Carlisle United fan champions supporters with Autism

Ross Mattinson is an avid Blues fan and has followed his beloved club up and down the country for the majority of his life.

Ross also suffers from Autism, however, does not let his condition affect his love for football and sports in general, and after taking up the role of lead representative for supporters with Autism at Carlisle United, he is on a mission to make sure that the club caters to all football fans who have extra needs.

Ross Mattinson and Carlisle United striker Joe Garner (Image: Supplied)

He said: "I want any supporters, home or away, coming to Carlisle on a matchday or at any time to feel comfortable with the experience and feel like they are welcome to come to the matches.

"People with Autism need things in a certain way, we have to see what comforts and requirements they need to have, whether that is providing them with sensory toys, whether that is providing them with a timetable.

"They need it because their brains work differently and we want them to go away saying, we like what Carlisle United has done for me or my family as an Autism sufferer.

Ross also explained how some of his own 'not very nice' experiences as a supporter with Autism have driven his work with the club. 

He said: "In the past, I have had some, not very nice experiences at football grounds with stewards refusing me stuff, with one instance last year when a steward refused me the home toilet because I was a Carlisle United fan.

"Experiences like that make me not want it to happen to other people so I wanted to make sure that people with Autism have the best experience possible.

"I also admire the practices that go on at other clubs that make people welcome like at Swindon Town with all the sensory toys."

Ross is also a Cumberland Football Association County Referee (Image: Supplied)

Away from his beloved Blues, Ross is also hoping to make a difference in the wider sporting world, by making physical activities more accessible to people with similar conditions to his own and he recounted how the lack of sporting provisions in his youth prompted this goal. 

He said: "I think I would like to give people with differences the opportunity to play sport and what did drive me initially was when I was younger everyone else in my class had a football team to play for.

"I never had a football team to play for because of my Autism and there was no disability league when I was younger and now that I am older I want to give people the opportunity to play sports so they don't have to feel how I felt.