Fans of Premier League football teams driving themselves to away games this season face big rises in their transport costs because of soaring fuel prices.
RAC Foundation research shows that today a Liverpool supporter, for example, can reach just 4 out of 19 away grounds on £20 of petrol. This time last year, that same supporter could have reached 7 out of the 19 for £20-worth.
(Note: for ease of comparison, no account has been taken of relegation and promotion.)
Supporters whose teams are located at one end of the country, or another, have always had to have deep pockets to follow their side’s fortunes at away games.
However, it is fans of Leicester City who have seen the biggest change in the number of away grounds they can now reach on £20 of petrol. A year ago, fans of the East Midlands club could have got to 11 of the 19 grounds of other current Premier League teams. Today it is just 3.
The analysis assumes journeys start and end at a football stadium.
Table – number of Premier League grounds fans of each club can reach today on £20 of fuel compared with 12 months ago:
| Team |
Number of away grounds reachable on £20 of petrol |
Number of away grounds reachable on £20 of diesel |
||
|
Start of 2021-22 season |
Start of 2022-23 season |
Start of 2021-22 season |
Start of 2022-23 season |
|
| Arsenal |
8 |
6 |
12 |
7 |
| Aston Villa |
7 |
3 |
14 |
5 |
| Bournemouth |
6 |
1 |
8 |
1 |
| Brentford |
9 |
7 |
11 |
7 |
| Brighton and Hove Albion |
8 |
6 |
8 |
7 |
| Chelsea |
9 |
7 |
11 |
7 |
| Crystal Palace |
8 |
6 |
10 |
7 |
| Everton |
7 |
4 |
8 |
5 |
| Fulham |
10 |
8 |
13 |
8 |
| Leeds United |
8 |
5 |
9 |
5 |
| Leicester City |
11 |
3 |
14 |
3 |
| Liverpool |
7 |
4 |
8 |
5 |
| Manchester City |
8 |
5 |
8 |
7 |
| Manchester United |
8 |
5 |
8 |
7 |
| Newcastle United |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| Nottingham Forest |
8 |
4 |
8 |
5 |
| Southampton |
8 |
4 |
8 |
8 |
| Tottenham Hotspur |
8 |
5 |
12 |
7 |
| West Ham |
7 |
6 |
9 |
7 |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers |
7 |
5 |
11 |
7 |
The analysis is based on the following pump prices:
|
Price in August 2021 |
Price in August 2022 |
|
| Petrol | 134.7p per litre | 182.8p per litre |
| Diesel | 137.3p per litre | 193p per litre |
It is assumed the average petrol car has a fuel consumption of 33 mpg and a diesel car 41 mpg. This is based on RAC Foundation analysis of the fuel consumption of the vehicle parc.
Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said:
“When drivers visit the garage forecourt many don’t look to fill up the tank but instead spend a set amount of money, for example £20. This analysis helps show how far that amount now gets you, or perhaps that should be, doesn’t get you.
“Travelling supporters are amongst a club’s most loyal fans and they are prepared to put up with a lot to follow their team but it is coming at an increasing price.
“While our analysis focuses on journeys made by football fans our aim is to illustrate the financial implications of high fuel costs being experienced by tens of millions of drivers who rely on their cars for more mundane but necessary journeys.
“While fuel prices have come back a bit from recent highs, petrol still costs around 180p per litre, a level that would have seemed inconceivable not so many months ago. And it’s not as if travelling by car was cheap last summer – even then pump prices were at uncomfortably high levels.
“The litre price of fuel still has a long way to fall to get back to the sums we were paying before the current squeeze on household budgets hit home. Whatever strategy our new Prime Minister comes up with to ease transport costs for millions of households they need to recognise that for many people, particularly in low-income jobs, travel spend is a huge and unavoidable part of the financial challenge they face.”
