The sponsors of one of English football’s lower-league trophies have rated and ranked the best cars for the away-day journey in football.
The Leasing.com Trophy, aka the EFL Trophy sees teams from League One and League Two joined by the U23 teams from some of the Premier League’s biggest clubs. And while perhaps not the most glamourous of competitions, last year’s Wembley final attracted a bumper crowd for the game between eventual winners, Portsmouth, and Sunderland. It’s likely that you might be able to fit the entire away support in one car for some fixtures - Salford City versus Port Vale hardly gets the pulse racing.
So which five cars did Leasing.com choose?
Top of the league was the Audi A5 which was described as perfect for away journeys: “If you foresee spending a lot of time in your car, Audi have made that feel less of a burden and more of an enticement to go the extra mile just so you can spend a little longer in the vehicle,” said the comparison website.
Another car which will bump up the crowd if full is the Seat Tarraco, the roomy SUV even has a suggested formation: “Versatility is the key here, and like the tinkerman himself Claudio Rannieri, you can switch your passengers or seat set-up around at the service station or for the drive back from the match.”
The Skoda Superb is another big car: “you and your mates will have no complaints going up and down the country. It’s a cavernous car, with a segment-leading 660-litres of cargo space and it doesn’t skimp on rear-passenger leg room either – no joke, they’ll feel like they’re sat in the back of a limo with its big windows and spacious footwells.”
There’s an MPV on the list too, the Citroen C4 Grand Spacetourer has plenty of options: “The middle row slides forward so those in the third row can sit in relative albeit cramped comfort if there’s two adults back there. Again, depending on which mates annoy you, it’s entirely up to the driver what formation your passengers take in the car.”
Finally, the Volvo XC60 has already collected plenty of silverware in the last two years, including the 2018 World Car of the Year. It’s perfect for those long motorway journeys: “Considering the XC60’s weight, it also delivers impressive acceleration making it a capable motorway machine and ideal for travelling up and down the M6 or M1.”