Teams Flying Out to Away Games

A squad of twelve fits, on paper, into a couple of Minibuses by seat count alone — but kit bags, boot bags and any team equipment often push the actual luggage load well past what headcount alone suggests. Work out the luggage first: how many kit bags, how many personal bags, anything oversized like a goalkeeper's bag or team equipment cases.

Standard, Electric and Business cars carry 4 passengers with a 6-unit luggage budget (2 large bags + 2 cabin bags, or 4 cabin bags); SUV / XL carries 6 with 10 units and up to 4 large cases; Minibus carries 8 with an 18-unit budget and room for up to 8 large cases. A squad's real constraint is usually the luggage total, so plan the number of vehicles around that figure rather than dividing players evenly and hoping the bags fit.

For a large squad, two or three cars booked for the same pickup time and address, staggered a few minutes apart if the pickup point gets crowded, generally works better than trying to force everyone into the fewest possible vehicles. Coaches and support staff with laptops and lighter bags can go in a smaller car; players with full kit bags are better placed in the Minibus or SUV category.

Mention the total headcount and a rough luggage count in your booking notes for each car so we can confirm capacity before the day, rather than finding out kit doesn't fit at pickup.

Book with a company receipt selected so the documents go to the club rather than to whichever individual happened to book. If you're booking several cars for the same trip, each is its own booking with its own receipt — using the same club name and details on every one makes it simpler for the treasurer to reconcile the whole trip.

Booking two or three cars for the same time and address works best when whoever's organising the trip has a single point of contact for all the driver details, rather than each traveller managing their own booking separately. Have one person collect the driver names, phone numbers and licence plates for every car and share them with the group, so anyone can identify the right vehicle regardless of who booked it.

If the squad's departure needs to be staggered — an early car for players with equipment to check in, a later one for staff with lighter bags — say so in the booking notes for each car so the pickup times are set correctly from the start rather than adjusted after the fact.

Away-game travel often runs on a tighter schedule than a normal business trip, especially if the squad needs to be at the destination in time for a training session or an official arrival. Give yourself margin for the airport steps that come with a large group and a lot of kit — check-in and bag-drop for a squad's worth of luggage generally takes longer than for a handful of individual travellers, so plan the pickup time with that in mind rather than a standard individual allowance.