Premier League away fans face another season of high car travel costs

Football fans travelling to away matches by car face another season of high fuel bills, according to new analysis.

Pump prices have fallen from the near-record levels seen in August 2022 but are still around 15p per litre higher than at the start of the 2021/22 season, RAC Foundation figures shared with the PA news agency show.

Supporters of Manchester City living near the Etihad Stadium can reach just eight of the Premier League’s other 19 stadiums on £20 of petrol.

For all 380 matches this season, the number of times supporters of the away team can reach the venue with a petrol bill of no more than £20 is 133, up from 94 a year ago.

It is a similar situation for fans driving diesel cars, with the total rising from 115 to 165.

Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “When drivers visit the garage forecourt many don’t look to fill up the tank but instead spend a set amount of money, for example £20.

“This analysis helps show how far that amount takes the ardent football fan, or doesn’t.

“Whilst some fans would pay almost anything to see a big away win for their club, high fuel prices add insult to injury when they have spent a lot of time and money travelling away only for their team to lose.

“The good news is that, overall, pump prices – and hence the fuel cost of travelling by car – are lower than what they were last season.

“But that doesn’t tell the whole story. Football fans are still paying much more for their away trips than they were two years ago and even then prices were at historically high levels.

“The bad news is that oil prices have been relatively strong in recent weeks and the wholesale prices of petrol and diesel are heading up again.

“It would be only the most optimistic fan who thinks they won’t continue to feed through into higher pump prices in the weeks ahead.”

The analysis is based on journeys between stadiums, and assumes a typical fuel consumption of 33 miles per gallon (mpg) for a petrol car and 41mpg for a diesel car.

It uses average pump prices per litre of 149.1p for petrol and 150.6p for diesel recorded this month.