Ireland’s first supporters club for people with disabilities has been formed in conjunction with the Football Association of Ireland (FAI). The group will create a database of disabled supporters of the Ireland International soccer team and make tickets available to them for both home and away games. The group’s working title is ‘Disability Ireland Supporters Community’ (DISC) and caters for people with physical and sensory disabilities.

Thanks to the FAI an allocation of tickets have been made available for all nine of the senior Republic of Ireland team’s home Internationals in the coming season, starting with Argentina on 11th August at the new AVIVA stadium. The group is negotiating to secure an allocation of around 330 tickets for its members and a further 600 for wheelchair users. Seating in the new stadium has been especially located in the ground so supporters with vision impairment will be very close to the boys when they take the field.

For those who enjoy match commentary, the FAI provides a small hand-held radio which can be purchased at the ground and tuned to a specific match-day frequency — or if you prefer RTE radio will have commentary of each game.

Although there is a lot of work still to do to officially launch DISC, things are moving along. Match ticket fees have not yet been agreed and the allocation may drop depending on the interest shown by people to join the group — which is free.

A membership form is currently being drawn up and the FAI is in the process of adding a link on its website. If you think you, or someone you know, might be interested in availing of this wonderful opportunity, send an e-mail to
oisin.jordan@fai.ie or
info@FAI.ie
Alternatively, post a letter to the
FAI National Sports Campus,
Abbotstown, Dublin 15. Please address all e-mails and postal letters for the attention of DISC.