Is football travel affordable enough for Swindon Town fans?

The Football League and Liftshare recently signed a partnership deal to help get football fans across the UK travelling to home and away games for less.

It’s predicted that fans will collectively travel 450,000 miles throughout season 15/16, and that means a lot of train tickets, petrol bills and other travel expenses supporters will need to consider when supporting their club.

Using Liftshare, car owners can give other fans a lift in exchange for petrol money, and can make back up to 100% of their total fuel bill. The more fellow supporters in your car the better. Try our Offer a Lift tool a try to see how much you can make back on match travel.

If you don’t have a car you can request a lift from our friendly community of over 450,000 car sharers. It’s quick, secure and cheaper than train and other modes of transport.

What do Swindon Town fans think of match travel?

We want to hear what football fans across the country think of their home and away match day travel, as well as parking around grounds throughout the UK. This time we caught up with some members of the dedicated Swindon Town FC Fans Group on Facebook – to see what they think about transport to and from games.

Member Ben Francis tells us, “On a match day public transport can be as bad at the ground as in the centre. It would be difficult to get to on a weekend even if we were away, as there are loads of road works around Swindon at the moment, which doesn’t help! I don’t drive to games at home so not to sure about parking but I do know there are plenty of places to park with or without paying.”

Fellow member Lynton Elcocks added, “I live approximately 200m from the ground in a small cul de sac. Last season the local council made it residents-only parking on match days after five years of campaigning myself and with fellow residents. Match days used to be a nightmare for us with home (and some away supporters) parking absolutely anywhere in ours and adjacent streets.

“They would often block driveways, the entrance to our street and so on. Now it is residence only on match days and the disruption is minimal as parking attendants are usually on the prowl. The surrounding area is more difficult to park in for free but there is ample, relatively cheap parking available. A different side of the story from me but there you have it!”

What about distance, trains and car sharing?

We ask Ben about Swindon Town matches that are further afield, and how fans typically travel. “This year we have a lot of games up north,” he replies, “and for people who don’t drive – if there were no coaches I would say it would be very expensive as a town fan!”

Is train the answer? “I wouldn’t get the train my self unless it was Oxford or Bristol and maybe games like Milwall, they are really expensive. To get the train up north to Sheffield and Bury, it would be two to three changes at least and cost over 80 pound each!”

We had a look into lifts to Sheffield currently being offered by the Liftshare community, and we found over 500 lifts heading that way from all over the country. We’re sure you will agree the difference in prices compared to train tickets is both staggering and far more affordable.

Lynton also agrees that trains are far too expensive, and adds, “My view on using trains is that it is far too expensive for fares, with some of the more far away games exceeding £75. We recently played Newport in a cup game and I looked at the train, but it was £27 compared to £12 on the supporters club coach.”

Want to try car sharing and see how much you can save?

Thanks to Ben and Lynton for their great insight into Swindon Town match day travel. Signing up to Liftshare is free if you would like to check out the range of cheap prices being offered by fans across the country.

You can also download our free Android and iOS apps to look at even more affordable lifts going your way right now.