The Built Different Index: The Travellers

The Traveller combines three Built Different factors: Shortest Away Trip, Longest Away Trip and Total Distance Travelled. It rewards clubs whose nearest opponent is still inconvenient, whose furthest fixture is properly ridiculous and whose full season adds up to a serious amount of mileage.

In other words, this is the table for geographical isolation.

The ranking is based on the clubs competing across the Premier League and EFL in the 2025/26 season, so promotion and relegation directly shape every journey. Change the league line-up and the whole map moves with it.

Bournemouth win it on the road

Bournemouth top The Traveller with a weighted score of 879, climbing six places from their overall Built Different ranking.

They are helped by strength across all three ingredients. Their nearest league trip is still close to 100 miles, their longest takes them 355 miles to Newcastle, and the full away schedule adds up to more than 7,400 round-trip miles.

That is the important bit. Bournemouth are not top because of one freak journey; they are consistently inconvenienced.

Even the easy one is not easy. The worst one is at the other end of England. Everything in between quietly eats the weekend.

Plymouth tie on points, not on rank

Plymouth Argyle finish second, also with a weighted score of 879.

Their profile is slightly different. Plymouth do not have the longest individual away trip in the country, but nobody covers more ground across the season. Their total round-trip mileage reaches 10,800 miles, the highest of all 92 clubs.

That figure does most of the talking. Plymouth’s supporters do not merely have away days; they have an away lifestyle.

A trip to Exeter provides a rare moment of mercy. The rest of the calendar looks like someone has taken a ruler to the map and decided every fixture should involve snacks, chargers and a very early alarm.

Middlesbrough complete the top three

Middlesbrough rank third with a weighted score of 860, holding the same position they occupy in the full Index.

Their nearest league opponent is 75 miles away, their furthest journey is 320 miles to Portsmouth, and the season’s overall travel reaches 8,200 round-trip miles.

Boro’s result may be the purest example of geographical isolation in the table. They are not sitting at the top because one fixture has gone rogue. They are there because almost everywhere is inconvenient from Middlesbrough.

The closest one requires effort. The longest one needs a plan. The full season needs a loyalty card for the A1.

Barrow barge into the top ten

One of the biggest moves near the top belongs to Barrow, who climb 24 places to eighth.

Their weighted score of 818 reflects the reality of playing League Two football from the edge of Cumbria. The longest journey takes them 335 miles to Gillingham, and their annual total reaches 6,420 round-trip miles.

Those numbers would be substantial in the Premier League. At League Two level, with tighter budgets and fewer glamorous travel arrangements, they hit differently.

Barrow are not travelling for a global showcase. They are travelling hundreds of miles because the fixture list says Gillingham away.

Gillingham make the biggest top-end leap

Gillingham rise 32 places to 13th, posting a weighted score of 779.

Like Barrow, they benefit from sitting at one end of the League Two map while plenty of opponents sit at the other. Their furthest trip is the same 335-mile journey in reverse, and their season totals 6,350 round-trip miles.

The division may be regional in spirit. The fixtures are not always on board.

Colchester are the biggest risers

The largest climb belongs to Colchester United, who jump 41 places from 70th overall to 29th in The Traveller.

Their weighted score of 574 is not enough to challenge the isolated clubs at the top, but it shows how much their overall profile changes once the Index focuses only on distance.

Colchester’s nearest opponent is still 45 miles away, while their League Two calendar regularly pulls them north and west.

They are not at the far edge of the country. They are just far enough from the division’s main clusters for the mileage to keep stacking up.

Arsenal fall hardest

The biggest fall belongs to Arsenal, who drop 46 places from tenth overall to 56th. Their weighted Traveller score is 421.

Arsenal’s nearest trip is Tottenham, just four miles away, and their full season’s round-trip travel is under 4,900 miles. They still face a long journey to Newcastle, but one sizeable trip cannot compensate for a calendar filled with London neighbours and relatively manageable connections.

On the pitch, Arsenal may want territory. In this table, having too many nearby clubs is a serious weakness.

The Midlands keep getting away with it

The bottom of the ranking is crowded with centrally located clubs, which makes sense. Being near the middle of the country is extremely useful when everyone else is scattered around it.

Leicester City sit 87th with a weighted score of 127. Walsall are 88th on 100, while Notts County rank 89th with 84.

Their travel is not nonexistent. It is simply restrained compared with clubs facing thousands more miles over the same season.

The Midlands may not offer sea views or romantic isolation, but the away coach gets home at a reasonable hour.

Often.

Coventry finish third-bottom

Coventry City sit 90th with a weighted score of 78, dropping 27 places from their overall ranking.

Their central location protects them from the worst extremes. The longest league journey is only 165 miles, and the season’s total remains among the lowest in the pyramid.

Only in football could a club be punished for being conveniently located.

West Brom barely trouble the odometer

West Bromwich Albion rank 91st with a weighted score of 36.

Their overall travel is low, their nearest fixtures are genuinely nearby and even the longest journey remains manageable by the standards of this table.

The Hawthorns sits in almost the perfect place for an English league schedule. Plenty of clubs are within reach, the motorway network is close and nobody needs to leave home before breakfast for every other fixture.

Terrible Traveller credentials.

Excellent news for the knees. Birmingham finish bottom

At the foot of the table are Birmingham City, with a weighted score of just 23. They record the lowest total travel of all 92 clubs at 3,800 round-trip miles, while their furthest fixture is only 165 miles away at Middlesbrough. Even that phrase feels strange: Middlesbrough as the easy outer limit.

Birmingham also finished bottom in the full Built Different Index, but this particular last place comes with benefits.

Less time on coaches. Fewer service stations. A much lower chance of seeing sunrise from the M6.

There are worse things to lose.

What The Traveller tells us

The Traveller is not simply a ranking of who has the longest away day. It captures the whole burden.

Bournemouth win because they combine a distant nearest opponent, the longest single trip in the country and a heavy full-season total. Plymouth nearly take it through sheer accumulated mileage. Middlesbrough complete the top three because inconvenience starts close to home and continues all year.

At the bottom, Coventry, West Brom and Birmingham benefit from being surrounded by football clubs and connected to most of the country without requiring an expedition.

The fixture list gives everyone the same number of away matches.

It does not give everyone the same away season.

Some supporters pack a scarf. The Traveller packs an overnight bag.

The Full Table