When I were a lad...
We lived in the Cotswolds. I've no idea what time we got back from midweek games but I was certainly in school the next day. Just had to suck it up. It was worth it for games like Bristol City (the promotion match), Spora Luxemborg and Kaiserslauton and even the derby when we lost 3-1 at home to that lot (Bobby ******** Davision always scored against us whoever he played for).
However on Wednesday I have to be in the office in Poole until 1700. I could probably get away with 1600 but even then my chances of parking before 2045 are nil.