Whitehaven will set an unusual new British rugby league record this weekend when they head to Cornwall for Sunday’s Betfred League One clash.
The trip from the West Cumbria coast to Penryn in England’s most westerly county will see Haven rack up 470 miles to get to their destination – that’s a 940-mile round trip – by coach.
The length of the journey is believed to be a British professional rugby league record for a league fixture between two clubs in the same country and places a significant financial burden on part-time Whitehaven, who almost went out of business in 2024.
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Nevertheless, head coach Anthony Murray sees the positive side.
“There is considerable cost for each club to go down there, but it’s just one of those things if you want to develop the game outside the M62 corridor,” Murray told the Press Association.
“It’s a proper commitment, but you accept it and get on with it.
“I’m all for it. It’s a really good weekend and the fans down there can make it quite an intimidating place.
“The lads get the opportunity to spend a full weekend together and feel like professionals for a few days.”
Whitehaven’s journey does, at least, include a stopover at a hotel in Truro on the Saturday night, although they will have been on the road since 7am in the morning and are not set to get back to Cumbria until the early hours of Monday which will necessitate taking a day off work for many players and staff.
Sunday’s clash at the Memorial Ground marks the first time the teams have met following Haven’s relegation from the Betfred Championship last year, and Cornwall, who joined League One three years ago, are set to make the return trip on June 15.
Murray’s men are currently fifth in League One with two wins from three games after beating Rochdale Hornets 24-20 at home last Sunday, while Mike Abbott’s side notched up their first League One win of the year last weekend as they beat Newcastle Thunder, who had undertaken a 464-mile trip, 32-22.
Betfred Super League clubs who have to travel to Perpignan at least once a season to play Catalans Dragons face a longer trip in terms of mileage, but can be in the south of France in a relatively short space of time thanks to flying.
To put it into context, Whitehaven’s 10-hour coach trip to Cornwall is the around the same amount of time it took Wigan Warriors and Warrington Wolves to fly to Las Vegas for their match at Allegiant Stadium earlier this month.
Haven’s Cornish epic still falls short of what is believed to be the longest road trip for a league fixture undertaken in British professional sport though.
That came in speedway’s Premier League in 2001, when Berwick Bandits made the 505-mile journey from the England-Scotland border to another Cornish outfit in the now-defunct Trelawny Tigers – a round trip which broke the 1,000-mile barrier.
