Tradition counts for nothing in the league where playing away puts you on a winner

Flying club colours out of the car window has never been such fun. Fans are travelling in expectation more than hope. And winning away has become a necessity to offset the indifferent home form afflicting the majority of clubs.

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The statistics are compelling. In more than 167,000 matches since the Football League opened for business in 1888 the historical ratio is 2.24 home wins for every away win. Yet in League Two this season there have been 180 away wins but only 168 home wins.

Only nine teams out of 24 have more home victories than away triumphs. Of those, only three — Wycombe, Shrewsbury and Notts County — have matched the historical ratio.

The fixture list on February 2 saw nine teams win on their travels. On three other occasions this season, eight away wins have been recorded on the same day.

Now consider this: prior to August, eight away wins in the same division on the same day had previously only ever occurred nine times.

So what has created this phenomenon? Why has the division decided to reverse the laws of football nature? Where better to start than with the away-day specialists. Promotion-chasing Stockport registered an eighth successive away win with their 1-0 triumph at Lincoln on Saturday — another league record. According to manager Jim Gannon, superstition and confidence can only account for so much.

Gannon said: 'The 11 games we've played in our away strip of gold shirts this season we have won. So, superstitiously, we're playing all the away games in the gold shirts now.

'But it's not just down to that. At home, we've got a tight, poor pitch that doesn't suit our style of football. A lot of teams have come and tried to play on the counter-attack, stubborn teams looking for a draw. When we play away from home, we keep our same principles, but the better, bigger pitches help our expansive football.'

Gannon believes another contributing factor is the changing nature of the supporter. Fans now want results for their money and unconditional support is on the wane.

'The atmosphere at the grounds now isn't as partisan as it used to be,' he said. 'There are very few places we've gone to this season where the fans have really got behind the home team. It's a little bit more demanding now.'

Stockport's is not the only remarkable sequence. Until Saturday's 3-2 defeat at Darlington, Grimsby had not been beaten away from Blundell Park in the league since November 6, but lost five times at home in the same period.

Rochdale played four successive away games in January and won the lot, including victories at high-flying Wycombe, Chesterfield and MK Dons. Keith Hill's side have won 11 of their past 16 on the road, a sequence he explains by pointing to his players' attitude.

Hill said: 'We play with an attacking formation and without fear. I have always said that unless you are prepared to go away and win, there is no point getting on the coach. There is an equal opportunity to win any game, be it home or away.'

If second-bottom Mansfield were as efficient at Field Mill as they are on their travels, they wouldn't be fighting relegation.

Dagenham & Redbridge boss John Still backs the theory about the rising expectation on home teams, but his unromantic explanation may be most pertinent. 'Maybe it's just a freak year, one of those things,' he said.