We study the mileage that Pools will have to complete during the 2019/20 National League campaign.
The distance Pools will travel for National League games has dropped slightly for 2019/20 but Craig Hignett’s men are still set to cover almost 10,000 miles next term.
Long trips to Aldershot Town, Braintree Town, Maidstone United and Havant & Waterlooville were lost after they were all relegated, while Leyton Orient went the other way as National League champions.
However, the relegation of Yeovil Town (336.3 miles away) from League Two and Torquay United’s instant return from National League South (they’re some 365.4 miles away!) mean they become our two longest journeys of the season.
Woking got through the National League South play-offs to return to the fifth tier and offer a 552-miles round trip for Pools, while Chorley (140.5 miles away) saw off Spennymoor Town in the National League North Play-Off Final to deny us a local derby.
Gateshead are once again our closest fixture with The International Stadium only 28.9 miles up the road, with Harrogate Town the next on the list at just 62.4 miles from The Super 6 Stadium.
Stockport County's promotion means a relatively short journey to Cheshire, with The Hatters' Edgeley Park base just over 134 miles away from Hartlepool.
It all means that Pools will be expected to travel just over 9,709 miles to complete their 2019/20 National League campaign – exactly 250 miles less than we did during last season.
Of course, coming in under 10,000 is almost a bonus for Pools and it means we’re still underneath our record travelling figure set in 2010/11 when the squad covered an eye-watering 10,490 miles.