The UK is a nation best known for its royal family, afternoon tea, red telephone boxes, double-decker buses, and the loyalty of its football fans. UK football fans' loyalty knows no bounds when supporting their favourite team, whether they're playing at a local stadium like Stamford Bridge or The Emirates or playing thousands of miles away.

On average, football fans travel an estimated 1,970 miles per Premier League season, with most supporters willing to rack up hundreds of additional miles to watch their favourite teams play. However, a car is considered the most cost-effective transportation method for most football fans, with fans sharing the cost of petrol and taking turns driving. Yet other popular transport options include coaches and trains when making long-distance journeys.

Despite these transport methods being standard, travelling can be highly tedious, whether squeezed in-between two others in the back of your friend's car or stretched out in first-class seats on a train. Therefore, just as you would plan your packing list and itinerary, you should also find the time to plan a few activities to prevent you from getting bored while travelling. To make this easier, here are a few ideas to stay entertained while travelling to a Manchester United away game.

Make A Playlist
Creating a great playlist to listen to is necessary for many travellers since it can significantly impact the experience and influence everyone's moods. When creating your playlist, ensure that you include a mixture of songs/artists that everyone will enjoy; you may want to have a mix of upbeat songs with softer ones so that it will inspire different moods and energies throughout the trip.

For instance, softer music will help you wind down for the evening, whereas upbeat music will help to hype you up for the exciting times ahead. If you're travelling as part of a large group, you could consider taking it in turns to control the music and having a sing-along to all the tunes that appear on the playlist.

You could consider incorporating some of the best classic football songs to excite you for the game ahead. What avid football fan doesn't get roused by Baddiel, Skinner, and Lightning Seeds' Three Lions'? Understandably, not all football songs are pieces of lyrical genius, yet you cannot deny that some anthems are useful for uplifting, rousing, and encouraging teams to play better.

Online Gaming
While this isn't a feasible option if you've found yourself in the driver's seat, for passengers or drivers, having a quick rest at a service station, playing online games on your mobile device or tablet is a great way to pass the time. Regardless of the type of games you prefer, most online gaming sites have a variety of games suited to even the pickiest gamer.

From first-person shooting games to internet casinos, the worldwide web has many online games for individuals to take advantage of while travelling. One such game for alleviating travel boredom is online casino games. There are thousands of internet casinos offering traditional casino games like blackjack, poker and roulette and modern games like variations of bingo, sports-related, and many more.

Playing these games is not only suitable for taking your mind off the distance of travel remaining but also allows you to win large jackpots and have bonuses or offers for new players. Explore the range of casinos on the internet by browsing independent review sites like OnlineCasinos, which specialise in producing trustworthy, reputable reviews about all of the major online casino sites in the UK. Consider visiting their site to discover new games and get the latest news and advice about online gambling today.

Listen To Podcasts
If you can't settle on a playlist that all your travelling companions like, why not try listening to podcasts? As well as being an excellent way to pass the time until you arrive at your destination, podcasts are great for learning something new or exploring more about a topic you are interested in. Like online gaming, you can find podcasts on all sorts of subjects from nonfiction narrative podcasts, interview or conversational podcasts, hybrid podcasts, and scripted fiction podcasts.

If you need inspiration and have a couple of hours, you need killing. You could consider listening to some of the best-rated true crime podcasts, which can tap into your ever-growing fascination with true-crime cases from the spine-chilling to the downright bizarre. Some of the most downloaded true crime podcasts are They Walk Among Us, Criminal, RedHanded, Murder Mile etc., which you can pick up and leave as you choose.

One of the most valuable things about listening to podcasts is that you can download episodes onto your phone for casual viewing, much like movies or TV series. So if you're worried about your data consumption before starting your journey, you could download a couple or more episodes onto your phone to start watching as soon as you leave your house.

Catch Up On Work
A slightly more boring option, but an effective one nonetheless, is dedicating your hours spent travelling to catching up on some work. This is not one of the most exciting ways to prepare for the upcoming Manchester United game. Still, we're sure you'll thank yourself later when you arrive at the stadium and can knock back a couple of beers with your friends without nagging or intrusive thoughts about work.

Granted, this might not be the most feasible time occupier if you're travelling in the back of your friend's car with two others on either side. But, if you're travelling via coach or train, you might be more productive when you're out of the office. Whether you spend the extra couple of hours working towards an upcoming deadline, catching up on emails, or researching your next project – any time spent working is better than none.

Providing that you're travelling to the football game by yourself, you might find that you're more productive since you're not surrounded by the distractions you would be if you were working from home or the office. So although it might not be the most engaging activity on our list – don't disregard catching up on work as an option!