Football's long-distance love affair

Graeme Davidson is a Warriors fans' favourite

By BBC Sport Online's Adrian Harte

Arsenal's challenging journey to the Ukraine for what is effectively a meaningless Champions League match against Shakhtar Donetsk highlights the lengths, quite literally, some football supporters will go to indulge their passion.

While one-off European adventures have a certain allure, domestic travel lacks the romance: it is a duty, an obligation, or more accurately, a labour of love.

Supporting English Conference side Dover Athletic certainly falls into that category, quite apart from the fact that the Whites are only five points clear of the relegation zone.

The familiar fan's refrain "We'll walk a million miles for one of your goals" may be hyperbole, but dedicated Dover fans cover almost 9,000 miles a season to follow their side up and down the country, roughly the distance from London to Darwin, Australia.

It's a way of life and it gets into your blood

  John Farringdon

John Farringdon, chairman of Dover Athletic Supporters Club, travels to virtually every Dover match and he also has the onerous task of arranging transport to such far-flung outposts as Morecambe and Scarborough (326 miles each from Dover).

He said: "We take a minibus to most games, but some 25 or 30 regularly travel by car to every game, and if we're playing a new team or it's an attractive game we will have more than that.

"An average journey to a game in the Midlands, where most of the Conference clubs are based, is five hours there and five hours back.

Southport weekender

"For our trip to Southport this weekend, we'll will be leaving at 7am and even if we leave straight after the game, we won't be back until the middle of the night."

Dover Athletic's star striker Lee Shearer

Farringdon calculates that his Dover ardor costs him around £75 for each away trip - or approximately £1575 per season.

The Supporters Club endeavours to keep the travel costs to a minimum, although an attempt to instigate a sponsored coach scheme failed to get off the ground.

Luckily for John, however, his wife shares his passion. He said: "My wife travels with me, otherwise I don't think I would have a wife!"

And like many football fanatics, he does not regard his Saturday sojourns as sacrifices; more a way of life.

"It might be a sad existence, but it's a way of life and it gets into your blood and you have to make the trips.

Football first

"I do try to add a social side to it and we plan our weekends around where we are going, but the football always comes first."

Surprisingly, for one so well travelled, John has few nightmare tales to relate.

"Last season, though, we were within ten miles of Forest Green Rovers' ground after travelling for four and a half hours when we heard that the match was called off. Most of us went home, but some stayed to watch a local league game, " he said.

With television coverage rendering the global village ever smaller, cross-boundary football affiliations are now commonplace. Every weekend, supporters from Scandinavia and Ireland descend on Old Trafford, Anfield and Parkhead. However, Jan Erik Eriksen is a Norse of a different colour.

Indeed, Eriksen is one of 67 Oslo dwellers who comprise the Stenhousemuir F.C. Supporters Club Norway.

Unconventional

The club was founded in December 1992 when a group of Oslo friends decided to adopt a British club to support and be unconventional.

Stenhousemuir defender Johyn Gibson

A small group travelled to Scotland for the first time in 1993 and Oslo/Ochilview ties are now so strong that the Norwegian Supporters Club chairman, Terje Eriksen, is now Honorary President of the Stenhousemuir club itself.

Some 15 supporters made the trip by plane to Newcastle and then by train to Stirling Albion last weekend, and saw the Warriors come back from 2-0 down to win 3-2.

However, as supporters club secretary Jan Erik Eriksen confirms, the mutual attraction is now as much social as sporting.

He said: "Its also a social thing, as we know so many people over there."

And when they are not making the trip to Scotland, how do the Nordic Warriors keep up to date? Why the Internet and BBC radio of course.