Tyne And Weary: Truro City’s 914-mile Round Trip Makes English Football History

For nan players, unit and travelling supporters of Truro City, nan gruelling 914-mile information round travel to Gateshead was a mixed blessing successful nan end. The 12-hour autobus travel from Cornwall successful nan south-west each nan measurement up England’s spine to nan north-east bore a azygous constituent and a free pint aliases two.

Truro drew their National League lucifer astatine 2-2 astatine Gateshead International Stadium connected Saturday having led 2-0 successful nan 54th minute, successful what is turning retired to beryllium a play of epic train journeys and unrelenting hauls up and down English A roads and motorways. After goals from Dominic Johnson-Fisher and Christian Oxlade-Chamblerlain, Gateshead rebounded done Kain Adom and, successful nan 70th minute, Frank Nouble.

Already this word Turo person made a trek to Carlisle for a 3-0 conclusion that clocked up 878 miles. Such is nan club’s comparative isolation that moreover their nearest distant crippled is astatine Yeovil Town, astir a two-and-a-half-hour schlep on nan A30 to Huish Park, 130 miles each way.

Dominic Johnson-Fisher is mobbed by his Truro City teammates aft scoring nan opener. Photograph: Harry Cornish/PPAUK/Shutterstock

On Saturday nan first 90 Truro fans to get shared a £920 barroom tab, courtesy of nan EFL sponsor, Sky Bet, pinch nan generous free-drinks money representing £1 for each mile travelled. At slightest nan players we capable to break up their travel pinch a extremity astatine Derby County’s training ground.

John Askey, nan club’s manager, told nan BBC: “Clubs that travel down to us, astir of them are flying down and staying complete connected nan Friday, truthful for america to person to do it connected nan coach is not ideal, but because we person truthful galore agelong journeys, that’s nan measurement we person to do it. We conscionable person to get connected pinch it, but pinch it being specified a agelong journey, nan longest it’s ever been successful English football, it draws attraction to it.”

Truro City fans aft nan National League lucifer betwixt Gateshead and Truro City astatine Gateshead International Stadium. Photograph: Harry Cornish/PPAUK/Shutterstock

Even their Canadian chair, Eric Perez, who appreciates long-distance recreation since he regularly flies seven-hours long-haul from Toronto to London, understands nan situation facing nan nine he took complete successful 2023 pinch ambitions of “doing a Wrexham”.

All this clip connected nan roadworthy has benefits excessively for Cornwall’s first master shot club, he believes. “I’m not going to opportunity it’s a short journey. It’s a ridiculously agelong travel successful context,” Perez told BBC Sport. “But what that does is galvanise our broadside moreover further – everybody spends clip together, we’re utilized to travelling together.”

One of Truro’s stalwart supporters is resigned to agelong days of travelling but remains committed, contempt nan overseas formation cancellation and wearisome train treks. John Joyce, who estimates Saturday’s travel costs him astir £400 successful expenses and mislaid earnings, told TalkSport: “I worked for Nato successful nan past six years of my profession successful nan navy, and it was a shorter thrust from Brussels backmost to Cornwall than it is from Cornwall to Gateshead.”

As Askey said aft their Carlisle odyssey: “The point that makes Truro typical arsenic a nine is that nan supporters get down nan squad nary matter what. I cognize past play we were very successful [earning promotion from National League South], truthful it was easy to get down nan players, but from what I cognize nan fans ne'er moreover moan and they admit what nan players person done.”