The early alarm call, the road trip playlist and the stop-off at Warwick services for a greasy fry-up.
It is a routine that has been sorely missed by plenty of Pompey fans over the past 14-and-a-half months.
So those regular away-day travellers will be hoping that restrictions have eased enough to allow them to travel all over the country to follow Danny Cowley’s side during the 2021/22 campaign.
There are seven new sides entering League One, with Cheltenham, Cambridge, Bolton and Morecambe all climbing out of the fourth tier.
Meanwhile, Wycombe, Rotherham and Sheffield Wednesday will be slightly less enamoured by their new surroundings following relegation from the Championship.
The journey that will undoubtedly excite the majority of Blues supporters, however, is the one to AFC Wimbledon.
Not only does that represent the shortest trip, but Covid ensured fans were absent for the club’s first visit to the new Plough Lane last term.
One trek that some could probably do without, though, is the petrol-guzzling slog up to Wearside to face Sunderland.
If fans are allowed to go to every away league match during the forthcoming season, they would rack up an eye-watering 8,676.2 miles.
But after a year of watching from the sofa, it is a total that will delight all those who cannot wait to get on the road again.
| Team | Distance in miles (round trip) |
Estimated drive time (round trip) |
| Sunderland | 679.2 | 11 hours, 32 mins |
| Morecambe | 581.8 | 9 hours, 48 mins |
| Fleetwood | 573 | 9 hours, 52 mins |
| Accrington | 548.2 | 9 hours, 14 mins |
| Bolton | 516.4 | 8 hours, 42 mins |
| Wigan | 493.4 | 8 hours, 28 mins |
| Doncaster | 465 | 7 hours, 56 mins |
| Sheffield Wednesday | 463.6 | 8 hours |
| Rotherham | 453.4 | 7 hours, 42 mins |
| Lincoln | 429 | 7 hours, 42 mins |
| Crewe | 427 | 7 hours, 18 mins |
| Shrewsbury | 403.6 | 6 hours, 56 mins |
| Burton | 364 | 6 hours, 20 mins |
| Plymouth | 343.6 | 6 hours, 52 mins |
| Ipswich | 317.8 | 5 hours, 38 mins |
| Cambridge | 265 | 5 hours, 12 mins |
| Cheltenham | 230.6 | 4 hours, 22 mins |
| MK Dons | 229 | 4 hours, 10 mins |
| Gillingham | 215.4 | 3 hours, 56 mins |
| Charlton | 205.4 | 3 hours, 48 mins |
| Oxford | 170.2 | 3 hours, 12 mins |
| Wycombe | 168.2 | 3 hours, 6 mins |
| AFC Wimbledon | 133.4 | 2 hours, 52 mins |
| Total | 8,676.2 | 152 hours, 38 mins |