Crawley Town opinion: The number of miles travelled by Reds fan will reduce next season

Some of us, of course, are lucky enough to travel to most, if not all, of our games.

My hat, if I wore one, would now be coming off as a mark of respect to all Crawley Town fans who support the team when and where they can, regardless of whether that’s for one home game, all the games both home and away, or any permutation in between.

Last year we travelled a total of 7562 league miles, there and back, and I know there will be some fans who completed that feat.

That would have included me, in my youth, but now I’m only able to claim 850 mileage points for last season, those games being Colchester, Orient, Sutton, Stevenage and Oldham. Two wins, two losses and a draw, anybody would think we were a mid-table side.

For some of us, even a home game is like an away game, with supporters travelling from such far-flung places as Dundee, Cockermouth, Liverpool, Leeds and Cheltenham to see their heroes in action.

Next season, the number of miles travelled will reduce by an as yet unknown number, due to the League Two play-off between Mansfield Town and Port Vale taking place as I write this, and the National League Play-Off semifinals taking place over this weekend, the first of which was won by Grimsby by five goals to four against Wrexham.

Never mind, Ryan and Rob, that’s football!

At the moment, 4.25pm on May 28, it looks as if there will be no trip to Burslem next year as ex-Man Utd player James Wilson has just put Vale two up against the Stags and ten minutes later Hawkins of Mansfield collects his second yellow and is off.

So, at half time at the play offs, Crawley Town fans now know they will be travelling between 7368- and 7490-miles next year if they travel to all the away league games.

The lower number being if Mansfield stage a remarkable come back and Solihull win the National League play-offs, whilst the higher number represents a Vale win and a Chesterfield triumph next week.

In reality it will probably be somewhere between the two options, but I, for one, will be able to reduce my mileage, whilst actually attending one more away game, as the relegation of AFC Wimbledon and Gillingham makes it relatively easy for Reds fans to travel in numbers to these contests.

Eventually, Vale run out 3-0 winners and the mileage calculator narrows down to between 7392 and 7490, with yet other recalculations due tomorrow, Sunday May 29, and next weekend.

Hopefully, the questions we all want answered, manager? New players? Strip? Ticket prices will also have been answered by then.

Stop Press: Sunday afternoon 2.30pm Solihull Moors beat Chesterfield by three goals to one and the distance calculator now shows a distance somewhere between 7392 and 7452.

Watch this space!