On the Road: Premier Division 2025/26
Fri 25th July 2025 | Bits & Pieces | By Ben Wilkinson
In advance of the start of the new campaign, we take a look at the distances travelled by the club's in each division over the course of the next ten months.
Last up is the Premier Division, consisting of 24 clubs once again this season. Changes from last season include two sides promoted from the First Division North; Atherton LR return to the Prem after a 13-year absence while Euxton Villa make their Step 5 debut. Coming the other way are City of Liverpool and Wythenshawe - neither of them strangers to the League having won promotion in 2019 and 2024 respectively. Making way for those four sides are Bury and Lower Breck, whose centurion campaigns earned them promotion to the NPL West, and Colne and Squires Gate, who finished in the bottom two last term and now ply their trade at Step 6.
It's a staggering 42,598 miles travelled by clubs in this division in 2025/26! There's 552 fixtures in a 24-team divison, so that's an average of roughly 77 miles per match. There is the added complication of FC Isle of Man's location that does inflate those figures somewhat - excluding the journeys to and from the Island it's an average of 58 miles for each fixture.
The longest round-trip is the 344 mile return trek between Barnoldswick Town and FC Isle of Man - an incredible journey for Step 5 football. Unsurprisingly, the shortest trip to/from Douglas is longer than the longest mainland journey, that being the 137 miles return between Barnoldswick and South Liverpool's Jericho Lane. The compact nature of the division means that there's only 14 mainland club pairs with a round-trip in triple figures!
The shortest trip in the division is between Pilkington and FC St Helens, the duo are separated by little more than half a mile! Cheadle Town and Wythenshawe are the next closest rivals (4 miles) whilst City of Liverpool and Burscough are groundsharing so have a distance of 0 miles.
Onto averages now and Prestwich Heys have the lowest travel in the division; their 1258 miles covered is at an average of just less than 55 miles per game. If you exclude the FC IOM journey then they are the only club in the entire NWCFL with a total mileage of less than 1000! Of course, the 'Ravens' have to travel significantly further than everyone else, the Islanders totting up over 6500 miles over the course of the campaign. The next furthest travellers are Barnoldswick Town, as the only other side in the division with a total north of 2000 - they will travel 2314 miles between now and the end of April.
The closest club to the divisional average of 1774 miles is Litherland REMYCA, who will clock up 1760 miles on the road this term. Their longest mainland trek is the 118 miles to Barnoldswick and back, closely followed by 114 return to Glossop North End, while they enjoy a local rivalry with AFC Liverpool, who have moved to Bootle's ground just a mile and a half away from Litherland Sports Park.
Please note that the figures contained in this article are obtained from Google Maps for journalistic purposes and have been rounded to the nearest mile. They should not be taken as official. Mileages for FC Isle of Man have been calculated to Manchester Airport and from Ronaldsway Airport to The Bowl.
On the Road: Premier Division 2025/26
Fri 25th July 2025 | Bits & Pieces
By Ben Wilkinson
In advance of the start of the new campaign, we take a look at the distances travelled by the club's in each division over the course of the next ten months.
Last up is the Premier Division, consisting of 24 clubs once again this season. Changes from last season include two sides promoted from the First Division North; Atherton LR return to the Prem after a 13-year absence while Euxton Villa make their Step 5 debut. Coming the other way are City of Liverpool and Wythenshawe - neither of them strangers to the League having won promotion in 2019 and 2024 respectively. Making way for those four sides are Bury and Lower Breck, whose centurion campaigns earned them promotion to the NPL West, and Colne and Squires Gate, who finished in the bottom two last term and now ply their trade at Step 6.
It's a staggering 42,598 miles travelled by clubs in this division in 2025/26! There's 552 fixtures in a 24-team divison, so that's an average of roughly 77 miles per match. There is the added complication of FC Isle of Man's location that does inflate those figures somewhat - excluding the journeys to and from the Island it's an average of 58 miles for each fixture.
The longest round-trip is the 344 mile return trek between Barnoldswick Town and FC Isle of Man - an incredible journey for Step 5 football. Unsurprisingly, the shortest trip to/from Douglas is longer than the longest mainland journey, that being the 137 miles return between Barnoldswick and South Liverpool's Jericho Lane. The compact nature of the division means that there's only 14 mainland club pairs with a round-trip in triple figures!
The shortest trip in the division is between Pilkington and FC St Helens, the duo are separated by little more than half a mile! Cheadle Town and Wythenshawe are the next closest rivals (4 miles) whilst City of Liverpool and Burscough are groundsharing so have a distance of 0 miles.
Onto averages now and Prestwich Heys have the lowest travel in the division; their 1258 miles covered is at an average of just less than 55 miles per game. If you exclude the FC IOM journey then they are the only club in the entire NWCFL with a total mileage of less than 1000! Of course, the 'Ravens' have to travel significantly further than everyone else, the Islanders totting up over 6500 miles over the course of the campaign. The next furthest travellers are Barnoldswick Town, as the only other side in the division with a total north of 2000 - they will travel 2314 miles between now and the end of April.
The closest club to the divisional average of 1774 miles is Litherland REMYCA, who will clock up 1760 miles on the road this term. Their longest mainland trek is the 118 miles to Barnoldswick and back, closely followed by 114 return to Glossop North End, while they enjoy a local rivalry with AFC Liverpool, who have moved to Bootle's ground just a mile and a half away from Litherland Sports Park.
Please note that the figures contained in this article are obtained from Google Maps for journalistic purposes and have been rounded to the nearest mile. They should not be taken as official. Mileages for FC Isle of Man have been calculated to Manchester Airport and from Ronaldsway Airport to The Bowl.
