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For the players, staff, and travelling supporters of Truro City, the gruelling return journey of 914 miles to Gateshead proved bittersweet in the end. The 12-hour bus journey from Cornwall in the south-west all the way up England’s spine to the north-east region yielded one league point and a free pint or two.

Truro drew the National League fixture at 2-2 away at Gateshead this past Saturday having led 2-0 in the 54th minute, during what is becoming a campaign defined by long travels and unrelenting hauls across England's highways. Following strikes by Johnson-Fisher and Oxlade-Chamberlain, the hosts fought back via Adom and a 70th-minute equalizer from Nouble.

“Clubs that come down to us, most of them are flying down and staying over on the Friday, so for us to have to do it on the coach is not ideal, but because we have so many long journeys, that’s the way we have to do it.” — John Askey

Already this term Truro have made a trek to Carlisle resulting in a 3-0 loss covering 878 miles. Such is the club’s relative isolation, even their nearest away game is against Yeovil Town, around a two-and-a-half-hour schlep along the A30 to Huish Park, 130 miles each way.

Unifying Effect of Long Travels

On Saturday the initial 90 supporters to arrive shared a £920 bar tab, sponsored by Sky Bet, the complimentary beverage fund representing £1 for every mile travelled. At least the players were able to break up their journey with a pause at Derby's training facility.

Their chairman from Canada, Eric Perez, who appreciates long-distance travel as he frequently flies seven hours from Toronto to London, recognizes the difficulties facing the club he took over in 2023 with ambitions of “doing a Wrexham”.

The extensive travel also brings advantages for Cornwall’s first professional football club, he believes. “It's certainly not a brief trip, It's an exceptionally long distance relatively,” Perez stated. “But what that does is galvanise our side even further – the team bonds during travel, we are accustomed to journeying as a group.”

Loyal Fans Face Long Trips

A committed Truro follower, John Joyce, is resigned to long days of travelling but remains committed, notwithstanding occasional flight issues and wearisome train treks. He estimates Saturday’s trip cost him around £400 in expenses and lost earnings, remarking, “I worked for Nato in the last six years of my career in the navy, and it was a shorter drive from Brussels back to Cornwall than it is from Cornwall to Gateshead.”

As Askey said, following the Carlisle expedition: “The thing that makes Truro special as a club lies in the fans' unwavering support regardless of circumstances. I know last season we were very successful so it was easy to get behind the players, but from what I know the fans never even moan and they value the players' efforts.”