As the missus is a wheelchair user it is hard to get tickets to games due to the lack of spaces. We have been following Fortuna Dusseldorf for the last few seasons as they have a very big stadium (54000) and plenty of wheelchair spaces (100+)...went once and fell in love with the city/people/club. Whilst in the 2nd division tickets were easy to get but away trips didn't really come into it as every game to us was an away trip. Then when promotion was beckoning last season we went to Nuremberg and saw Fortuna clinch the title in the last minute. That ticket was obtained by much creeping to the Nuremberg disability rep as all Fortunas tickets had sold out months before (we asked in January for a May fixture) Fast forward to this season we've been back to Nuremberg to see us lose and will be in Dusseldorf next weekend for our first home game of the season. In the mean time we have sorted out tickets for the away game against Bayern Munich (like finding gold rocking horse ***** encrusted with diamonds) and have found out today we can have tickets to the game against Dortmund in May...like finding the above only to find it is actually Unicorn ***** (sourced via the Dortmund rep / creeping...actually visited Elsecar last week on holiday). Opposition teams only get 7 wheelchair tickets out of the 74 available in a 80000 capacity stadium. Munich have 227 in a 71000 capacity (10% to opposition fans) While the number of tickets is low (probably similar to our leagues) at least the prices help.€6 to Nuremberg, €9.50 for Dortmund, €5 for Bayern and €13 for Fortuna. Dirt cheap compared to here and buzzing that we have tickets to these matches and stadiums which we may never get the opportunity to visit again. Can't wait to get back over there.....and yes ....Fortuna do play in red and white
Good story, how does the travel over there work out by comparison? I have colleagues in wheelchairs who are atill being shoved from pillar to post when they travel.
Special Assistance in the airports. I usually take her through the airport (our choice) and get met at the gate where they take her onto the plane and lift her to her seat. Can be a bit hit and miss time wise due to workload on the assistance team (like a few flights arriving together with people needing assistance) but the helpers both here and in Germany (not been to other countrys since she needed help so can't comment) are always VERY helpful. Will take us all the way to our car or Taxi/train if they have to. When we do get a taxi the drivers in Germany always help us with our luggage into the hotel/airport. Local trains (S Bahn, U Bahn and regional trains) are usually pretty flat to the platform (so are a few inches up or down but someone will always help if needed) but the ICE trains need a ramp to get on. You just email your travel plans and they will sort it out at both end plus any connections you have ( https://www.bahn.com/en/view/index.shtml ) A fairly new thing that helps us a lot (which you add to yourself) is wheelmap. The more people that add to it the more useful it is https://wheelmap.org/en/map#/?zoom=19 Any more questions feel free to ask and I'll help if I can.
