There may be 23 away league games in the Championship next season, but Hammers fans will be travelling less miles to see them than they did for 19 away games during this disastrous campaign.

There may be four more away games for West Ham fans to travel to next season, but there is a crumb of comfort for those supporters who will be endeavouring to watch their team on the road in the Championship.

Supporters will actually travel fewer miles in the coming season than they did in the campaign just finished and maybe, just maybe, they will even glean more points for their trouble.

This term’s miserable campaign saw round trips from Upton Park stadium clocking up a staggering 6,315 miles – that’s an average of 332 miles for every one of the 19 largely pointless visits to Premier League grounds.

The longest trip was to Newcastle (560 miles), which was a midweek outing for the fans and a 5-0 defeat! While Sunderland (552) and Blackpool (510) were not far behind.

But it was the infamous trips up and down the M6 which took their toll (literally) on West Ham fans minds and pockets.

Visits to Wigan, both Manchester clubs, both Merseyside outfits, Blackburn and Bolton have all been lost on next season’s calendar, with only fellow relegated club Blackpool, plus Burnley remaining in the region.

If fans want to travel to every away game in this season’s Championship, they will expect round trips from Upton Park of 5,888 miles for 23 trips – that’s an average trip of 256 miles per game.

West Ham have lost London derbies against Arsenal, Spurs, Fulham and Chelsea, but they have gained local trips to Crystal Palace, Watford and, of course, Millwall.

Add to that the three south coast trips of Brighton, Southampton and Portsmouth, plus trips out east to see Ipswich and Peterborough and the away games are looking a lot more attractive for West Ham fans.

They may even win a couple of them!