Sure, football is not limited to a single stadium. Traveling is natural for sports, both around the country and to foreign lands. There are plenty of options for footballers to take off and get to the training facilities or the match itself.
Here is a shortlist of opportunities to opt for when players have to hit the road.
Planes
It is one of the most common ways of traveling among football teams. Flying comes in handy when you have to cover long distances or go to another country. When a planned journey is going to take more than 2-3 hours on land, players tend to choose flying. It can reduce the traveling time to minutes so the rest can be allocated to training, team-building, or organizational work.
Sometimes, teams can go extra. In 2017, New England Patriots, the US, bought two Boeing 767s just for themselves. These planes were used by American Airlines and the team acquired them for their size and capacity.
If we take a look at Canada, most teams take commercial or charter flights. However, private planes are also an option: Montreal Alouettes have their own team plane provided by Nolinor Aviation.
Coaches
That means of transport is the second most popular way to take the team on the road. Coaches are suitable for relatively short trips that won’t take more than 3 hours. If players spend more in a sitting position, it can affect their game due to muscle stiffness.
Usually, players arrive at their training facility on their own and then embark on the coach. Even in home towns, teams arrive like that at the stadium. It makes a good contribution to the team’s morale and is safer.
Vans
If a team’s budget is limited or the distance is really short, a van is a perfect option. Despite being relatively small, they have enough capacity to take players to the training ground or the hotel. Also, the team can have a luxury VAN for rent to move around the city and get to the match.
Trains
Railroads are the oldest way of sports traveling that is barely used by football teams now. The players’ schedule is busy, so spending several hours in an unsteady carriage sounds not so good anymore. There is still a practice of taking a plane to the city and then going by train to the match. However, nowadays, a very small number of teams use trains as their primary manner of traveling.
Wrapping it all up
The above-mentioned ways of traveling are the most popular among football teams around the world. If necessary, it’s possible to combine them. Each country and each team will have its own specifications, especially for internal travels. It will depend on the terrain, the team’s size, the scale of a match, and the available budget. Also, no one is safe from unexpected circumstances. That is why it’s good for teams to have alternative options in mind so they can arrive everywhere on time.
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