Approach Attend Stoke City vs. Swansea City Premier League Game
Stoke City invited to use their Accessible Room last Saturday 2nd. December 2017 to see “The Potters” face a Premier League crunch match against Swansea City.
Our staff collected twelve people to attend the game in our Approach minibuses and arrived at the bet365 stadium before 1:30pm. We got a warm, friendly welcome by the Stoke City receptionists and stewards and were then shown to the accessible room. We made our way up to the accessible room via the lift to the fourth floor and one of the highest viewing points in the stadium where we had a meal of Wright’s Pies, Chips and Gravy.
Stoke’s club historian popped into the room during lunch and did a reminiscence session, sharing his Esso football club badge collection that his grandad have given to him.
We watched the stadium transform from being empty at 1:30pm to it being packed by spectators at 3pm when the match kicked off. Carl Bennett, Stoke City Community Inclusion, Disability & Health Lead joined us in the accessible room and had a chat to the attendees.
The Match
Both teams were towards the bottom of the Premier League relegation zone and Swansea got off to a flying start when former Stoke City player Wilfried Bony put the Swans a goal up with less than 3 minutes on the clock. We then saw Stoke attacking the Swansea goal on a number of occasions before Swiss star Xherdan Shaqiri levelled the score in the 36th. minute. Stoke gained the lead 4 minutes later when Mame Diouf headed the ball into the back of the Swans net, sending the teams in at half time 2-1.
Celebrating the winning goal
The second half was a tense affair with Swansea searching out an equaliser, they actually went closest when Stoke captain Ryan Shawcross attempted to clear a cross over the bar but headed directly at goal, forcing Stoke and England ‘keeper Jack Butland into a fine save. The Potters held on to the victory with the final whistle met with a big, loud cheer. The result saw Stoke City move up to 13th. position in the Premier League with Swansea City dropping to bottom of the table.
Post Match
We chatted about the game, with a few of the attendees suggesting that we are Stoke City’s lucky charms, having attended the previous home win against Southampton. We also then watched the first half of the Arsenal vs. Manchester United game and spoke about our favourite players from years gone by. After the traffic had cleared we made our way back to the main car park to head home on the minibus.
Everyone really enjoyed the day and were very complimentary about how friendly and caring the Stoke City staff were.
People often say that people affected by Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia struggle to recall recent events and we know this is often true. However many of the people that attend these games in the safe environment of the accessible room talk about the game when we next see them. Their carers are also very appreciative of the respite they have while the person they care for are enjoying the Stoke City game with Approach.
We’d like to give a massive THANK YOU to everyone at the Football Club that help make the accessible room available that enable Approach attend Stoke City games.
We have more pictures of the day in our Gallery Section of the website – See link – APPROACH ATTEND STOKE CITY
If you know someone that is affected by memory loss or has a diagnosis of dementia and needs support then please contact
Approach on 01782 214999 and speak to our Dementia Advisor Team who are commissioned by
Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Staffordshire County Council to provide FREE advice to
carers and people affected by the condition.
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