Norwich City voted second-worst away day experience

Norwich City fans celebrate play-off victory at Carrow Road over Ipswich Town. ©Focus Images Limited www.focus-images.co.uk +447814 482222

Norwich City has been voted as the second-worst away day experience in the Championship according to a survey of travelling fans.

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The Football Supporters’ Federation’s (FSF) Away Fans Survey was completed by 3,966 fans across all four divisions, rating their away day out of 10.

The average travelling away fan rated their Championship experience at 6.56, with a visit to Carrow Road scoring 5.09 with only Blackpool finishing lower than the Canaries.

The Away Fans Survey asked supporters to rate the ground they visited on factors including transport links, turnstiles, stadium layout, food and drink, sightlines, safety and security. The survey also looked at the reasons why supporters choose to attend certain away matches.

Kevin Miles, chief executive of the FSF, said: “Away supporters are vital to the health of our game and football matches would be far poorer places without their presence. Football shouldn’t take them for granted.

“If a visitor comes to your home, you treat them well, yet we often hear from travelling fans who feel they’re treated as a problem, rather than as a valued guest. Whether it’s high prices or an unfriendly welcome, away supporters are often at the sharp end.

“We want to fix that, stand up for the travelling fan, and highlight those clubs who do it right. It’s in everyone’s interests, particularly in terms of atmosphere in the ground, to have healthy away attendances.”

The price of a match ticket was deemed “important” by 45pc of respondents, as was day/time of kick off (53pc) and distance of travel (52pc). One in every three supporters considered whether friends/family were going as a significant pull factor.

• 64pc of fans rated the safety and security of away areas as either good or excellent; while only one in 10 fans rated them as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’.

• 53pc of fans surveyed bought refreshments, but 34% did not think they were value for money, rating the price as either ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’.

• 36pc of fans travelled to games by car; train/tube/metro was the next popular, accounting for 35pc of travelling fans. 26pc used buses or coaches.

• 29pc of fans rated the comfort of away areas as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’, 31pc marked the comfort levels as either ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’.

• 13pc rated pre-match and half-time entertainment as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’.