walking . is . overrated

Eden Park is the biggest and one of the oldest stadiums in New Zealand. It was used as a sports facility way back in 1900, even though it wasn’t much more than a swamp. These days, it seats more than 48,000 people, and in 1999, a brand new stand was built on the northern side of the stadium. With this flash new stand came some flash new seating for those in wheelchairs, so the question needs to be asked: how does it stack up?

I remember sitting on the sideline of the pitch watching Auckland beat Natal in the very first Super 12 final, chomping away on Mars bars and Coke, but all the while wondering what on earth was going on, due to my lack of elevation. Nowadays, things have turned 180 degrees, and the wheelchair-accessible seats are perched right at the back of the new ASB Stadium. This has both positive and negative consequences, for instance:

• Roll-in access. Through the entry gates, you simply roll into one of the many gaps in the last row of seats
• The viewing scope is excellent, because you’re so high up you don’t miss any of the action! To see what I mean, click on the image to the right, taken from the wheelchair spaces
• Free tickets! The Auckland Rugby Board, bless them, allow people in wheelchairs to pick up a free double pass to most Air NZ Cup and Super 14 matches, provided you turn up to the stadium ticketing office a day or two beforehand and ask them for one. Really awesome initiative, great stuff
• On some of the more poorly-attended games, you can take your pick from the 80-odd wheelchair spaces available - it’s really good to see so many on offer, so no one misses out!
• Accessible toilets are positioned right behind the seats at various points along the ASB stand, so you never have to travel far to expel some of that beer (or coke, even) you’ve been chugging
• Entire accessible area is covered by the overhang of the new stand, so there’s no way you’ll get wet

However, in regards to the last point, whilst you’ll never get rained on - you hardly ever get shined upon either! There’s nothing worse than shivering up the back of the stand during a One Day Cricket International while the rest of the crowd is bathed in sunshine! There really needs to be some way of people using wheelchairs to sit in the sun if they so desire.

All in all, Eden Park is pretty well set up for those in wheelchairs, apart from the aforementioned lack of sunshine and the rather appalling state of the accessible bathrooms (mind you, it’s a stadium, it’s more or less expected). It’s also close to the Kingsland train station, which provides accessible trains to and from the stadium. I personally would like to see greater choices when it comes to whereabouts in the stadium you can sit, being confined to one eternally sun-less row can get tiresome after a while!

Overall Accessibility Rating: 4 / 5

What are your thoughts on Eden Park and its accessibility? How does it compare to other stadiums you’ve been to?