The Level Playing Field Podcast

To mark Armed Forces Day, the Level Playing Field Podcast shines a spotlight on the experiences of disabled veterans and the role that football can play in rebuilding community, identity and belonging. Hosted by Level Playing Field Joey Crabtree, this special episode features Man United fan Rick Clement, Co Chair of West Ham United DSA Cathy Bayford and Liverpool fan and Level Playing Field Truste...

In this episode of the Level Playing Field Podcast, Liam Bird speaks with sports journalist Andy Stevenson about disability, sport, and working in the media. Recorded at Reading Football Club, Andy shares his journey into sports journalism, from growing up loving football to covering Olympic and Paralympic sport. He talks honestly about access barriers in stadiums, learning when to ask for support...

In this episode, Liam is joined by Level Playing Field’s Chief Executive, Owain Davies, and Head of Club Relations & Development, Daniel Townley, to unpack the findings from our 2025 Annual Fan Survey – the largest of its kind for disabled sports fans in the UK. You can read the survey in full via this link or visit https://www.levelplayingfield.org.uk/news-item/2025-level-playing-field-annual...

In this episode, Liam speaks with Jon, author and parent of a young autistic daughter, about his journey of turning personal experiences into a series of children’s books. Jon shares how his daughter Kaya inspired Lilly and Myles: The Match —a story that explores the excitement and challenges of attending football through the eyes of an autistic child. If you would like to know more about the work...

In this episode of the Level Playing Field Podcast, host Liam Bird sits down with former Brentford, Bristol Rovers, and Swansea City defender Ijah Anderson at the Gtech Community Stadium. Ijah reflects on a playing career that spanned over 200 games for Brentford, but the conversation moves beyond football. After retiring, Ijah was diagnosed as autistic — a revelation that reshaped how he understo...

In this episode of the Level Playing Field podcast, guest host Joey Crabtree (Media and Communications Officer at Level Playing Field) heads to AMT Headingley Rugby Stadium for a conversation about disability inclusion, access, and community in rugby league.   He’s joined by Leeds Rhinos' Head of Customer Experience, Sian Jones, and club legend turned Inclusion Director, Jamie Jones-Buchanan....

In this episode of the Level Playing Field Podcast , we dive into the findings of the 2024/25 Level Playing Field Fan Survey, the largest to date with over 2,000 responses from fans across 156 clubs.   Joining host Liam Bird are three key voices behind the survey: Daniel Townley , Development Officer and the data expert who pulled it all together. Owain Davies , Chief Executive at Level Playi...

On this episode of the Level Playing Field Podcast, Fan Liaison Officer Liam Bird sits down with multi-talented and passionate football fan Courtney Buchner and discusses her recent ADHD diagnosis.   Courtney shares her journey of self-discovery and acceptance. She explores how attending live sports has impacted her life and delves into her experiences of being a neurodiverse female football...

The Level Playing Field Podcast is back! In this episode, we talk to Jon Attenborough , a passionate football fan and soon-to-be author of "Following Sam," which chronicles his journey visiting all 42 Scottish football league clubs with his assistance dog, Sam. Jon shares the logistics, highlights, and accessibility challenges of his travels, as well as the vital role Sam plays in his match day ex...

In this episode, we delve into the essential work of Disabled Supporters Associations (DSAs) in this special episode for Volunteers' Week. DSAs are dedicated groups formed by disabled sports fans to advocate for accessibility and inclusion within their respective clubs. Join us as we speak with Diane from Chelsea, David from Hull City, Brian and Niraj from Brighton Hove Albion, and Simone from Cov...

In this episode, Level Playing Field staff members reflect on the recently concluded Unite For Access campaign, exploring its impact on disabled sports fans, match day and non-match day activities and the future of the campaign.  You can watch this year's campaign video via this link or link below https://www.levelplayingfield.org.uk/news-item/unite-for-access-campaign-film-spotlights-non-vis...

In this Level Playing Field podcast episode, we explore the assistive technology 'Give Vision', a headset that brings the game closer to blind and partially sighted sports fans.  Fan Liaison Officer Liam Bird sits down with Joanna Liddington from Give Vision to uncover the origin and impact of this innovative tech. Level Playing Field Chief Executive Owain Davies takes us to AFC Bournemouth,...

In today's episode, we are up in the foothills of the West Pennine Moors as we visit Bolton Wanderers at the unveiling of their Changing Places facility. In this episode, our Fans Liaison Officer, Liam, talks to two families who have been advocating for the Changing Places facility to be installed for many years at the club as well as around the country. Liam also talks to the COO at Bolton Wander...

In this captivating episode of the Level Playing Field Podcast, your host, Level Playing Field , Fans Liaison Officer, Liam, turns the spotlight onto an often misunderstood disability – Tourette's syndrome.  Guiding us through this exploration is Ione, a person with firsthand experience of Tourette's. But Ione's contribution goes beyond her personal journey; as the Advocacy Lead for  Tou...

In this exciting episode, Level Playing Field Fan Liaison Officer Liam Bird speaks to Sandra Bentley. Sandra is the Ambassador & Business Liaison Consultant for the highly anticipated new 'Disability Expo', scheduled for July 6th and 7th at Londons ExCeL Center. We discuss initiatives, technologies, and passionate individuals coming together to be part of the Disability Expo to make live...

The Level Playing Field Podcast continues its look at the women's game alongside 30,000 fans, to watch Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester United women's teams at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.   While there, we spoke to several disabled supporters and personal assistants and got their views of the women's game from a disability perspective. If you want to keep up to date with all the work Level...

Over the coming weeks, the Level Playing Field Podcast will focus on the state of women's football when attending as a disabled football fan. In this episode, we speak to Deborah Dilworth, the Head of Women's Football at the Football Supporters Association, also known as the FSA. If you are listening to this episode  before 11.59 pm on April 7th , you can participate in the Level Playing Fiel...

For this special 'Unite For Access' podcast, we are in Wolverhampton, speaking to the award-winning TWS Podcast.  The TWS Podcast is hosted by autistic students from the Tettenhall Wood School, and we speak to two of the presenters, Alyssa and Tom, as well as their teacher Adam. You can listen to the TWS Podcast via the link below https://www.podpage.com/tws-sports-podcast/  Hosted on Ac...

We are at Fulham vs Wolves, speaking to one-half of the new  Audio Description team at Fulham as well as Mark, a blind supporter who uses the service. This interview took place on Fulham's dedicated Unite For Access match day. If you would like to know more about attending a match day at Fulham as a disabled supporter, please visit Fulham Level Playing Field club page via the below link  http...

The World Cup seems like a lifetime ago... But it was only a few weeks ago, and in this episode, we speak to two supporters who made their way over to the Qatar desert. In November, Level Playing Field spoke to Walea fan Ian Thomas who was attending his first major tournament. You can listen back to Ian via this link.   Ian is back to talk about his experience alongside Jo McNicol, an experienced...

For the past few weeks, Level Playing Field has been celebrating disability as part of Disability History Month . We continue our celebration down at Brighton Hove Albion . Fans Liason Officer Liam Bird takes a trip down to the south coast to meet up with Brighton super fan Ed Osborne for the first time after striking up a friendship born out of the COVID pandemic. If you want to keep up to date w...

Wales fan Ian Thomas is going to Qatar. England fan Anthony Joy is not.  We all know about the controversy regarding human rights issues at this World Cup. But are the issues that face disabled supporters being spoken about enough? Is there enough accessible information out there? What about accommodation? Are the stadiums fully accessible?  Fans Liaison Officer Liam Bird asks both sets of fans al...

Nav Johal , a Brentford season ticket holder and Giovanni Cinque, the Campaigns Manager at Colostomy UK, join Fan Liason Officer Liam Bird on this month's podcast to talk about attending football with a Colostomy and the difficulties of having a hidden disability. You can find out more about Colostomy UK 's work, including Stoma Friendly Toilets and their work with our sporting colleague...

Katie Pennick is the Campaigns & Comms Manager for the disability charity ' Transport For All '. She joins the Chief Executive of Level Playing Field , Owain Davies, on this month's podcast to talk about the accessibility of the UK public transport system and how it impacts disabled people daily, including on a match day. You have until midnight, October 21st, to participate in...

 In this month's episode, we speak to 3 fans regarding the results of the Level Playing Field 'Away Fan Survey.'   The survey highlighted that the experience for many fans was not fit for purpose. Bolton Wanderers supporters, mum and son Kayleigh & Jack, Grimsby Town supporter, Dean and Spurs supporter James all give their views on the survey and what needs to change to make sur...