PORTSMOUTH FOOTBALL CLUB

There is good news and there is bad news if you are a regular traveller to Pompey’s away games.

The upside is that the relegation of Reading from the Championship means there is a new shortest journey for Blues fans this coming season.

But if the football gods give with one hand, then they take away with the other.

Carlisle’s League Two play-off final success means there is also a new longest trek – and that visit to Cumbria is an absolute whopper.

Using Fratton Park as a starting point, there are actually slightly fewer miles to navigate during the 2023/24 campaign.

The total stands at 7.953.2 compared to 8,094.2 last term – a difference of just over 143 miles.

That equates to – traffic and diversions dependent, of course – 143 hours and 12 minutes spent on the road, which is just over an hour less than in 2022/23.

August at least provides a soft reintroduction to life traversing the motorways of England, with relatively short sojourns to the promoted pair of Leyton Orient and Stevenage.

Barnsley is the first long trip to be scheduled, although that September contest falls during an international break, which brings up the prospect of – like last season – a midweek match in Yorkshire.

Throw in cup matches and Pompey fans will certainly be spending a lot of time on the road and a lot of money in service stations.

So dust off those maps, upgrade your sat nav and start preparing for another busy campaign.

Safe travels to you all.