Cost-saving ways for Chelsea to travel to their FA Cup clash at Middlesbrough

Paul Okey
16 March 2022

Sanctions imposed on Chelsea mean that rather than flying up to Boro for Saturday’s cup tie, the players and staff could face a “gruelling” 10-hour round coach trip to the Riverside.

This gruelling journey (according to the Daily Mail) will see players able to recline on luxury leather seats while enjoying facilities which include a kitchen, complete with fan ovens, coffee machine, microwave and fridges, Sky TV, Wi-Fi and climate control. All the while protected by tinted privacy glass so they don't have to hold their hands over their mouths when they speak to each other.

The club have £20,000 to spend on their travel arrangements with a large chunk of it swallowed up by the luxury coach. However, with Kai Havertz admitting he would be quite happy to pay to get to Middlesbrough himself, Planet Sport have done him a favour and sourced cheaper alternatives.

Supporters' coach

For a club with an infrastructure as large as Chelsea's it's simply incredible that they have overlooked this option.

Departing from Stamford Bridge at 9:15 and Newport Pagnell at 10:45 for the out-of-towners, the supporters' coach costs just £10 per person.

Admittedly, with kick-off at 17:15, their warm-ups may be cut short, especially if they overstay their time on their service station stop. But if it's good enough for non-league teams to travel with their supporters in the FA Cup, then surely to maintain the integrity of the competition, everyone should travel to away matches this way.

Public transport

Alternatively, Kai and his team-mates can enjoy a little more leg room (and warm-up time) by travelling by bus and then train.

Dropping their cars off at the Cobham training ground, they can get the number 715 bus towards Kingston at 8:57 which costs between £3 and £5 for a 16-minute journey to Littleworth Common.

A quick five-minute walk to Esher Station and it's onto the South Western Railway line for the 9:22 towards London Waterloo, getting into Vauxhall at 9:47. It's then a quick scoot across to the Victoria Line and platform 1 for the 11-minute journey to King's Cross St Pancras.

Arriving at 10:06 it leaves plenty of time for the players to stock up on magazines and word search books before strolling over to platform 4 for the 10:30 train to Inverness.

Major upgrade works are causing King's Cross to be busier than usual so a quick head count may be advisable at this stage. Maybe best for Thomas Tuchel to use one of those flags on a stick to keep the team together - it will certainly make Timo Werner feel at home.

8am train from Kings Cross - Chelsea takeover in Newcastle 👊🔵 pic.twitter.com/SO0lfF17FP
— WE ARE THE SHED ⭐⭐ (@WeAre_TheShed) October 30, 2021

The train gets into York at 13:13 and there's a 26-minute wait before the Transpennine Express towards Redcar Central which arrives at Middlesbrough at 14:35.

A 19-minute walk from the station to the ground should work out any stiffness and then players will have plenty of time to go through their drills before kick-off.

The outward journey takes 5hr 57min and the Rome2Rio website says it shouldn't cost more than £254.

Getting back after the match presents more of a problem due to the unusual kick-off time, especially if it goes to extra-time and then penalties. However, a quick cab across to Stockton (around £10) and Kai can stay in this home from home with helpful hostess, found on airbnb for just £41.

There is still plenty of other accommodation left around the area for the rest of the team, too. One even has Kelly Hoppen sheets. Fancy.

Megabus

This one would need the players to get to London Victoria for 08:00 but does offer with it a 13:50 arrival time at Middlesbrough Bus Station, which will allow the players more than enough time to sample the delights of the north-eastern town before making the way to the stadium.

It's only £14.96 one-way too. Keep the change, driver!

Minibus hire

Thomas Tuchel admitted he would be more than willing to drive a seven-seater to a Champions League clash but would he be as keen to do it for an FA Cup sixth round tie?

Well, CVS Van Hire don't do seven-seaters but they do do minibuses with nine, 12, 15 and 17 seats.

Unfortunately, for Thomas, he would need additional qualifications for the 15- and 17-seaters. However, he could drive the starting XI in the 12-seater for a one-day hire charge of £301.20.

He'd have to pick it up from Tottenham which might not go down well and the price and petrol and diesel nowadays would probably take Chelsea through their £20,000 threshold.

Nevertheless, it's just one of a number of alternatives should the Blues decide to sidestep their 'gruelling' luxury coach option.