Football fans that follow their team home and away get a buzz of excitement as the new season approaches. Once the fixture list is revealed, they can begin to plan for the games they are most looking forward to: big matches on home soil, as well as those fun trips on the road.
But for supporters of Oxford City, there will be some trepidation ahead of the 2024/25 campaign. For reasons that only the Football Association can explain, the Hoops have been placed in National League North; as opposed to the competition’s southern section.
It means that their fans will face a whopping 6,600 miles of away day travel if they were to watch their heroes in every game on the road – as opposed to the 4,000 miles they travelled the last time they were in National League South. It’s all due to red tape and bureaucracy at F.A. headquarters.
How Are the Teams in National League North and South Decided?
There are 48 teams that make up the sixth tier of English football, with those split equally across the National League North and South. Generally speaking, the 24 northern-most clubs will make up the National League North, with the 24 that are based south of them contesting the National League South – so far, so common sense. In this case, the FA will literally take a map of the UK, plot the 48 teams on it and then draw a line that divides them, geographically, into the two divisions.
To make things all the more galling for Oxford City, who despite being closer to London than the Midlands will play in National League North in 2024/25, one of their divisional rivals – Hemel Hempstead – actually sits further north than them. However, their stadium is located slightly south of Oxford’s, so therefore it’s the Hoops that have drawn the short straw. They will make some gargantuan trips during the season – eight of them more than 350 miles from front door to stadium and back again.
There’s a genuine issue to all this. Not only will Oxford City have to finance travel, and perhaps some hotel stayovers, for their players, some of their supporters may be priced out of attending games too. Then there’s the competitive angle: the further an away trip is, the more challenging it can be for players to produce their best form.
Mind you, it’s unlikely that Oxford will be getting much sympathy from some of their rivals at this level of football – not least Truro City. They have to travel an average of 11,000 miles to away games every National League South season from their Cornwall base.
The Longest Away Days in Football
The single longest away trip in English football – in the professional ranks, at least – occurs when Sunderland tackle Plymouth in the Championship, as they have done numerous times in recent seasons. The two sides are separated by 794 miles: officially the longest away day in English professional football. Mind you, that could yet be surpassed if either Plymouth are promoted to the Premier League, or Newcastle relegated to the Championship. If they do ever lock horns, the mileage would just tip over to 796 miles!
Longest Away Game Trip in the Premier League
It’s hard not to have some sympathy for Plymouth, who also have to undertake the longest combined mileage for away games across the Championship season – some 37,000 miles, give or take. No wonder they are nicknamed the Pilgrims. To offer some extra context, Newcastle United boast the Premier League’s longest combined away day travel per season at around 8,800 miles. If a fan was to drive to all of those away games, it would cost them the best part of £1,500 in fuel.
Longest Away Game Trips in the US
Mind you, the distances covered by teams in the English football structure would be small mercy to those campaigning in other leagues around the world. Some of the longest trips are to be found in America’s Major League Soccer, where sides travelling from west coast to east – or vice versa – have an almighty trip on their hands. For example, if the New York Red Bulls were to take on Los Angeles FC, the round trip would be a cool 5,500 miles or so; that would only take around 82 hours on the team bus. Even by flying from one city to the other, you’re looking at a flight of around six hours.
Longest Away Game Trips in Europe
When the draw for UEFA’s continental club competitions is made, you can forgive fans for wanting to avoid a trip to Astana, one of Kazakhstan’s premier teams, at all costs. They’re one of the eastern-most clubs in European football; in stark contrast to those in Portugal, which is the western-most point of the continent’s mainland. So, lo and behold, it was with grim predictability that Astana were paired with Benfica in the 2015/16 Champions League, and Sporting Lisbon in the 2017/18 Europa League.
Supporters of Astana and Benfica were left with a round trip of nearly 8,000 miles. The only viable option for away fans was to fly, but with no direct flight available the overall travel time – with one connection – would be over 12 hours one way, with the small matter of forking out the best part of £1,000 for the privilege, and that’s without a ticket home for the return trip.
Longest ‘Domestic’ Away Game Trip
But the accolade for the longest away day for a domestic game belongs, perhaps surprisingly, to French football. FC Trelissac-Antonne Perigord, who ply their trade in the lower reaches of professional football in France, can be found in the beautiful Dordogne region of the country. The Coupe de France, effectively the country’s version of the FA Cup, admits teams both from the mainland and its overseas islands and principalities. So, fans of FC Trelissac were left grasping for breath when they were drawn against AS Magenta in the competition back in November 2014.
AS Magenta are based in New Caledonia, a French territory in the Pacfic Ocean; around 750 miles east of Australia, for context. So, FC Trelissac were forced to travel across continents and timezones for their Coupe de France game, which fortunately they won 3-0. The distance between them? A cool 10,651 miles, meaning a round trip in excess of 20,000 miles. Imagine travelling home from that game if you had lost!
