The home of English football and the Emirates FA Cup, and host to iconic music and sports events. Does the world-famous stadium, with the 134-meter-high arch and capacity of almost 100,000, hit the back of the net and take the full points on accessibility?
BOOKING
Accessible bookings for Wembley Stadium are made directly with Wembley. They have an accessible telephone line, and online booking is not possible. The stadium also utilises SignVideo, an instant BSL interpretation relay service, for individuals with hearing impairments.
On days when multiple dates are going on sale, the lines can get extremely busy, and it isn’t unusual to end up getting cut off. For some high-profile events, access customers have tried to get through the system more quickly by calling the hospitality or club Wembley lines and asking to be transferred. These lines have a premium rate number and can get very expensive. On occasion, the phone line does offer a call-back service where you can leave your details, and the box office will call you back to make your booking.
By taking all of the bookings themselves, Wembley Stadium can ensure that access customers book the right tickets based on their individual requirements. There are accessible seating options, including wheelchair spaces, on all levels of the stadium.
For concerts, there is no wheelchair platform on the pitch. Ambulant standing tickets are available, but access to the pitch is via a minimum of 34 steps down. It should also be noted that no mobility aids, including sticks, crutches and stools, are permitted on the pitch, so if you are unable to manage the stairs and stand unaided, pitch tickets are not for you.
The Stadium has 310 wheelchair spaces, each with an accompanying companion seat. In addition to this, there are seats which have a minimal number of steps and are used for the ambulant disabled. There are also seating options available for use alongside the Stadium’s hearing loop system, Audio Description commentary, and BSL interpretation. These facilities may vary by event, but the box office will be able to assist you.
To book tickets with Wembley Stadium, you will require a ticket account. In the past, this has just been a digital record of your details that can be accessed by the box office staff when you call. More recently, this system has been upgraded and is now integrated with the Nimbus, or Access Card, system.
If you don’t want to sign up for a Nimbus card, you can opt for a Digital Access Pass (DAP), which functions similarly to the Nimbus card but is only valid for bookings with Wembley.
If you already have a Wembley ticket account, you can easily link your Nimbus card to the account on the Wembley website.
Once you’ve made your booking, you’ll get an email confirmation of your order, and you’ll receive your tickets in PDF format nearer the event date. You can either print your tickets or show the barcode on your mobile device to gain entry to the event.
LOCATION AND GETTING THERE
Being in the North-West of London, there are multiple transport options to get you to Wembley Stadium.
Personally, I’m a fan of using the Underground to Wembley Park Stadium as I’m usually connecting from Kings Cross Station. Wembley Park is a step-free station on the Jubilee line between Stratford and Stanmore and the Metropolitan line, between Liverpool Street and Hillingdon, Uxbridge, Amersham, and Chesham. The station has wide aisle ticket gates, lift access to all platforms and lift access down to street level to get to the stadium. On the platforms, the step-free access points are marked by raised yellow boxes. Getting onto the train here ensures the exit at your chosen station is step-free.
Wembley Central station is on the Bakerloo underground line from Oxford Circus to Harrow and Wealdstone and the Lioness London Overground line from Euston to Watford Junction. Both lines require a ramp to access the trains and the use of a staff-controlled stairlift. It is also worth noting that very few stations on the two lines are accessible.
Wembley Stadium railway station is also nearby, with train services from Marylebone – you do need to contact passenger assistance at Chiltern Railways if you wish to use this station, as you will need to use ramps to access the trains.
It’s around a half-mile walk or roll from the station to the stadium on a wide, level and smooth pathway, along Olympic Way, formerly known as Wembley Way. There is minimal street furniture with a few seating areas, and it is well-lit at night.
If you are using Wembley Park stadium and want to avoid the crowds or can’t manage the walk down Olympic Way, there is a complimentary shuttle bus service run by Brent Council. The buses are wheelchair accessible mini buses which can carry 10 people. They run approximately every 30 minutes from 30 minutes before the event gates open until 1 hour after the end of the event. The queues can get long, and there may be long wait times between buses.
The bus stops are at the exit lift from Wembley Park Station and at the junction where Olympic Way meets Engineers Way, just below the steps leading up to the Stadium.
The area around the stadium has lots of hotel options matching various budgets. Still, with the short underground journeys, you can sometimes make a considerable saving by staying a few stops away.
If you plan on heading to the Stadium by car, there is blue badge parking available. You do need to book early, and the parking is chargeable at £25. Booking is not made with the Stadium; you need to go to www.wembleyofficialparking.com. You can select either Blue Badge parking or wheelchair parking, and you will need to input your vehicle registration. The booking page displays the number of available spaces.
Although there are several bus services in the local area, they are not recommended on event days. With the high volumes of people and road closures, buses get delayed or diverted, so they can be very unreliable. All red London buses are accessible, but other companies run some in the Wembley area and may not be accessible for your requirements.
FACILITIES OUTSIDE THE STADIUM
Olympic Way has a selection of food vans, most (if not all) of which are inaccessible for wheelchair users. In addition, there is BoxPark, which is wheelchair accessible and features accessible toilets, bars, street food vendors, games zones, and hosts Fan Village events. Black Sheep coffee has level access. There are a couple of small express supermarkets, as well as bars and restaurants.
Around to the western side of the Stadium is a Designer Outlet with Cineworld cinema and more bars and restaurants. Plus, there is Wembley Arena.
There are lots of outside areas to sit and soak up the sunshine, and there are often pop-up Fan Zones and events.
Toilet facilities are available in most food and drink outlets, as well as at the Designer Outlet. There is an accessible temporary toilet (bigger and more robust than a portaloo) at each of the accessible shuttle stops.
There are multiple merch outlets on Olympic Way, including the official fan merchandise stands as well as the pop-up scarf/cowboy hat/feather boa/devil horn vendors. The official outlets are all accessible in the sense that they have a reachable counter. Some events have started to have large banners printed with all of the available items on, with reference numbers, so you can easily see what is for sale and decide whether to queue to buy. None of the outlets has a designated access lane or queue.
There is always a great atmosphere on Olympic Way, especially when the sun shines! It always feels safe as there are lots of security staff and police all the way along Olympic Way and in the station. There are also local bylaws preventing street drinking and public urination, which are enforced and prosecutable.
There are lots of photo opportunities too!
GETTING IN
On your PDF ticket, you’ll find a map showing the coloured sections of the stadium and the lettered gates. Your ticket will show you which coloured section you are seated in and which gate you need to use. On the outer concourses on Level 1 of the Stadium, the sections are all clearly marked, and there are maps at each gate to help you find your way around.
The Customer Engagement Team operate a ‘pushing and chaperone’ service for guests who require additional support in terms of travel to and from their seat. This service is not pre-bookable and can be accessed across all events at the stadium. Available from the Red, Green and Blue Car Parks surrounding the stadium, and anywhere on the stadium footprint. However, this does not include Pink Car Park, hotels, or other areas on the wider Wembley estate. Just speak to one of the Customer Engagement Team, dressed in Blue t-shirts and/or jackets, with ‘Help to Help’ in Yellow on the back. Guests can be collected or taken to the shuttle bus pick-up point.
First things first, you need to get to the Level 1 outer concourse, which is located two long flights of stairs away. There are two sets of lifts located at the front of the stadium, on either side of the main entrance, leading up to level 1. As you approach the stadium from Olympic Way, you’ll see the infamous steps leading up to the Stadium with the arch high above. Make your way around to either side of the steps and follow the path around the side of the staircase, then underneath towards the main entrance.
The centre of the main entrance is the Purple zone. This is the entrance for the hospitality, VIP and Club Wembley areas of the Stadium. Here, you’ll find a huge board that says ‘Accessible Entrance’. As we approached this entrance, a female staff member abruptly told us that this was not the general accessible entrance and that we had to use the lifts. Although we were aware of this, having used the lifts before, the signage was deceptive to anyone who hadn’t visited the stadium before.
We headed to the lifts on the right-hand side, which have clear high-level signage and are labelled as B2, which take you up onto Level 1 and out near the Bobby Moore statue. Level 1 is wide and level with smooth tarmac, with lots of clear signage. This outer concourse leads around the whole perimeter of the Stadium to access all of the entry gates. Once inside the Stadium, there are lifts and escalators to all levels (except the pitch), so it’s easy to find your entry gate.
If you have purchased accessible tickets, your entry gate location will have an accessible gate. The gates all have a covered area, so if you are queuing in the rain, you can get some shelter. Much of the rest of the stadium’s exterior is open to the elements. The turnstiles are all narrow turnstiles which activate with a scan of your ticket. The accessible gates have a large door leading into a small holding area where your tickets are scanned before you pass through another large door to a table for a security bag check, then straight into the concourse.
There are strict bag restrictions in the Stadium, but if you have any medical or dietary requirements, you can apply for a bag exemption certificate. This will allow you a larger bag, food, medical items, etc., which are generally not permitted. You need to apply for your certificate by filling in an online form around 2 weeks before the event.
FACILITIES INSIDE THE STADIUM
Being a relatively new stadium, you would expect the accessible facilities to be on point and to be fair, I think they pretty much are! As I have only ever used the wheelchair bays on Level 1 of the Stadium, I can only give information on what I’ve seen, but I understand that the facilities on other levels are similar, if not the same.
From entering the wide concourse, you should find it easy to find your way around. There is no seating in the concourse, but there are a few areas with narrow shelves to set your food and drinks down.
Let’s start with everyone’s favourite feature – accessible toilets. Wembley Stadium has 147 accessible toilets, accessed by radar keys, 10 of which include baby changing facilities and an additional 3 Changing Places facilities. These toilets are all well fitted out with the relevant grab rails, have mirrors at a level you can actually use from a seated position and low-level coat hooks. Points deduction for the pedal bins though! The Changing Places nearest to our block (142) had a broken toilet seat. It’s a shame that the Changing Places facilities don’t require any additional access method, such as a code or staff input, to protect them. They aren’t cheap to install and maintain, but they do get treated as a general-use toilet if left open.
The amount of use and/or misuse of each toilet throughout the Stadium varies. The one nearest to Block 142 is at the opposite side of the concourse to the seating and tucked behind a wall. Many people seem unaware of its existence, and it is not used for convenience by those stuck in long queues at the regular toilets. In parts of the Stadium where the accessible toilet is adjacent to the regular toilet blocks, all it takes is one radar key holder to leave the door open, and you get a constant stream of people dodging the main queues.
There are additional ambulant cubicles in most, if not all, of the regular toilet blocks, too.
There are multiple food and beverage outlets around the concourse, ranging from standard alcohol and snack bars to pick & mix, prosecco and frozen cocktails. In addition to the fixed bar positions, some of the stalls are moveable carts, most of which are not very accessible. Even at the main fixed bar areas, there were no lowered counters or designated access lanes. The queues are managed by fabric strip barriers, which makes the queueing areas narrow and challenging to manoeuvre.
There is little or no allergen information on display, and when it’s busy, it’s difficult to ask members of staff for assistance. Many of them are just there for the day to serve the items and have no idea about the items themselves. If you have a severe allergy, it’s worth getting in touch with the Stadium to apply for a bag exemption certificate ( see the Getting In section about bag checks and security)
There are 12 free water outlets in the Stadium. The nearest one to us in Block 142 was in the alcove near the accessible toilets and the Changing Places. It was at a low level for me to be able to use it, but if I hadn’t already had a cup or bottle to fill, I wouldn’t have been able to reach the cups stacked up on the top.
There are merchandise desks on the concourse which are much smaller than those on Olympic Way. They tend to have a selection of what is on offer at the larger outlets, but the counters are low and easy to use.
Stadium sponsor EE offer portable mobile phone chargers for rent. I believe they are £20 and you get £10 back when you return the device.
All of the signage around the Stadium interior is at a high level, so it’s easy to see when you’re in a crowd.
From a specifically accessible perspective, there are facilities dedicated to visitors with disabilities and impairments.
The Stadium Engagement Team are on hand to provide you with a radar key if you don’t have one and can also loan wheelchairs, should you need that extra assistance.
For sporting events, the Stadium has an induction loop for deaf and hard-of-hearing people. All events have an Audio Description service, and BSL interpreters are positioned in front of Block 123 for all events.
The Stadium has two Sensory & Inclusion rooms, which have a view of the event space, and there is a designated dog spending area for assistance animals.
SEATING
The wheelchair seating throughout the Stadium consists of dedicated areas with fixed fold-down plastic stadium-style seating for companions, arranged in pairs, with spaces between for wheelchairs.
Each bay is clearly numbered, so it’s easy to find where you need to be.
Each bay has at least one member of staff, so there’s always help at hand should you need it. They asl ensure that the area around the bays is kept clear.
The bays don’t have any seating directly behind them; as such, there’s a wall with the front row of seating up several steps. You’ll find steps at each end of the bays leading up and down to the fixed seating areas.
You’re always close to an exit to the concourse. The exits are short tunnels.
The width of the pathway along the back of the bays varies – on the straight stretches around the pitch perimeter, the path is narrow but tends to be wider around the corners.
The bays are all around three steps higher than the first row of fixed seating in front, so with people standing up, you’re view doesn’t really get obstructed too much.
The metal railing along the front of the bays is a reasonable height and is covered with an advertising tarpaulin. This helps prevent people in front of you from placing their drinks, rubbish, and coats at your feet.
There are some things you should be aware of. The Stadium has a maximum wheelchair and scooter size that it can accommodate within the wheelchair bays. This will be checked with you at the time of booking.
There is also a rubber lip, which I found problematic. The wheelchair bay had a metal checker plate floor. Where the metal meets the concrete, there’s a narrow rubber seal, which I was catching with my front casters. It’s raised quite a bit and is a bit of a trip hazard, so be aware of catching wheels and risking being tipped out of your wheelchair!
Obviously, the wheelchair area you book will affect your view of the stage or pitch. Block 142 was near the stage, but we were limited to what we could see at the back of the stage, such as the video screens, and anything along the side of the stage nearest to us.
GETTING BACK OUT
When the Stadium event finishes, if it’s dark, the floodlights will come on. This makes finding your way around much easier.
I always advocate waiting a few minutes before heading for the exits. For stadium gigs, allow 5 minutes extra! With the queues of people coming up and down the staircases and heading for the concourse, there’s quite a hustle and bustle. Add to that the long queues for the toilets to navigate around, and it can feel quite chaotic.
The large outer stadium doors are opened, which reduces the bottleneck.
With the vast upper Level 1 outer concourse and the large, wide staircases, the crowds do disperse quite quickly; however, you might find people moving in different directions to different exits and stations.
As there are only the two sets of lifts, you’ll need to head back to where you came up and most likely queue for the lift. There are no staff manning the lifts, so it unfortunately doesn’t get prioritised for access customers.
The complimentary shuttle bus drops off just near the main Wembley steps, on Engineers Way. If you didn’t use the bus on the way in but would prefer to avoid the crowds, give it a go. You might have to wait a while.
If you’re heading back under your own steam along Olympic Way towards Wembley Park Station, you will notice how the crowd builds as you move along. Security staff use a system of Stop and Go boards at the Northern end of Olympic Way, which helps to control the crowd and prevent any surges or severe congestion within the station building. As with everything, some people are impatient, trying to squeeze through. It’s obviously tricky if you’re in a wheelchair – it’s easy to get stood on, kicked, bumped into, and maybe even sat on. Lit cigarettes in hands are something else to watch out for! Drunken, staggering people are always an issue at large capacity events, so be on your guard.
As you make your way along, you need to keep to the left if you’re heading for the lift – it gets incredibly crowded if you try to change direction near the steps.
A quick tip – if you are heading back to Wembley Park Station, don’t want to use the shuttle but don’t want to get stuck in the crowds, there are other walking routes.
Multiple side streets are jutting off Olympic Way and running parallel. If you don’t mind the paths being a little uneven and a slight incline, the roads to the left as you head towards the station lead directly to the lift into the underground station.
Multiple side streets are jutting off Olympic Way and running parallel. If you don’t mind the paths being a little uneven and a slight incline, the roads to the left as you head towards the station lead directly to the lift into the underground station.
From the bottom of the Wembley steps, with your back to the Stadium, take a left onto Engineers Way, then right onto Empire Way, and follow it to Wembley Park Drive.
If you’ve already set off down Olympic Way and the crowds become too much, and you change your mind, just as you pass BoxPark, take a right onto Empire Way and follow it to Wembley Park Drive.
OVERALL EXPERIENCE
As always, when we visited Wembley Stadium, the experience was excellent.
The access facilities are good, and the wheelchair bays are kept clear, so you feel safe.
The staff are all helpful, especially those directly employed by the Stadium rather than the security companies.
The accessible toilets are hit and miss, depending on where you are seated in the Stadium.
I’d recommend purchasing your merch before you go into the stadium. The stadium desks have limited stock, so you might end up disappointed.
Wherever you sit, you’ve got a great view. For concerts, your angle to the stage might not be ideal, but that will mean you’re nearer to the front. Block 142, where we were sitting, must be good for concerts – Sam Fender was seated 10 rows in front of us!
