THE new League of Ireland season gets underway this Friday when Galway United travel the first of what will amount to almost 7,000kms over the season with a trip to the north-west to take on Finn Harps in Ballybofey (8pm).

It sounds like a lot, but the total distance of two return trips to each ground from Eamonn Deacy Park is still around 880kms – or 550 miles in ‘old money’ – less than the journeys United would have had to face if they were in the top-flight this season at the expense of UCD, who stayed up via the play-offs last season.

The fact that John Caulfield’s side are on what feels like yet another Discover Ireland tour – and one with the new stop of Mounthawk Park in Tralee thrown in this year – is what gives the season ahead a daunting look to it in terms of travel.

It is far easier – and appealing – to make trips to Dalymount Park, Tolka Park, Richmond Park, and Tallaght Stadium in Dublin than it is to be facing trips to Ballybofey in the north-west, Cobh and Tralee in the south-west, and Waterford and Wexford in the south-east.

It is what it is, and if United want the pleasure of motorway driving with the most taxing stops being those of toll booths, rather than having to negotiate busy Friday evening traffic in the likes of Birr and Thurles and Charleville, then finally getting out of the First Division after a six-season stint is what is needed.

They were tipped as favourites last year but after a promising start to the season, they suffered a bit of a mid-campaign wobble, before the wheels completely came off near the end when they finished the regular league season with just one win in their final nine league games.

“Winning the league is what we are trying to achieve,” the United manager told Tribune Sport this week. “We dropped far too many points in the run-in last year, and we hit a run of bad form at a bad time.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.

Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App

Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.

Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.

Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite  HERE.

Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.