Tony Taylor
Level Playing Field
Tony is the Chair of Level Playing Field, a campaigning and advisory organisation for disabled sports supporters. The charity began with a focus on physical access to football stadiums and has grown to include a variety of sports.
Tony says: “I know from personal experience as a disabled person just what a difference attending sporting events really makes. At Level Playing Field we hear so many positive stories from people whose lives have been changed for the good through being able to follow their team.”
Tony runs an independent management consultancy and is an expert in sales, marketing, operational management, leadership and corporate governance. In his role as Chair of Level Playing Field Tony leverages these same skills to create significant improvements for disabled sports fans.
Under Tony’s leadership Level Playing Field has achieved huge milestones including a commitment from the Premier League that all Premier League football clubs will comply with guidelines produced by UEFA and the Centre for Accessible Football in Europe (CAFE) where Tony is also a director.
This year Tony was in the news for less happy reasons. Returning from a CAFE conference with his wife, Tony was left standing in an unheated Heathrow Airport corridor waiting for the wheelchair he had booked. After over 30 minutes Tony collapsed and required hospital treatment. These incidents are far too common, so Tony and his family went to the press to increase pressure on airports and airlines to improve their services to disabled customers.
To create change Tony works with media, government departments, and NGOs like the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Tony works to make football clubs accept that they have responsibilities to disabled fans to remove barriers. As Tony says “Access for all is not aspirational – it’s a fundamental right and our work continues.”
I know from personal experience as a disabled person just what a difference attending sporting events really makes. At Level Playing Field we hear so many positive stories from people whose lives have been changed for the good through being able to follow their team.”
“Access for all is not aspirational – it’s a fundamental right and our work continues.