Manchester City has apologised to a group of young disabled footballers who say they were prevented from fundraising at the Etihad Stadium ahead of an NUFC game.
The club says the amputee football players didn't follow the correct process to get permission to bucket-shake at the stadium, although organisers had believed their street fundraising permit from Manchester City Council and the fanzone tickets provided for free by the club had been sufficient.
The group had travelled to Manchester on May 8 in the hope of collecting cash to fund their trip to represent England at a European Amputee Football camp. Among them were eleven-year-old Harry Gibson and his dad Guy, from Gosforth.
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Harry lost his foot in a car crash on the Great North Road in 2021, and says playing amputee football has helped him adjust to life after his injury. He hoped generous football fans would help him make enough money for him and his teammates to fly to Georgia to play with other disabled footballers from across the continent.
But after around an hour with their buckets, Harry's dad Guy says the group was approached by a Manchester City steward who asked for the group's permits, and then returned shortly afterwards to ask them to move.
Guy, 47, said: "Basically they threw us out. We were saying 'we've got all the paperwork' and what they turned round and said to us was 'they are causing a health and safety risk because they have prosthetics, they should be penned off in a corner over there'.
"So I said 'because my kid's disabled and he's got a prosthetic he needs to be penned off out the way?' and he basically said that's right."
Guy claims that after the confrontation with the steward, the group rang the club and were told to head to the ticket office to resolve the situation, but he claims they then were denied access to the ticket office when they tried to approach. He claims he was under the impression that the group had asked for, and obtained, permission.
He claims the steward's response suggested that the children were being 'discriminated against' because they are disabled - however Manchester City says the steward's response was 'misconstrued', saying the only issue was that they didn't have the right permissions. The club says it has apologised to the children for the experience and invited them back to fundraise next season, offering signed items to support the fundraising.
Guy, who says he's still unhappy with how he and his son were treated, said: "I just couldn't believe the way it was handled at all by Man City. It was Harry's first away game and we had tickets for the match as well, but after that he wouldn't go in because he was worried he was going to be kicked out again, he was absolutely terrified to go in to the stadium."
A spokesperson for Manchester City said: "Upon being made aware of the incident, Manchester City launched an investigation with the steward in question, who is employed by a third party supplier that provides services on matchday.
"We understand that the group did not formally apply to the Club to hold a fundraising collection, and this subsequently led to confusion as to which area of the stadium the group should be located.
"The steward intended to explain that a specific area would have been provided for their collection had a formal request been received, however this message was not clearly conveyed to the group and regrettably, it was misconstrued.
"We have apologised to the children and their families for their experience and have invited the group back to Manchester City next season. We will also donate signed items to support their ongoing fundraising activities."
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