A Swindon Town Football Club fan who has been going to watch the team since he was seven says he is being "denied a disability-friendly seat".

Tony Collins, 52, from Swindon has spent a lifetime supporting his local football club and has a house full of memorabilia to prove it.

But after years of buying a season ticket to secure a spot in his usual disability-friendly seat, Mr Collins was rushed to hospital at the end of the 2023-24 season and missed the last four matches.

Since returning to renew his season ticket, the mobility-scooter user has been told he never had a ticket and denied a suitable seat.

Tony Collins is a lifelong supporter of the clubTony Collins is a lifelong supporter of the club (Image: Dave Cox)

"I've been a ticket holder every year," he told the Swindon Advertiser.

“But when I got out of the hospital and returned to the club to ask about renewing my season ticket, they told me I never had a ticket.

"I then paid what I think was around £295 and they said they'd send me the ticket through the post.

"When it came it was in the wrong part of the stand and I couldn't sit there because my mobility scooter was too big and blocked everyone else, so it was useless to me.

"They stuck me somewhere else and said come back to the shop and we will sort it out for you.

“So I did that - multiple times - and the woman there just said my old seat had been sold because I never had a season ticket last year.

"I’ve had one for so many years, it’s unbelievable."

After going back to complain multiple times, Mr Collins eventually spoke with a health and safety manager who the football fan claims threatened to ban him.

"He said the seat I have is the only one left for disabled and I tried to explain that it's no good to me because I can't get my scooter in there," added Mr Collins.

"I said I'd keep coming anyway and sitting in other seats and he told me they would throw me out and ban me from the ground."

Swindon Town Football Club has since been contacted by the Swindon Advertiser and maintains that Mr Collins did not renew his season ticket for the 2023/24 season.

"There are only a limited number of locations within the ground that Mr Collins can be accommodated due to the size of the mobility scooter," said a spokesperson for the club.

"All season tickets for positions in the Arkells Stand disabled shelter have been sold for this current season with the holders also given the first option to purchase them again for future seasons.

"Mr Collins was unable to provide the season ticket for the 2023/24 season which he claims to have purchased.

They added: "To help overcome some of his frustrations, he has been offered the next best option available in the Town End on two separate occasions, but has declined on both.

"Mr Collins has not been banned from entering the Nigel Eady County Ground and he is more than welcome to watch matches from the designated position in the Town End that we have offered to him."

However, the football fan says he has felt depressed and struggled to get out of bed since feeling "no longer welcomed" at his favourite club.

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