Each year the Premier League has an average attendance of around 15.3 million people, amounting to a spectatorship that is the equivalent of 22.8% of the UK population.
With this in mind, new data by health & safety experts, Direct365 has revealed which Premier League stadiums offer the best facilities for their fans, including health and safety, defibrillator accessibility, disabled access availability, as well as the food and drinks on offer.
Newcastle United takes home the trophy for top performing ‘fan first’ club
St. James’ Park which is home to Newcastle United scores best overall in terms of their facilities and services, scoring an impressive 68.6 points out of 100. This 52,000-capacity stadium combines great value food and drink with fan-friendly amenities. Closely behind, Bournemouth and Brighton scored 66.6 and 60.8, respectively when taking into consideration all of their facility offerings.
On the contrary, West Ham United, Fulham, and Aston Villa have room for improvement. Despite its sizable capacity of 60,000, West Ham’s London Stadium struggles with a low score of 38.1. Fulham’s Craven Cottage isn’t faring much better, with a score of 36.5. Aston Villa’s disappointing 34.8 is mainly due to their poor scores with defib access and disabled supporters’ resources.
Leicester City fans are able to access a defibrillator the easiest, with 10 defibs located just 0.34km from the ground
In terms of health & safety of the stadiums, and more specifically the availability of defibrillators, Leicester leads with a score of 79. This is thanks to 80% of defibrillators near the King Power Stadium being publicly available and accessible around the clock. Newcastle follows with a score of 68.4 as its nearest 10 defibrillators located just 0.38km from St. James’ Park, with one inside the stadium itself.
Coming in third position is Brighton & Hove Albion. While the stadium’s 10 closest defibrillators are on average located 1.97km from the stadium, 100% of these defibrillators are accessible to the public, with 70% of them operating 24/7.
On the other hand, Aston Villa comes bottom with a score of 26.3, as only 30% of defibrillators near Villa Park are available around the clock. Arsenal and Fulham follow, with only 20% of the closest available defibrillators being accessible 24/7. However, according to building regulations, stadiums should reserve at least 6% of their seats for disabled fans.
On average, only 0.58% of all premier league seats have wheelchair access
When it comes to accessibility within Premier League stadiums, none of the teams perform very well. Bournemouth caters to its fans the most in terms of accessibility, offering 2.53% of its seats as wheelchair-accessible. Brighton & Hove Albion and Liverpool follow, with 0.69% and 0.48% of their seats set aside for wheelchair users, respectively.
At the other end of the table, Fulham, Ipswich Town, Aston Villa, and Nottingham Forest offer the least amount of disabled seats to their fans. These grounds offer less than 0.40% of their seats for wheelchair users, with Forest’s City Ground offering just 77 seats, which is just 0.25% of all seats in the stadium.
The average cost of a pint at a premier league game is £4.76
The food and drink at a football match is a must for lots of fans and adds to the experience of attending the game. Taking a look at the costs of common refreshment purchases and general food and drink ratings, Newcastle United leads. You can get a cup of tea at £2, beer at £2.50, and pies at £3. The Magpies compare favourably against the average team with the average Premier League food and drink costing £2.23 for tea, £4.76 for beer, and £4.36 for pies.
Coming in second is Manchester United. Fans can enjoy a pint for just £3 at Old Trafford, while a cup of tea costs £2. Wolverhampton Wanderers follow, as while the cost of their pie is £3.60, making it 60p more expensive than Manchester United, the cost of beer at Molineux Stadium is £4.
Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium has been ranked the lowest for refreshments. Pies at the stadium will cost you on average £4.70 and a pint will put your back £4.60. Elsewhere, Leicester has the priciest pint in the league, setting you back £5.80.
Direct365’s Head of Digital, Karl Bantleman at Direct365 says: “It is apparent from our research that while Premier League teams may be the best performers in football globally, they have some work to do in ensuring that their stadiums are a place where their fans feel included and safe at all times.
“As well as ensuring that your fans are satisfied by providing affordable and good quality refreshments, football teams at all levels must ensure that their fans have easy access to defibrillators and that AED’s are well signposted throughout each stadium.
“Furthermore, while football is an inclusive sport that people of all ages and abilities can watch, it is therefore recommended that an accessibility risk assessment is carried out at each stadium to ensure that each team is offering adequate facilities for its disabled spectators.”
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