in, and after the game, drive out facing the same way, which made for a speedier exit to the motorway after the match.
Outside the disabled supporters' entrance was a bit of a disappointment, andwe found it a big bottleneck. There was no shelter from the elements/ inclement weather for the numbers of disabled supporters, and their escorts, queueing to get into the stadium.
The queueing problem was exacerbated by the extremely small, and slow lift which only accommodated one wheelchair-user-plus-escort at a time. There was also only the one lift in that section, It was an unacceptably long wait to get all of the party of disabled supporters into the stadium.
In fact, my partner and I felt it necessary to start making our way to the lift, to exit the stadium, some time before the end of the match, as we knew it would take an age to egress the stadium at the end of the game, and we did not want to hold things up any more than necessary.
On arriving in the concourse, we found it extremely congested with all supporters, not just disabled supporters. the disabled-designated areas were not easily found.
On getting to the designated area, the wheelchair bays were spacious, but not well marked out/ clearly enough defined, which caused congestionand no little difficulty getting in and out, as there were too many chairs in the one area. It was not helped by the fact that there was a huge concrete stanchion/ buttress obstructing the free access and egress in the wheelchair area I was in.
When the supporters in front of us were seated, as they were meant to be, the view of the pitch was pretty good, both for the wheelchair user, and for the companion. When the supporters in front of us were standing, we could see nothing of the near-half of the pitch. Our view was obscured to at least the halfway line.
Headsets were provided for the visually-impaired members of the party, which was good. I asked one supporter if the headset worked adequately, and she said that it worked fine.
There were a few problems for the ambulant disabled supporters, in getting down the steps to their seating area. It would, IMO, have been better served by having a level area, without any steps, for the ambulant disabled.
Access to the refreshments servery was extremely poor, if not impossible, for at least a couple of the wheelchair-using supporters in our party.
Food was not available, an hour/ an hour and a half before the match was due to begin.
There was not one single lowered servery hatch, in the away area, that a wheelchair user could access, and the serveries, generally, were quite high, making it difficult to attract attention of the staff. (one couldn't get close enough to the servery, anyway)
There was no designated disabled priority area, as there is at Bramall Lane, at the servery.
The concourse was awash with beer and drinks, and goodness-knows what else, which was very unpleasant when one got it on the wheelchair wheels, and transferrred onto one's clothes and hands, making one's wheels, hands and clothes very sticky. (it was also a slipping hazard for those on sticks) There was a lot of difficulty in negotiating ones way through the rubbish, and discarded beer-glasses and plastic cups that were strewn all over the floor.
It was a bit of a problem that the disabled supporters' areas were accessed by the same routes/ "tunnels" from the concourse as the able-bodied supporters. This congestion created a problem of able bodied supporters crowding the disbaled supporters, and getting tangled with the sticks and wheels of the disabled supporters' crutches, and chairs.
It was a bit of a concern of mine that the disabled supporters' are was very close to the area in which it seemed that most of the "troublesome" element was situated, and we came under a barrage of abuse. It made me feel quite vulnerable.
The accessible loo that I used was also poor. It was fairly adequate in layout, in that it had hand-grips for transfer etc, but the emergency pull-cord was tied up, well out of reach of the disabled-user.
The loo was not locked with a RADAR key, to prevent unauthorised use, and indeed, I was extremely angry to discover, on trying to get into the loo, that it was being used by a non-disabled person, and that they had been SMOKING, illegally within the loo. (I'd recommend a very sensitive smoke alarm, and a RADAR lock to prevent this happening in future) It was disgusting, and unpleasant to go into the loo, and find that one was unable to breathe, for the thick fug of cigarette smoke left behind by the able bodied person who had been abusing the facility. It is my opinion that the loos need better, and closer "policing" to prevent abuse.
Generally, the stewards were friendly and helpful.