The Cost of Premier League Away Days

If you’re anything like us, you’ve been crossing off the days on the calendar ever since the Premier League season ended, counting down to one of the key dates of the summer - Premier League fixture release day!

The 22/23 season will be historic in more ways than one. Teams around the league are already securing marquee signings, and there’s a small matter of having to fit in a winter World Cup. Off the pitch though, other records will be broken as fans face rising costs in their own lives that will no doubt have an impact on how much they can spend on football.

You’ve probably already been examining the fixture list and picking out the key matches, the Premier League returning after the World Cup on Boxing Day will no doubt make that fixture even more special.

Every week in the Premier League and the EFL, thousands of fans travel around the country to follow their team. The away day is a footballing tradition that has to be experienced to truly understand, but with rising costs - just how much will travelling away cost fans next season? We’ve done some digging to find out.

All away days start with the match ticket, and the good news for fans is that Premier League clubs unanimously agreed to continue with the £30 cap on away tickets, but once you’ve got the ticket, you’ve got to work out how to get there.

Travel can be one of the big away day expenses. Next season Newcastle United fans will have to travel to the south coast at least three times, and London seven times, and that’s without factoring in any cup games.

We asked our Twitter community how they usually travel for away games, and here are the results:

If you don’t want to drive, a coach organised by your club is probably the cheapest option for away-day travel, but it does mean you’ll likely arrive in time for the game and leave straight after. It’s no surprise then that the overwhelming majority (nearly 60%) of fans surveyed choose to travel by train and make a day (or even a weekend) of it.

Let’s take a look at what those costs could look like if you’re dedicated enough to get to every away game on your team's schedule next season.

Public transport is the eco-friendly way to travel, but let’s face it - you’re probably travelling by train for other reasons. Train travel in the UK can be costly depending on the journey.

Looking ahead to the 22/23 season, we’ve gathered the costs of off-peak return tickets and anytime return tickets for every team’s away games and totalled up the costs for the season. These prices are based on Saturday travel, prices may vary for weekday games.

These costs do not factor in any additional travel needed (cabs/buses from the station), midweek travel, bank holiday travel, or if your fixture gets moved which means you can’t make the last train home and you have to book yourself a hotel. You soon see the costs can really rack up.

Here’s what we found:

• Newcastle United fans will spend nearly 137 hours on trains in the 22/23 season, roughly 5 and a half days out of their life, the longest of any fans in the Premier League next season.
• Newcastle fans will also spend the most if they stick to off-peak return tickets over the season (£2,569), however if all fans booked anytime return tickets then Manchester United, Manchester City (£4,187), Liverpool, Everton (£4,006), Brighton (£3,848) and Bournemouth (£3,638) fans would all spend more than the Magpies (£3,512).
• The most expensive train ticket next season will be between Newcastle and Southampton. Fans will need to pay £314 for an off-peak return or £372 for an anytime return.
• The cheapest city to city away day next season will be between the teams in Liverpool and the teams in Manchester at just £13.80 for an off-peak return and £25.50 for an anytime return.
• Manchester United and Man City tie for the most expensive away days to travel to next season, coming in at £4,187.70 worth of train tickets. Whilst the team with the least expensive total rail fare is Nottingham Forest, costing £2,590.40.
• The most expensive ticket for the shortest trip is between Leicester City and Aston Villa £144 for an off-peak return or £319 for an anytime return. Yikes!

It’s all worth it though, right?

These figures may seem frightening, but the true cost could be even higher! These prices are based on travelling there and back in a single day and don’t factor in travel requirements from the train station to the ground. And when fixtures get moved due to other commitments, it could mean that additional costs such as booking hotels come into play.

You have to really love your team to follow them around the country, especially when things aren’t going to plan. Let’s put that into context..

Chance of celebration - Cost per Away Goal (Ticket cost vs away goals scored in 21/22 season)

How much do those glorious LIMBS moments cost? If we take last season's away goals into consideration, Newcastle fans would have spent £116 per goal scored over the season (based on off-peak return tickets) whereas Everton fans could have spent £186 (based on anytime return tickets). Unsurprisingly the league champions were the best value to follow, with the Citizens fans only spending £28 per goal (off-peak return) or £84 per goal (anytime return).

Chance of a good journey home - Cost per Away Win (Ticket cost vs away wins in 21/22 season)

Everton fans found celebrations few and far between at certain points last season, with the lowest number of away wins in the league (2), they would have been spending the most per win if they went to every one of those away games. £743 based on off-peak return tickets, and over £2000 based on anytime return pricing.

According to Money Saving Expert, 2022 has seen the highest train fare increase in nearly a decade, in fact you might remember the story of the Sunderland fan who travelled to Wembley via Menorca because it was cheaper than getting the train.

From football tips to travel tips, we’ve put on our consumer advice hats to work out how we can all save a bit of money on trains next season. Some of you are already tapping away on your keyboards to tell us there are cheaper train tickets available and you’re right, there are - so here’s how to get them:

Book 12 weeks in advance - Off-Peak Returns and Anytime Returns are ideal if you’re not sure when you are going (or coming back), but you can get cheaper tickets by booking exact trains, and if you start looking 12 weeks in advance you will give yourself the best chance for the cheapest tickets. Advance tickets are non-refundable though, so if for some reason your game gets moved or cancelled - you won’t be able to get your money back.

Split Tickets - This is the big one for football fans. WHERE you get your train from can have a big impact on the price (just check the data above!) so why not split the journey up. Even if your train journey doesn’t have a change, research where it stops on the way and find out if you can save money by buying a ticket to that station, and then a ticket from there to your final destination. You stay on the train as normal, but you’ve saved money.

Another trick for split ticketing is to only pay for peak travel while you’re travelling in peak periods. If you’re only on the train for an hour at peak, book your ticket to the station arrival around this time, then book an off-peak ticket for the rest of the journey to save money.

Websites such as TrainPal and TrainTickets.com can help.

Get a Railcard - If you’re travelling through the season, a railcard can save you money (save around a third on standard fares) and will usually cost around £30 for the year. Different types of railcard are available including: 16-17 Rail Saver, 16-25 Rail Card, 26-30 Rail Card, Two Together Rail Card (ideal if you always go with the same person) and Senior Rail Card.

Other railcards are available.

We know we should use public transport more, but for many fans, getting the train simply isn’t a viable option due to other commitments. Travelling by car is also unfortunately much cheaper than travelling by rail, but with rising fuel costs, the price of a season’s worth of away day fuel is increasing rapidly.

Methodology: Costs are based on the average MPG of a new petrol (50 mpg) and new diesel car (54 mpg). The age and size of your vehicle would impact the cost. Fuel costs based on Average UK prices courtesy of RAC.

• Spurs fans are in luck, they’ll be travelling the shortest distance to away games next season, with roughly 4,131 miles between Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and each away ground. The distance is still nothing to be sniffed at - it’s the equivalent of flying to Saskatoon in Canada. Spurs fans will clock up 73% less miles on the road than Newcastle fans next season!
• Newcastle fans have it far worse! With over 8,881 miles to travel, you could fly as far as Papua New Guinea in less time.
• Leicester fans will travel the least of all the teams outside of London travelling 4,271 away day miles.

To put the distance travelled into perspective, we’ve looked into where fans of each club could get to in the world with the round trip distance they’ll travel around England next season

Methodology: Locations within 50 miles of total distance travelled as the crow flies from the teams town/city

We often forget how small England is in size, and while Newcastle to Bournemouth could well be a nightmare trip for some, we’ve compared that trip to the longest away trip in Europe’s biggest leagues:

While away days aren’t as popular, or even as realistic in some countries, you could still do the longest trip in each league for less than the longest away trip in the premier league. Incidentally, it might actually be cheaper to fly between Newcastle and Bournemouth (and the flight goes via Dublin).

However, if you choose to travel to matches next season, you can’t deny that sometimes, the buzz and memories of away days are priceless. Want to know more about the cost of supporting your team? Have a read of our Premier League Accessibility Index. If the fixture release has got you excited for the new Premier League season, check out the latest early Premier League outright winners and also the Premier League relegation odds now.