According to the AA, the distance between Stoke and Portsmouth is 201 miles with a driving time of 3 hours 27 mins.
Well not according to this although it would depend on the routing involved.
Distance from Stoke-on-trent to Portsmouth in miles and Kilometers - Stoke-on-trent Great Britain to Portsmouth Great Britain distances between calculation
But assuming the 201 miles and time to cover that distance is correct, I wonder how long it took to travel down to Portsmouth via East Midlands and Eastleigh including all of the required formalities and whether the additional costs and time (if this were indeed the case) were worth the effort as I suspect overall it would have been quicker by a direct route by road and even faster by train.
I would imagine that when the club was in the lower divisions, the road or rail journey would have likely been the only options, however, the Premiership and all of the money that is awash in the league allows a more seemingly luxurious mode of transport to away games.