Regarding the players, staff, and travelling supporters of Truro City, the arduous return journey of 914 miles to face Gateshead proved bittersweet in the end. The 12-hour bus journey starting in south-west Cornwall travelling the length of England to the north-east yielded one league point plus complimentary drinks.
The team tied their National League match at 2-2 away at Gateshead on Saturday after holding a two-goal lead in the 54th minute, during what is becoming a season of epic train journeys and tireless road trips up and down English A roads and motorways. Following strikes by Johnson-Fisher and Oxlade-Chamberlain, Gateshead rebounded 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
Earlier in the season Truro have made a trek to face Carlisle resulting in a 3-0 loss covering 878 miles. Due to the team's remote location, their shortest away match is against Yeovil Town, around a two-and-a-half-hour schlep via the A30 to Huish Park, 130 miles each way.
On Saturday the first 90 Truro fans to arrive shared a £920 bar tab, sponsored by Sky Bet, with the generous free-drinks fund equating to £1 per mile covered. At least the players were able to break up their journey with a stop at Derby County’s training ground.
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 confronting the club he acquired in 2023 aiming to emulate Wrexham's success.
The extensive travel also brings advantages for Cornwall’s first professional football club, 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 – the team bonds during travel, we’re used to travelling together.”
One of Truro’s stalwart supporters, John Joyce, accepts the reality of extended travel yet stays devoted, despite the odd flight cancellation and wearisome train treks. He estimates Saturday’s trip cost him around £400 in costs and missed income, noting, “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, after their Carlisle odyssey: “Truro's uniqueness 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, yet the supporters rarely complain and they value the players' efforts.”
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