West Ham United and Game Day Vision enhance experience for the visually impaired

Elvaz Limani13/08/2025 5:55 am12/08/2025

Image Credit: BBA Photography / Shutterstock.com

West Ham United and Game Day Vision collaborate to enhance the match-day experience of visually impaired fans for the 2025/26 Premier League season. This partnership will ensure that these fans are accompanied by a fully sighted volunteer in the stadium and during travel to and from.

The mission of the Essex-based organisation is to provide visually impaired people with equal opportunities by enabling them to attend live sporting and cultural events.

Andrew Birch, the founder of Game Day Vision, commented on the necessity of this partnership.

“As a blind person I have attended many events at the London Stadium. Although I think the facilities are brilliant, it can sometimes be tricky navigating your way around without sighted assistance. Having sighted assistance with you is a massive advantage,” Birch said in a statement

“I first decided to reach out to the Club after attending a West Ham match at the start of last season and finding it difficult to make my way around on my own. My own experience made me realise that fans may need some assistance with them to encourage them to come along to matches. I wouldn’t want there to be barriers holding people back from attending matches with their favourite team.

“Our main aim is to attract more supporters who would like some further assistance at matches. We would also like to attract more potential volunteers to join our team.”

Cathy Bayford, Co-Chair of the West Ham United Disabled Supporters Association, addressed the relationship between the association and the club.

“We were delighted to participate in discussions with the Club to bring this provision to the London Stadium, creating more opportunities for visually impaired fans to attend our games. This initiative continues to demonstrate the ongoing collaboration between the Club and the DSA to enhance the matchday experience for supporters who have accessibility needs,” Bayford said in a statement.

In addition to this service, the club also offers visually impaired fans an audio descriptive commentary service. This allows these fans to keep track of the game using a receiver.

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Victory unites with Roasting Warehouse in culture-led partnership

Patrick Irving16/04/2026 8:55 am16/04/2026

Image credit: Melbourne Victory

The Melbourne-based anf family-owned business will join the Victory family, uniting two institutions which represent the city’s culture and identity.

A partnership with local roots

As the newest partner of Melbourne Victory, Roasting Warehouse joins forces with a vital part of the city’s sporting landscape.

The club’s Managing Director, Caroline Carnegie, outlined why the partnership bears so much value to both parties.

“We are excited to collaborate with Roasting Warehouse, a community-oriented destination for high-quality coffee, proud of its foundations in Melbourne,” said Carnegie via official media release.

“Football and coffee sit at the epicentre of Melbourne’s culture. The two go hand-in-hand, consistently at the centre of the conversation that stirs Melburnians, which is no different to the conversation sport and Melbourne Victory stir in the State.”

Indeed, this is a partnership which combines the identity, passions and culture of an entire city, therefore giving it the foundations required for long-term, mutual success.

Representing the best of Melbourne

Both Victory and Roasting Warehouse are hugely successful in their respective industries. They are institutions with community-oriented philosphies, who pride themselves on craft and quality.

“We’re incredibly proud to partner with Melbourne Victory, a club that represents the heart, passion, and ambition of Melbourne,” revealed Roasting Warehouse Head of Brand, Alexander Paraskevopoulos.

“As a Melbourne-founded, family-run business, supporting a team that means so much to the local community feels very natural for us.”

Furthermore, through their high-quality blends, Roasting Warehouse will look to prepare Victory’s players and staff for high performances on the pitch as the seasons nears completion.

But this is about far more than just fueling athletes.

This is a partnership which embodies and unites two of Melbourne’s greatest strengths and cultural markers – a connection forged from the city’s very own DNA.

For more information about Roasting Warehouse, click here.

Marie-Louise Eta makes history as new Union Berlin head coach

Patrick Irving15/04/2026 6:05 am14/04/2026

Image credit: FC Union Berlin

In an historic appointment, Eta will take over as head coach of Union Berlin until the end of the season.

History in the making

Previously the first female assistant coach in Bundesliga history with Union Berlin, Eta will now take the reigns of the men’s first team on an interim basis.

Currently, the club sit in 11th place in the Bundesliga table, but with only two wins so far in 2026, relegation appears an all-too-real prospect, and one which the club is desperate to avoid.

“Given the points gap in the lower half of the table, our place in the Bundesliga is not yet secure,” said Eta via official media release.

‘I am delighted that the club has entrusted me with this challenging task. One of Union’s strengths has always been, and remains, the ability to pull together in such situations.”

Eta will begin as Union’s new head coach with immediate effect, and will be in the dugout for the club’s matchup against Wolfsburg this weekend.

A step into an equal future

Eta’s appointment signals a major step towards a more level playing field in the football landscape.

Furthermore, Eta joins other coaches including Sabrinna Wittmann, Hannah Dingley and Corinne Diacre who, in recent years, have blazed a trail for female coaches to step into the men’s game.

Wittmann currently manages FC Ingolstadt in Germany’s third division, and was the first female head coach in Germany’s top three divisions.

In 2023, Dingley became caretaker manager of Forest Green Rovers, and thus the first woman to lead a men’s professional team in England.

Diacre, now head coach of France’s women’s national team, managed Ligue 2’s Clerment Foot between 2014 and 2017.

Final thoughts

The impact therefore, is that Eta’s appointment will show future generations of aspiring female coaches that men’s football is an equally viable and possible pathway as the women’s game.

The time is now to level the playing field.

And while it may be a short-term role, its effect on attitudes towards equality and fair opportunities in the game will hopefully resonate long after the season ends.