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A long away day can cost more than a short holiday. Add up a ticket, a return train, food, a couple of drinks and the taxi you end up taking because the last connection is tight, and a single Saturday in a city three hours away will clear a hundred pounds without trying.
Most of that is avoidable. The ticket price is largely fixed, but almost everything around it is a choice, and the supporters who go to twenty away games a season have worked out where the money actually leaks.
Book travel the day the fixture is confirmed
Advance train fares are released around twelve weeks ahead and sold in price bands. The cheapest band on a long route can be a quarter of what you will pay on the morning of the game, and it is gone within days of release for popular services.
The complication is television. Premier League fixtures get moved for broadcast, often with six or seven weeks’ notice, which means an advance ticket booked early may be for the wrong day. The fix is to book advance singles rather than returns, because you can then change or lose one leg without writing off the whole fare. On a lot of routes two singles cost the same as a return anyway.
Split tickets and railcards do most of the work
Splitting a journey into two or three separate tickets on the same train is entirely legitimate, as long as the service calls at the stations you split at. On some routes it saves thirty or forty per cent, and there are several websites that work out the splits automatically.
Railcards are the other obvious saving and the most underused. The two-together card pays for itself in a single long trip for a pair, the sixteen to twenty-five card stretches to mature students, and the senior card is straightforward. If you travel in a group of three or four, look at the group discounts that operators offer on the day — they are not advertised well and they are often better than individual advance fares.
Coaches, cars and the official travel
Supporters’ club coaches are usually the cheapest way to get to a distant ground, and the cost is predictable. They are slower and they drop you at the stadium rather than in the city, which means you see the ground and nothing else. For a long trip where the game is the point, that is a reasonable trade.
Driving only works with a full car. Three or four people sharing fuel and parking will usually beat the train; two will not, once you add parking near a ground on a matchday. Long-distance coach operators are cheaper again if you can tolerate the timings, and for midweek fixtures they are often the only option that gets you home.
Where does the money actually go?
Not on the ticket. For most supporters the three biggest avoidable costs are food bought inside the ground, drinks bought in the two pubs nearest the stadium, and a last-minute taxi.
All three have the same fix: decide in advance. Eat before you get to the ground, pick a pub a ten-minute walk away rather than the one at the turnstiles, and check the last train and the walking time to the station before kick-off rather than after. Away ticket prices in the Premier League are capped, which means the ticket is the one part of the day you cannot do much about and also the one part that is not where your money is going. Our matchday guide covers what is worth taking with you.
Why do midweek fixtures cost so much more?
A Tuesday night away game three hours up the line is the single most expensive trip in football, and the reason is the return. Advance fares out are cheap enough, but the last train home from a nine-thirty finish either does not exist or requires leaving before the end, which pushes people into a hotel they had not budgeted for or a taxi they will regret.
Work the journey backwards before you commit. Find the last realistic connection, add fifteen minutes of walking and a delay, and see whether it leaves you watching the whole match. If it does not, the choices are an overnight stay booked in advance at a sensible price, a supporters’ coach that is scheduled around the fixture, or a car with three other people in it.
The other midweek cost is food. Nothing useful is open near most grounds at eleven at night, which is how a long journey home turns into service-station prices. Taking something with you sounds unglamorous and saves more than any ticket trick.
Making a night of it without paying for it
If the fixture is far enough that an overnight stay makes sense, book it before the fixture moves and pick somewhere with free cancellation. Hotel prices in football cities rise sharply once a kick-off time is confirmed, and they rise most within a mile of the ground.
The cheaper approach is to stay one stop out on a local train line. In most cities that halves the price for an extra ten minutes of travel, and it puts you somewhere with normal pubs rather than matchday ones. For a group, a self-catered flat beats three hotel rooms comfortably, and it solves breakfast.
It is also worth setting a figure before you leave the house. Supporters who keep away-day costs under control almost all do the same thing: decide what the day is worth, take that much on a card they can see the balance of, and treat the rest as off limits. It sounds rigid and it removes the two or three decisions that do the damage.
Small habits that add up
Take a refillable bottle — most grounds will fill it. Take a card rather than cash, because an increasing number of grounds are cashless and the cash machines near charge. Take a thin waterproof rather than a heavier coat, because you will carry it for six hours. And wear something under your shirt rather than buying a hoodie from the club shop at four o’clock because the wind got up, which is the single most common impulse purchase of the away-day season. Retro shirts are a better buy and we look at wearing them in retro football shirts on a matchday.
Frequently asked questions
Is it cheaper to buy two singles or a return?
Usually two singles, especially on long routes, and they give you flexibility if the fixture is moved for television. Check both, but start with singles.
Are supporters’ club coaches worth it?
For long trips, yes. They are cheap, predictable and you do not have to think about connections. You will see the ground and little else, so they suit games where the football is the whole point.
How far in advance should I book for a Premier League away game?
As soon as the fixture is confirmed for a specific date, which is usually six to eight weeks out. Booking before that risks a broadcast move; booking after that costs significantly more. Standing changes the experience as much as the cost, and why safe standing came back explains how that happened.