A 460-mile, 12-hour round trip to watch Oxford United's first game of the season on a Friday night has left hundreds of fans resigned to watching on TV while others take a day off work to follow their heroes.

United found out yesterday they will kick-off their 2008-9 campaign against newly-promoted Barrow, whose Holker Street ground lies 230 miles away in Cumbria.

The season is supposed to start on Saturday, August 9, but in an unprecedented move to accomodate TV, the game has been brought forward to the previous night.

Despite the distance, the fixture - the teams' first in almost 40 years - would have attracted a healthy number of fans from Oxford had it taken place on a Saturday afternoon.

But the kick-off at 7.30pm, ordered to allow satellite sports channel Setanta to televise the game, means supporters face battling up busy traffic on the M6 traffic to attend the game.

Andy Duffy, 39, from Botley, said the timing meant there was no chance he and his eight-year-old son would be able to travel.

He said: "It must be the furthest journey for us to make and we won't be playing at the same time as all the other teams. I'm not sure who makes these decisions but it just doesn't seem right.

"My parents live in Manchester and it can take me five hours to get there, and Barrow is a lot further north."

Lifelong fan Jamie French, 24, from Abingdon, said: "It could not have been worse for fans, but I suppose we shouldn't really be surprised after the way Setanta treated us last season, by moving games at short notice."

Season ticket-holder Michael Nevay, of Essex Street, East Oxford, said: "We always take a good following when it's a new ground - we could have taken 500-odd if it was on a Saturday - but it will be under half that now."

But not all fans are resigned staying at home to watch United in action on television.

Brothers Ryan and Carl Wells, from Berinsfield, said nothing would stop them following their team.

Ryan, 25, said: "It's shambolic. But we will be there, 100 per cent. My brother will drive, so there will definitely be at least four of us going up in his car.

"I'm lucky that I saved my holidays so I can get out of work, but not everyone can do that and the price of Setanta has gone up, so some fans could miss out."