Rhinos host first ever Accessibility meeting

Over 50 fans attended the first-ever Accessibility meeting at AMT Headingley Rugby Stadium, as Leeds Rhinos pledged to work towards improving the experience for supporters with disabilities visiting the stadium.

Ahead of the 2024 Betfred Super League season, Leeds Rhinos asked fans to attend the forum which was hosted by the club’s Head of Customer Experience, Sian Jones.  The ambition of the meeting was to understand the concerns and needs of supporters and to look at ways of making the stadium more accessible for people with disabilities.

The club have been working with the charity Level Playing Field, which acts as a campaigning and advisory organisation for its members and other parties across all sports, to ensure they understand good practice for the stadium.

Owain Davies and Liam Bird from Level Playing Field emphasised the work that Leeds Rhinos have done over the past couple of years, with the club ranking in the top 10 across all professional sports clubs in England Wales participating in the Level Playing Field Survey in 2023. The pair discussed the results of the survey and how they can support Leeds Rhinos, their fans and the game of Rugby League to ensure a positive, accessible experience.

Sian Jones led the meeting and introduced Ashley Marshall from the Leeds Rhinos customer experience team who has taken on the role of Accessibility Liaison Officer.  Former player Jamie Jones-Buchanan, who is the club’s first Director of Culture, Diversity & Inclusivity, spoke about the club’s ambition to lead the way in Rugby League in making their stadium inclusive for all supporters. Leeds Rhinos Foundation’s Disability Officers Ed Bates and Ben Berry were also in attendance to give information about the Learning Disability and Physical Disability teams.

Ben Abberstein, the Inclusion Lead from the RFL, was also a speaker at the meeting and highlighted the work that the governing body is doing to improve inclusion and Rugby League participation through all levels of the sport.

After hearing from the RFL and Level Playing Field, fans worked in small groups to allow open discussion and gather feedback.  This discussion will support Leeds Rhinos in shaping their Accessibility plan which will help steer the club towards delivering a positive and accessible experience for all visitors to AMT Headingley Rugby Stadium. 

For more information please contact ashley.marshall@therhinos.co.uk

CLICK HERE for more information on Level Playing Field

CLICK HERE for more information on the RFL