Former West Ham United winger Matt Jarvis has spoken of his delight at becoming an ambassador for the Club’s Disabled Supporters’ Association (DSA).
Jarvis, who made 90 appearances as a Hammer between 2012 and 2015, has taken up the role to help amplify the vital work of the DSA.
The DSA was set up in the summer of 2023, growing on the success of the Disabled Supporters’ Board, with the aim of creating a community for the West Ham United disabled fanbase.
Its fan representatives offer a cross-section of disabilities and range of ages, and through regular meetings with the Club, the Accessibility Team and pertinent staff, the DSA strives to further improve the matchday experience for disabled supporters both at London Stadium and for those attending away matches.
Jarvis said: “I'm thrilled to be the ambassador for the DSA. What they've done so far is incredible.
“It's really amazing to see what they're doing. They're trying to get more and more people to know [about their work] so if supporters need it, they can come and use everything that's on offer, from shuttle buses on matchdays to the Disabled Supporter Assistants, allowing everyone to really enjoy just coming to a game, watching West Ham play and enjoying the whole experience.
“For me, I'm just helping to raise awareness and show everyone that everyone is welcome, fully welcome to come to West Ham and to watch the football. And that there's help, there's all sorts of different things that the DSA provide, so it’s really, really exciting times.
“I'm really proud to be able to be an ambassador here at the Club, so to help in any way I can is definitely something that I really think fondly of.”
Cathy Bayford, co-chair of the DSA, added: “The Disabled Supporters Association was launched two seasons ago. Previously to that we had the Disabled Supporters Board, on which 13 people sat. Although we covered a range of disabilities and ages, we wanted to reach out to the further fan base so that we could make sure that we were getting the information we needed from all the disabled supporters on what was going well and what wasn't going so well.
“So we launched the Disabled Supporters Association and, with thanks to Matt’s help, we want to raise awareness that the Association is there and that we want people to be signing up.
“One of the main reasons for launching the Association was that I also sit on the Fan Advisory Board (FAB) and I want to make sure that I'm feeding the views of all disabled supporters onto the full FAB, so that our views are taken into consideration – the needs that we have, the requirements on a matchday, so that they're all addressed at the same level as everyone else.”
DSA campaign secretary Mick Hancock explained the impact that Matt’s presence will have.
“We need to get the word around about the DSA and what we can do for people here,” he said. “We’re looking at 2,000 supporters registered with the Club's accessibility department here, 800 of those are Season Ticket Holders, so the more members we can get to sign up, the more needs we can address. This can include the disabled supporter, a family member or a carer, all of whose matchday experience can be affected through the improvement of accessibility procedures.
“That's our aim, trying to help them out as much as possible, so with a name like Matt as our ambassador, we can get the word out more widely, attract more members and get more one-to-one contact as well.
“We’re really happy to have him help 'Enabling the way with the DSA.'”
Fellow DSA board member Sheryl MacRae added: “The only way the Club can improve for disabled supporters is if they know what needs to be improved and without the supporters' voice to do that, they're obviously not going to know.
“So having an ambassador of a player who has previously played for the Club really has a big impact for people like us.
“What I don't want is that we have to always ask for special measures, that because we’re disabled supporters, we need X, Y, Z.
“What we aspire for is it actually to be there all the time. Whatever club you go to, whatever club you support, I want it to be for you as a supporter, disabled or non-disabled, you're going to be able to enjoy the experience without having to go forward and say, well actually for me to come, I need you to do this.”
To find out more about the Disabled Supporters’ Association, please visit whudsa.com