ORLANDO, FL – It’s Rivalry Week in Major League Soccer. And naturally, that means Vancouver Whitecaps FC are set to face … Orlando City SC.
Wait, what?
Yup, the ‘Caps go head-to-head with the Lions on Saturday night in Orlando (4:30 p.m. PT on TSN2 and TSN 1410 radio), continuing a rivalry that goes all the way back to 2015. A long history that includes all of two meetings to date – a ‘Caps win and a draw.
All joking aside, this is the longest trip Vancouver will make this season (and that includes their visit to Monterrey, Mexico in the CONCACAF Champions League).
The distance from the Vancouver International Airport (YVR) to the Orlando International Airport (MCO) is 4,227 kilometres (or 2,627 miles). When we’re talking about going from Point A to Point B, not taking into account any connecting flights, it’s the second longest possible trip in MLS.
The longest? San Jose to Boston at 4,320 kilometres (or 2,684 miles).
For now, at least. Vancouver's trip to Miami, if/when they get an MLS team, would take the cake at 4,508 kilometres (2,801 miles).
The trips listed above are further than some English Premier League teams travel in an entire season. In 2016/2017, for example, Arsenal FC, Watford FC, Stoke City FC, Leicester City FC, and West Bromwich Albion FC each travelled fewer than 4,180 kilometres (2,600 miles).
All this got us thinking … what is the longest away trip in a top-tier domestic league worldwide?
We can’t say for certain, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a further distance between two clubs in the same league than the 8,758 kilometres (5,442 miles) between Zenit St. Petersburg and FC-SKA Khabarovsk in the Russian Premier League.
Orlando doesn’t seem so bad after all.
Kickoff for Saturday’s match is set for 4:30 p.m. PT on TSN2 and TSN 1040. The ‘Caps will then return to BC Place for four straight home matches in the month of September (tickets available at whitecapsfc.com/tickets).
