When I started watching football in the 1950s away fans were a relative rarity except at derby matches. There was no motorway network and even if trains were not much slower on most lines, they were less frequent. Nevertheless, some fans made long journeys on unheated and uncomfortable coaches that were prone to break down, even travelling overnight. Then they would mingle with the home fans and exchange friendly banter.
When I started watching football in the 1950s away fans were a relative rarity except at derby matches. There was no motorway network and even if trains were not much slower on most lines, they were less frequent. Nevertheless, some fans made long journeys on unheated and uncomfortable coaches that were prone to break down, even travelling overnight. Then they would mingle with the home fans and exchange friendly banter.
Looking at the figures for away fans at League 2 games this weekend there is quite a bit of variation between the 32 fanatical Accrington fans who occupied the away end at Southend and the 1,210 Northampton fans who made the trip to Mansfield. Some of the Accrington fans probably lived in the London area.
At the risk of stating the obvious, you tend to get low away attendances when it is a long distance to travel and the home following is below the average for the division, e.g., Dagenham & Redbridge at Morecambe. Quite a lot of Exeter fans went to Fratton Park because it’s an atmospheric ground and they are both fan run clubs.