Stunning data shows plight of Newcastle United fans amid travel and broadcasting chaos

Newcastle United fans will travel nearly 1,000 miles further than any other Premier League club this season as supporters prepare to once again invest hard-earned money into following the Magpies around the country.

With no Sunderland, Middlesbrough or even Leeds United in the top flight, any away day for Newcastle United supporters is a long journey and comes with heavy travel costs.

GoShorty analysed the distance fans from every Premier League team will travel for the 19 away fixtures over the upcoming season with the Magpies covering a total of 4,410 miles over the campaign - an average away trip is a 232-mile trek.

Bournemouth are the second worst off with 3,494 miles to cover this season, which is still 916 miles fewer than Newcastle United. Conversely, Luton Town supporters will travel just 2,099 miles this season with an average away trip coming in at just 110 miles on average.

There is nothing Newcastle United fans can do about the distance to cover, but recent seasons have seen the Premier League allow broadcasters to pick kick-off times that have left fans struggling to make visits work on public transport, often having to fork out for hotels. Indeed, data last year showed that 6.45% of football fans in Newcastle had taken a sick day to follow their team.

The country's public transport system often leaves supporters in a pickle when making those long journeys. Last season, train strikes made over 3,000 fans' 350-mile trip to Brighton impossible on the railway and matches at Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest, Manchester City and more all moved for broadcasters.

The Carabao Cup final also saw fans struggling to get down South with local MP Chi Onwurah writing to train providers LNER asking why so few tickets were available - 11,500 tickets to London from Newcastle, Durham and Darlington were available across two days to all travellers, football fans and not, with over 32,000 Magpies needing to travel to Wembley. LNER later explained its inability to run more trains was due to a 'delayed timetable uplift'.