How Do Footballers Travel to Away Games?
For the top clubs across the world, the football calendar is congested with fixtures. Approximately half of these fixtures will take place in football grounds away from home, and this could be a short drive away or a flight away to a different country.
In order to keep football players fresh for matches, travel arrangements have to be as stress-free as possible. The shorter the time spent travelling, the better it is for both the football players and management team.
So, how do footballers travel to away games? There are numerous ways football teams will travel to games – usually either by coach, by plane or by train. We’re going to cover all of them in this Elastico article, read on to find out more.
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Distance of Journey
As a rule of thumb, journeys to away games shouldn’t take longer than 3 hours. This is important, as it stops players becoming cramped when sat in coach or plane seats. If players do get cramp during these journeys, they might not be able to perform at their highest level for the match.
The duration of a journey also dictates what mode of transport a team takes. The three main modes of transport used by football teams are:
- Coach
- Plane
- Train
As an example, if Chelsea are playing Newcastle, it’s highly unlikely that they’ll take the team bus up to St. James Park. This journey, according to Google Maps, would take 5 hours and 8 minutes (without traffic or breaks). In the eyes of the management team, this would not be great preparation for the match.
How Do Footballers Travel By Coach?
The most common form of away travel used by football clubs is via the team bus. Football players will usually meet at the training ground the day before an away fixture before boarding the bus. They’ll then drive to a hotel near to the opposing team’s ground and stop over the night before. This ensures that they arrive in good time.
The following morning, pre match preparations take place. Players and management usually have breakfast together and potentially a light training session. Any final team talks will also take place.
How Do Footballers Travel By Plane?
Travelling by plane is usually used for any European matches, but flights are also the chosen method of transport for some longer journeys within the same country.
The example we’re going to use is if Chelsea were playing Liverpool at home, and they were the early kick-off on Saturday lunchtime (12pm GMT). It’s likely that the Liverpool team would travel to Liverpool John Lennon Airport or Manchester Airport on the Friday evening and fly down to London City or Stanstead Airport.
They would stay in a hotel overnight before travelling by coach to Stamford Bridge on Saturday morning at around 10.30/11am. This will allow the team to settle at the ground, the manager to give final team talks and a thorough warm-up will take place.
Following the match, depending on whether the team have a break in their schedule or not, players might make their own way back home or fly to their home country during a break. If this isn’t the case, the team would more than likely travel back to Liverpool immediately after the match, boarding a return flight.
When football teams fly to away games, this is usually via chartered or private flights, this helps them to travel in the most efficient time possible, reducing the time it takes to go through customs and passport control (if applicable).
How Do Footballers Travel By Train?
Trains are the preferred method of travel for journeys that take longer than 4 hours by road. If a train journey can get a football team to an away ground in under 3 hours versus a 4+ hour coach journey, the team will choose to travel by train.
For example, in the Premier League, there are many games that fit within these criteria. The main consideration is whether flying is even more efficient than taking the train, this depends on the accessibility of airports close to the away ground.
Do Footballers Travel to Away Games on the Day of a Match?
Footballers will only travel to away games on the day of a match when playing a team who is local to them. For example, if Liverpool were playing Everton, they might choose to travel on the day of the match as the journey would only take around 15 minutes by coach.
The biggest concern for clubs is that traffic and other factors can affect players getting to the ground on time. If you’re trusting all players to make their own way there, it can be a risk. Managers much prefer having the team stay together in a hotel the night before an away game, and then they can all travel to the ground together on the day of the match.
If you’re able to ensure that all players arrive on time, this means that there is enough time for them to be properly assessed/monitored for being in the match day squad.
