Blackburn Rovers is top of the league for accommodating disabled fans.

The Ewood Park club emerged as number one in a Government-backed report which also highlights top football clubs which have failed to provide sufficient seats for wheelchair-bound supporters.

The report, published by the Football Task Force, has called for radical changes in the way disabled fans are catered for but said Blackburn Rovers set the national standard for how to treat their disabled fans.

The Government is expected to change the law in response to the report, which calls for clubs to be forced to supply a nationally-agreed number of spaces for wheelchair-bound supporters.

With 280 wheelchair spaces out of 31,367 seats at Ewood Park, the club nearly doubles the guidelines which recommend at least 180 disabled spots per 40,000-seat stadium.

Blackburn provides nearly six times more seats than clubs such as Aston Villa, which is the worst offender with just 41 disabled spots in a 39,399-seat stadium.

The club was named as the most disabled-friendly ground in the country by the Football Association last year. The guidelines also recommend 230 disabled places in a 50,000 seat-stadium but clubs such as Manchester United, which seats 55,500, provide just 70 wheelchair spaces.

Mr Colin Barcley, secretary of the 110-strong Blackburn Rovers Disabled Supporters' Association, said: "The disabled facilities at Blackburn Rovers are unbelievable in some cases. The stadium has adequate amounts of seats as well as good access.

"I feel privileged to be a disabled supporter at the club."

Mr Barcley, also chairman of the National Association of Disabled Supporters, added: "The club has listened to the disabled supporters and catered for their needs, unlike Aston Villa.

"If we visit their ground, they only offer us six disabled seats so a lot can't watch the match."

Mr John Williams, chief executive at Blackburn Rovers, added: "We have always regarded our responsibility in respect of disabled supporters seriously and we were able to put this into practice when the new stadium was built.

"We have a close on-going relationship with Blackburn Rovers Disabled Supporters Association and we shall continue to consult them on a regular basis, in particular, with reference to our potential plans for the building of the fourth new stand."

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