In the last 100 matches of the 2023/2024 season in the Premier League, teams traveled by chartered plane 58 times to matches or on return trips. Only three of them – Crystal Palace, Fulham, and Luton Town – did not use a plane to get to their fixtures. Meanwhile, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Newcastle United were responsible for as many as 21 flights in the last 10 rounds of the season. This shows how varied the approaches to the carbon footprint issue are, though it could also be related to differences in club budgets. However, it is difficult to assess this situation without a fuller picture.

The most surprising transport-related decisions during this period were made by Aston Villa. One example is their flight to the match against Crystal Palace, which they lost 0-5. The distance covered by "The Villans" by plane was 209 km, while the estimated bus travel time was about 4 hours. Given that the players had to arrive at the airport earlier and account for travel time to the airport, it can be assumed that the time savings were only about one hour. Was it really worth saving just 2 hours (both ways), at the cost of damaging the fans’ trust?

Another decision by Aston Villa can be seen as poor management. For their Sunday match against Brighton, they flew out on Saturday and spent the night in London. The next day, the players flew from the same airport – London Gatwick Airport. Interestingly, after the match, they returned directly to Birmingham. Such decisions are hard to consider as examples of efficient time or resource management.

Some teams, like Bournemouth, also surprise with their transport choices. They chose to fly to Birmingham, even though it is only 270 km away, and the bus journey takes about 4 hours. The flight lasted 56 minutes, saving about an hour in each direction. However, does such a minimal time gain justify the carbon footprint generated by these decisions?

The examples mentioned above are only from the last 10 rounds of the season, while the entire season consists of 38 rounds. This means that the public is not able to catch all the controversial situations. However, it can be assumed that a deeper analysis would reveal more such cases.

The most scandalous example was Arsenal's flight in 2015 from Luton Airport to their match against Norwich City. The flight lasted only 14 minutes. Should we expect similar situations to happen again?

Why is this important? Growing awareness of climate change means the public is increasingly critical of situations in which football clubs choose apparent time savings over sustainable values. This issue extends beyond football to the entire sports world. For example, tennis – the 2024 WTA 1000 season consists of 10 tournaments in different parts of the world. Additionally, there are travels for training camps and team gatherings.

Should athletes consider their carbon footprint? In my opinion, yes! Should they aim for Net Zero? Absolutely! It is also worth offsetting CO2 emissions produced in the world of sports through actions such as tree planting or investing in renewable energy sources.