Catching the latest match highlights is something all football fans love and really brings the beautiful game to life. The Championship is a great league to follow and always delivers high-octane action to enjoy. This sees many loyal fans of Championship sides travelling to away games and cheering their players on.
As you can imagine, this means fans of all Championship sides put in plenty of miles following their team around the UK. But which fans have travelled the furthest for matches so far in 2024/25?
Swansea City
Swansea City has a passionate army of fans who follow their every move in the Championship. They are also the fans who have travelled the furthest for games so far in the current season.
A study by Ask Gamblers confirms this and highlights the number of miles that loyal fans of the club clock up watching their team. In particular, Swansea supporters have accumulated more miles from early-kick offs than other sides in the division. This includes a bunch of away games which kicked off early and saw fans having to set their alarms.
Trips to play sides such as Middlesbrough, Oxford City, Hull, Cardiff, Norwich, and Bristol City have seen Swansea fans rack up over 1,700 miles on early away kick-offs to date, which puts them ahead of any other Championship side.
A brief look at all the team’s away trips until the end of February 2025 provides more insight into how far their fans travel. Over the 17 away games in this period, Swansea fans have travelled over 3,000 miles!
QPR
Queens Park Rangers is another iconic Championship side that has a loyal set of supporters roaring them on at away games. Although their fans don’t quite rack up as many miles as Swansea followers, they’re not far behind.
To get a proper understanding of this, looking at how many miles QPR fans have travelled for early kick-off games in 2024/25 makes sense. Until the end of February 2025, this teams’ supporters have travelled around 1,455 miles to see the early kick-off action.
When it comes to how many miles fans of this side rack up on away games in general, much of this comes down to where the club calls home. Although any trips in the London/Southeast region don’t cause too many issues, longer trips to the North involve plenty of miles.
Their first away trip of the current season involved a 161-mile slog up the M1 to take on Sheffield United. A mid-February game against Coventry was a 110-mile trip up the M40 and further shows how far QPR fans travel to show their support.
Blackburn Rovers
With just over 1,300 miles travelled for early kick-off games so far in 2024/25 and plenty more across all their away matches in general, fans of Blackburn Rovers have made our list. With their team located in the North West of the UK, making the trek to away games on the other side of the country or further south explains this.
Their first away game of 2024/25 was against Norwich, who are found 265 miles away in Norfolk. Fans of the Lancashire-based side have gone on since then to travel to places like Coventry, Plymouth, Watford, Cardiff, Middlesbrough and Hull among others. With away trips like this accumulating hundreds of miles per game, it’s no shock to see Blackburn fans being some of the supporters that travel furthest to cheer their heroes on.
Which Championship side fans have travelled least in 24/25?
While the Premier League might get a lot of attention in UK football, the Championship is full of historic teams with passionate fanbases. Portsmouth is a great example, but it’s fair to say their fans have travelled a lot less in 2024/25 than fans from Swansea.
Pompey supporters have had a lot more lie-ins and only clocked up 171 miles to see their side in early kick-off matches. This is the lowest in the league and a lot less than the amount Swansea fans have travelled for earlier kick-offs.
Next to them, Preston (239 miles) and Derby County (240 miles) have travelled the least to date for early kick-off Championship matches. This reflects the number of away games which have kicked off early for these clubs and the locations these matches have been in. One thing is for sure — followers of these sides will not complain about less early kick off games to get up for!
Away days in the Championship: Swansea fans clock up the miles
When we look at the stats around early kick-off games for 2024/25’s Championship so far, it’s clear that Swansea supporters have travelled the most.
This is not a surprise when you consider how many early kick-off games Swansea has had in the first part of the season. It’s also no shock when you think of where they’re based in the country and how far away most other sides are from the city. As the campaign rumbles on, members of the Jack Army are sure to put in even more miles on the road when following their team.
