Early alarm calls, very late nights: Life as a Plymouth Argyle away fan

Plymouth Argyle have yet to win away in the Championship after eight games this season. All they have to show for it so far is a measly two points and two goals.

Wayne Rooney's Pilgrims have been beaten six times and conceded 16 goals, including a 5-0 thrashing at Cardiff City. They are one of four teams in the division who are still waiting for their first victory away from home, along with Cardiff City, Oxford United and Preston North End.

More than 3,500 miles have already been travelled by the away-day ever presents among the Green Army, with still another 8,000-plus to come between now and the end of the 2024/25 campaign, including the four longest trips - to Sunderland (a round trip of 804 miles), Middlesbrough (756), Hull City and Norwich City (both 680).

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Argyle's away struggles this season are not new, either. Since being promoted to the Championship in 2023 they have played 31 league games on the road and have an abysmal record of three wins, nine draws and 19 defeats. They have scored just 20 goals while conceding 52.

Fortunately, following the Pilgrims is more than just about the football for many of the awayday regulars who travel up and down the country. They are a close-knit community who share the desire to be there cheering on their team, no matter where it is or whether it is on a Saturday afternoon or a Tuesday night.

It involves of lot of time and expense because there are such huge distances to travel, but they are a very dedicated bunch. Take, Julie Cardell, for example. She is 73 years young and retired. She enjoys the social side of the away games, and admits it has become 'an obsession' for her.

Julie was born in St Austell and Argyle were the closest Football League club to her Cornish home. She has been a fan since 1971, is a long-time season ticket holder in the Lyndhurst Road Stand and is one of the regulars on the Miles Away Travel Club's coach one.

She was among 45 fans who had a nightmare return journey from the away game against Hull City in October 2023. Two different coaches broke down, the first just a few miles after leaving the MKM Stadium in heavy rain. In total, they needed four different vehicles and seven drivers to get them back to Devon, via three service station stops through the evening and into the following morning.

Julie lives near Newton Abbot and is among a small group of supporters who get picked up and dropped off at the Drumbridges roundabout off the A38. "Since I have retired it has become more of an obsession," said Julie. "I think I have only missed one game, home or away, since Covid, and that was because I had Covid.

"We get picked up on number one bus, there is usually five or six of us at Drumbridges waiting. You know everybody and it's just good fun. We enjoy it and it's a day out. You meet up at other times as well. I met a couple that go on the bus regularly for coffee on Sunday. It's a social thing."

Julie's next road trip is to far-away Norwich next Tuesday, "I don't know if it's just an obsession or if it's just something you don't want to miss," she said.

"I just enjoy going, whether we get home at six o'clock on a Wednesday morning, or like the Hull match at half-past nine the Sunday morning. It doesn't matter. We had a good time. We still talk about it. It's never a long journey because we have fun. We talk, we have sing songs, and just being silly really."

Argyle's dreadful run of away results this season will not put Julie off from continuing to follow them up and down the country. "It's going to come right soon," she said. "We are going to go away and we are going to win.

"We drew last week (1-1 at Derby County) so a win is on the cards one day. When you follow the Argyle for years we lose more than we win, I think, but I still enjoy it. I just like getting out and about, and when you get to the away grounds the fans of the home teams are very friendly. You meet lots of different people so it's all good."

As for her favourite away grounds so far this season, Julie said: "They are all different. I like Sheffield Wednesday, I like going to Leeds. The atmosphere there from the home crowd is fantastic."

Argyle's struggles in away games is in stark contrast to their form at Home Park, where they have picked up 14 points from seven games. "I think the team has taken a while to gel together this season," said Julie. "They are getting better at it, I just don't know if the long travel takes its toll a bit.

"We can be really bad like at Sheffield Wednesday but then we can be really good. I just hope they get better. I'm sure the away win will come soon."

When it was suggested to Julie that being picked up at 10am for the coach journey to Norwich and returning home around 20 hours showed her commitment to Argyle, she replied: "It's either commitment or stupidity, I don't know which!"

One of the other regulars on coach one is Shaun Taylor, a self-employed painter and decorator who will celebrate his 60th birthday on Christmas Eve. Like Julie, he gets on board at Drumbridges. It takes a 40-minute drive from his home in East Prawle, near Kingsbridge.

Shaun is often joined by his football-mad step-daughter, Ingrid, who has a season ticket at Home Park along with him in the Lyndhurst Road Stand.

"My dad took me when I was seven so I have been going on and off or years," said Shaun. "I used to go when (Paul) Mariner and (Billy) Rafferty played and they got promoted. I think my favourite times were when Tommy Tynan played for Dave Smith. We have seen ups and down over the years."

A sense of togetherness is one of the big appeals to Shaun of following Argyle all over England. "We have got a really good set of friends," he said. "We meet up and we spend a day together. It's not just about the football is it? It's about meeting up with friends, having a drink, having something to eat.

"Even when we go to a game and Argyle have been battered you still have a good day out. I think as you get older you get a different perspective on it, rather than when you are in your 20s and 30s.

"We have gone off to some of the Tuesday games, like Burnley, and got home at four or five in the morning and then gone straight to work.

"It's not just about the football. We all meet up in the Life Centre before a home game. We have a coffee and something to eat. It's the camaraderie of it all."

Shaun picked Sunderland's Stadium of Light and the Riverside Stadium, the home of their north-east rivals Middlesbrough, as two of his favourite Championship awaydays. "We love going up to the north-east, and Burnley was good, I must admit," he said.

On Argyle's away form this season, Shaun said: "It has been pretty shocking to be fair," he said. "I don't quite get it, it was like it last year, but when (Steven) Schumacher was here in League One we were winning away from home.

"I'm pretty confident Wayne Rooney is the man. He knows football better than anyone. If the players can't learn off him there is no hope is there? I'm confident we will enough home games and we will gradually win a few away, and we will be fine."

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