What away fans actually want to know before a trip

Before we finalised the shape of these city guides, we did something simple: we asked supporters what they actually look up before travelling to an away game abroad. Some of it came from conversations at grounds and in pubs, a lot of it from reading what people ask each other on forums when a European draw comes out.

The striking thing is how consistent the questions are — and how few of them a normal travel guide bothers to answer. Here are the ones that came up again and again.

"Which end am I in, and how do I actually get to that turnstile?"

This was the single most common question, and it's the one guidebooks never touch. Nobody planning an away trip cares about the ground's architecture. They care that the away section is in the south-east corner, that it's reached from a specific station and entrance, and that the segregation route can change from one fixture to the next.

A Rangers-supporting mate put it bluntly: "I don't need to know the stadium capacity. I need to know which door has my name on it and where the police funnel us afterwards." That's now the first thing our stadium notes try to answer.

"Where can I get a pint without it kicking off?"

Every away fan asks some version of this, and the honest answer is city-specific and occasionally uncomfortable. There are pubs that happily serve visiting supporters and pubs where you'd be daft to walk in wearing colours. There are home ends that gather in one square and away-friendly places two streets over.

So our guides separate home fans and away fans deliberately, and we source that split from supporters' own forums rather than guessing. We also keep the standing caveat that no pub is guaranteed friendly on every fixture — a derby or a high-risk European night changes the map. The advice is a starting point, not a promise, and we say so.

"What's the cheapest way in — and is the cheap airport a trap?"

Budget flights are the whole reason a lot of these trips are affordable, and they land you in strange places. The recurring worry is the transfer: a €19 Ryanair fare into an airport 120 km from the ground stops being a bargain if the coach afterwards costs more and takes two hours.

That's why every guide lists the local airport and the cheaper alternatives, with an honest note on each. Flying into Malpensa for Lugano, or Birmingham for Manchester, can be the smart move — but only if you know the transfer before you book, not after. Fans wanted the budget-versus-hassle trade-off spelled out. Fair enough.

"What does a beer cost?"

This one is almost a running joke, but people genuinely mean it. "What does a beer cost?" is shorthand for "how expensive is this city going to be, really?" It tells you whether you're in a €3 round or a €7 round, whether to eat before you go, and how much cash to bring.

So we put representative prices — a beer, a single transit fare, a mid-range meal — on every guide, with the date we checked them. It's the fastest possible read on whether a city is cheap or brutal.

What they don't ask about

Just as telling is what almost nobody mentioned. No one asked about art galleries. No one asked for the tasting menu. A couple of people, unprompted, said they specifically don't want the tourist stuff — they want the away-day stuff, and they'll find their own fun after the final whistle.

That's the whole editorial line for these guides, really. They're written for someone travelling to a match on a budget over a weekend, who'd happily trade a bit of hassle for a cheaper trip. We tried to answer the questions supporters actually ask each other — and to leave out the ones they never do.

If there's a question we've missed for a city you know well, tell us. The people who've actually made the trip are the best source we've got.