AFC Fylde's plan for consecutive away journeys

The Coasters have embarked upon a six-game February in the National League, four of which are lengthy journeys with a total return distance of almost 2,000 miles.

It began with last weekend’s win at Dorking Wanderers, a 509-mile round trip from stadium to stadium, and ends with a match at Boreham Wood on February 24; a journey of 438 miles there and back.

In between, however, are tomorrow’s trip to Eastleigh followed by Tuesday’s rearranged game at Aldershot Town; round trips of 513 and 506 miles respectively.

Asked how the Coasters are preparing, given the quick turnaround between the two trips, Beech outlined what the club has planned for the squad.

The head coach explained: “We will play the game at Eastleigh, travel back and rest on the Sunday before a normal Monday, which will be a chance to recuperate and recover.

“For Aldershot, we’re looking at travelling with a couple of drivers on the bus because they can’t go past four-and-a-half hours without a 45-minute rest.

“We’ll have dinner and sleep at the hotel before getting up for pre-match and then we’ll play the game, stay over and then do some recovery in utilising the hotel facilities.

“In terms of staying over afterwards, if you were to check out at 4pm instead, hotels might charge for two bookings so a £3,000 stay becomes £6,000 instead.

“If we had bigger budgets or other things to utilise, we would maybe look at something else but that’s our current circumstance.”

Each club will have its own preference when it comes to travel arrangements.

Manchester United’s players travelled by train to last year’s Carabao Cup final, though Arsenal infamously once flew to Norwich City – a journey of 14 minutes – after citing planned roadworks.

Beech added: “It depends what level of football you’re at; an overnight stay can work out at £2,500 to £4,500 depending on the time of year but there are all sorts of different things that go on.

“I have friends that work at established, bigger clubs and their budgets are far greater – and some clubs have their own personal chefs that go with them!”