🔗 Share this article

For the players, staff, and travelling supporters from the Cornish outfit, the arduous return journey of 914 miles to face Gateshead proved bittersweet in the end. Their lengthy coach ride from Cornwall in the south-west all the way up England’s spine to the north-east region yielded one league point plus complimentary drinks.

The team tied their National League match at 2-2 at Gateshead International Stadium on Saturday having led 2-0 by the 54th minute, during what is becoming a season of epic train journeys and unrelenting hauls up and down English A roads and motorways. Following strikes by Dominic Johnson-Fisher and Christian Oxlade-Chamberlain, Gateshead rebounded through Kain Adom and, in the 70th minute, Frank 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

Earlier in the season the club undertook a journey to Carlisle for a 3-0 defeat that clocked up 878 miles. Such is the club’s relative isolation, their shortest away match is against Yeovil Town, a roughly two-and-a-half-hour drive via the A30 to Huish Park, a 130-mile trip each direction.

Unifying Impact of Long Travels

On Saturday the initial 90 supporters to arrive shared a £920 bar tab, sponsored by Sky Bet, the complimentary beverage fund equating to £1 per mile covered. Fortunately, the squad could interrupt their travel with a pause at Derby's training facility.

Their chairman from Canada, Eric Perez, accustomed to long-haul trips as he frequently flies seven hours long-haul from Toronto to London, understands the challenge facing the club he took over in 2023 aiming to emulate Wrexham's success.

The extensive travel has benefits too for the region's first pro football team, he believes. “It's certainly not a brief trip, It’s a ridiculously long journey in context,” Perez stated. However, it serves to strengthen our squad further – everybody spends time together, we’re used to travelling together.”

Loyal Supporters Face Long Trips

A committed Truro follower, John Joyce, is resigned to long days of travelling yet stays devoted, notwithstanding occasional flight issues and wearisome train treks. He calculated the recent trip at roughly £400 in expenses and lost earnings, remarking, “During my naval career with Nato, the drive from Brussels to Cornwall was shorter than from Cornwall to Gateshead.”

As Askey said, after their Carlisle odyssey: “Truro's uniqueness as a club lies in the fans' unwavering support no matter what. I know last season we were very successful so it was easy to get behind the players, yet the supporters rarely complain and they value the players' efforts.”