Manchester City fan action forces club into major u-turn over controversial Etihad Stadium policy | OneFootball

Action taken by Manchester City supporters has forced club decision makers into a u-turn over a hugely controversial policy change at the Etihad Stadium.

It was first revealed in early August that the Premier League champions and those working on major decisions within the football club had opted to begin charging disabled supporters a total of £228 per season for parking at home matches.

Given disabled parking spots at the Etihad Stadium on matchdays used to be free, the decision was met by huge backlash from supporters both at the stadium and across social media, with some pointing towards clear greed from Manchester City.

However, given the size of the backlash and response from major supporter groups to raise funds to ease the financial burden being undertaken by hardcore disabled fans,, a significant u-turn has been confirmed by the club.

As confirmed by MailSport’s Jack Gaughan, Manchester City will now bring in a refundable deposit scheme for disabled car parking, after disabled supporters were raging that the club had brought in a £6 charge to reserve a spot for matches – something they had not done before.

In light of the news from Manchester City, a crowdfunding campaign was launched by fellow supporters to raise funds to help affected fans, which had reached almost £2,500 by the time Manchester City updated their policy on the matter.

As part of their decision to backtrack on plans, City stated that the home game against Ipswich was a trial to find out whether a fee worked in making sure places were filled on a match day, and that they always planned to implement a deposit scheme if it proved successful.

As such, Manchester City fans will now pay £6 to secure a spot for the Premier League game against Brentford next Saturday, and then be refunded should they use their space on the day of the game.

Manchester City have also clarified in their updated policy on the matter that they will keep the fee from those who do not use their reserved parking spot, with any funds going to community projects and the City in the Community charity.

The decision taken by Manchester City was greeted by the Manchester City Disabled Supporters Association, with the group’s Chair Howard Cohen opening up his formal statement of response with “We won!” last week.

“We will continue to monitor the situation and will step in again, if there are any new signs of the club discriminating against or exploiting disabled fans,” Cohen wrote in a powerful statement last week.

In direct response to the action taken by Manchester City supporters to club together and raise funds, Cohen continued, “City fans are truly amazing. I am so proud to be a Manchester City fan today.”