Visitors can choose to wear a specially designed sunflower lanyard in order to discreetly make matchday and stewarding staff aware of a hidden disability such as autism, dementia, visual or hearing impairment and anxiety.

The Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Lanyard Scheme was first introduced in UK airports in response to a desire to better recognise when passengers may have a non-obvious disability. It has since been adopted in a range of public places and will launch for the first time at Stamford Bridge this weekend for our Premier League home match against Everton. The scheme will also be in place at Kingsmeadow, home to our Women’s team.

Ahead of the launch, Chelsea Chairman Bruce Buck said: ‘Chelsea Football Club is a diverse and inclusive club that strives to make everyone feel valued throughout our club, stadium and wider community.

‘The Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Lanyard Scheme is part of our commitment to making Stamford Bridge and Kingsmeadow welcoming places to visit for all supporters. We look forward to introducing this scheme, which we hope will make our home stadiums even more accessible and inclusive for everybody.’

Tim McGeever, Chairman of the Chelsea Disabled Supporters Association, fully endorses the sunflower lanyard scheme: ‘This option is a great way to offer awareness of a hidden disability and to provide additional support and assistance to those who may need it.’

The sunflower lanyards are bright green in colour and will be available on site on both matchdays and non-matchdays. Wearing the lanyard will allow Chelsea staff to easily identify visitors who may need extra assistance, although their use is completely optional.

Lanyards are available free of charge and for each supporter to keep so they can use it every time they visit either Stamford Bridge or Kingsmeadow. They can be collected in person from the main club reception and ticket office located at the Shed End (south side) of the stadium.

Alternatively, they can be requested by emailing [email protected]