Gills manager Peter Taylor is hoping his team’s performances on the road can help raise a smile for their travel-weary fans.

The Gills face several long journeys next season as the likes of Fleetwood, Rochdale, Scunthorpe and Barnsley join League 1 for the new campaign.

Gillingham’s fans will have to cover over 8,000 miles next season following their team – an average of about 350 miles per away game.

“We’ve been unlucky,” said Taylor, reflecting on the number of northern teams either winning promotion or being relegated into League 1.

“With the amount of northern teams that have gone up or down, it is an extra test for the supporters but hopefully we can get some slightly better performances and results, so that they enjoy their days out even more.”

Gillingham’s only ‘local’ games will be against Leyton Orient, Crawley and Colchester, but fortunately two of those matches are being played over the holiday periods next season.

The Gills start the season with a relatively short trip to MK Dons but even the Capital One Cup wasn’t kind on the fans. They face a 340-mile midweek round trip to Yeovil.

There are currently four Tuesday night away matches for fans to look forward to in 2015, including trips to Chesterfield and Preston.