Sunderland fans set to face most expensive Christmas of all Premier League supporters

The Black Cats face two Premier League trips to Lancashire over the Christmas period.

David Moyes’ side take on Manchester United at Old Trafford on Boxing Day, before travelling to Turf Moor to face Burnley on New Year’s Eve.

According to research by the Football Supporters’ Federation (FSF) and Virgin Media, the average Sunderland supporter travelling to both games will have to fork out £174.74 on tickets, transport and food.

They will also travel an average of 528 miles, spending over 12 hours getting to and from the matches.

The Sunderland figures are comfortably higher than those Stoke City supporters – second on the list – are set to face.

Potters fans, who will see their team take on Liverpool and Chelsea in away fixtures, are set to pay £150.16 each and travel for almost 10-and-a-half-hours, covering 453 miles, according to the figures.

Both of those set of statistics are higher than the numbers facing the average Premier League fan.

The average travelling supporter should expect to pay £148.29 travelling over nine-and-a-half-hours, covering about 438 miles.

Away tickets in the Premier League are currently capped at £30, but the FSF’s ‘Twenty’s plenty’ campaign is calling on clubs to drop that further.

Kevin Miles, chief executive of the FSF, said: “These figures highlight the dedication and devotion shown by away supporters who travel the length and breadth of the country to follow their teams.

“Away fans are vital in bringing colour and noise to our football stadiums, and clubs and sponsors can and should do more in making football more affordable at a time when more money is coming in to the top of the game than ever before.

“They shouldn’t take away fans for granted.”