The fan who travelled 40,000km to watch the Palace!

It was the kind of scene which did Palace so proud in their debut European campaign last season – the unrivalled commitment, the almighty backing, and the pride of South London on full show across the continent.

It was fittingly repaid, in the end, as Palace went ‘on the way’ – all the way, in fact – to Conference League glory in Leipzig.

Among the scores of stories we received of generations’ pasts and generations’ pride, amidst Palace's journey to victory in Europe, was one truly remarkable feat… from Australia!

And while 250 miles to Merseyside is no easy trip, neither was the 40,000-plus kilometre journey which Palace supporter Phil Arr made – by motorbike – last season from Sydney to Selhurst Park.

Phil hails from Sydney, but has been a Palace fan since 2013 – just before the Eagles won promotion to the Premier League from the Championship – after discovering his sadly now passed grandmother was from South London.

He made a rather more direct journey to see Palace at Selhurst Park back in 2015, and then again – a little closer to home, in Melbourne and Perth – when Palace visited Australia on tour in 2022.

But in July 2024, he took the courageous decision to leave behind his everyday comforts and pursue his lifelong dream of riding his motorbike around the world – and, in his own words: “Framing it as a Sydney to Selhurst Park adventure made a lot of sense!

“It’s an idea I had in my early twenties. One of my good mates was like ‘we should ride our motorbikes from Sydney to London’ and I thought it was an amazing idea. Then, when I started following Palace, I thought Syndey to Selhurst was a dream, dream concept!

“For many years it was just a pipe dream, really, but then a few things happened in my life a few years ago which made things all line up, and made it possible… so I set off in July 2024 from Sydney, and it was wild!"

And so, packed up on his bike and ready to take on the world, the away day of a lifetime – well, home matchday, really, but not at that distance – ensued.

Funnily enough, there was always Palace at the heart of it, as Phil first travelled to Darwin, a northern city in Australia, with the intention of shipping his motorcycle across to East Timor.

“I met these four guys, and one of them – Chris – incredibly happened to grow up in Purley!” he laughed.

“We didn’t actually talk football until we got to East Timor, and he saw me wearing my Palace shirt in the garden of the backpackers’ we were staying in.

"He was like ‘no way’!”

The group rode through East Timor, and bumped into one another regularly travelling through Indonesia.

They also – by shouting out online – also found two Palace fans in Kuala Lumpur, Max and Gabriella, with whom to watch the FA Cup Final.

“It was an excellent night with them!” Phil laughs, sharing with us a video of him also bumping into a Manchester City shirt-wearing fan at 3am.

The two opposing fans have a laugh and shake hands, congratulating one another.

Phil's trip continued to be an epic, with travelling which also took him to China, Thailand, Pakistan, and eventually through the Middle East into Europe.

There were, inevitably on a journey of that magnitude, lows. Frequent mechanical problems – and the occasional bureaucratic issue – were topped by a big crash in northern Sumatra put Phil in hospital for a handful of days.

The doctor’s orders of no motorbike for three months did force him to return to Sydney for a few months last year to rehabilitate his shoulder. But that three-month gap in early 2025 aside, Phil’s odyssey continued unabated.

“I saw some incredible landscapes, some tropical beaches, lush green forests… the desert sands of the Arabian Peninsula, and some freezing cold mountain passes at 4,500 metres!

“And I met some amazing people. Maybe 100 people went out their way to help me in all sorts of ways – giving me directions, or help with the bike or flat tyres or logistical stuff at borders, or being translators for me…

“It’s given me a lot of faith in humanity and the inherent goodness of everyone in the world.”

He initially tried to see as much football as possible during his lengthy trip – the final of the East Timor Cup was his first match on the road, and then an Australia Under-23s match in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia at the Asian Cup.

But Phil couldn’t miss out on catching Palace in Europe and, free-spirited as ever, rode all the way to Athens before flying to Mostar to watch the Eagles’ first-ever knockout match in major European competition proper.

“That was amazing, amazing time,” he beamed. “I met up with a lovely Palace group there.

“The power of football – it’s amazing. Just wearing a football strip is such an opener to conversation and connection with people from all around the world, because they can see that you’re into football and, suddenly…!

“I’ve been travelling around the world by myself for 20 months, but there was always this connection. When I was with myself, mostly I’m talking to myself to be perfectly honest! But football always made it so easy to socialise, to talk to other human beings.

“It’s one of the most powerful social forces on the globe, I reckon.”

Then, in March 2026, some 20 months after first setting out, Phil and his bike – via a ferry from the Netherlands – reached London.

“I got into the UK at eight o’clock at night, and before I did anything, I wanted to come to Selhurst Park,” he smiled.

“I was freezing cold, but I knew I needed to get to the stadium. I got to Selhurst at 11 and had a little emotional breakdown!

“Arriving was, emotionally and symbolically, the end of a massive, massive adventure that was just a dream and a fantasy for so many years.

“It was a bit of pride, a bit of amazement, a bit of wonder, and looking back and seeing flashes of different people and places and things I’d seen…

“It was the most difficult and fascinating and challenging and frustrating and incredible and rewarding thing I’d ever done in my life – maybe ever will do in my life.”

Phil arrived at Selhurst Park on the night of Wednesday, 11th March – the evening before the Eagles were held to a 0-0 draw by AEK Larnaca in the Conference League Round of 16 first leg.

He was in attendance, too, four days later, when Palace were… well, held to a 0-0 draw by Leeds United at Selhurst Park.

But for Phil, it was both the journey and the destination which mattered most.

“There were moments in the last months particularly where I was like: ‘I'm done with this.’ I've run out of gas. The bike's falling apart. If you look at it closely, it's mostly got gaffer tape holding it together. The bolts are all coming out. The gaffer tape's holding the whole thing together. And I'm also falling apart as well.

“But when I got into the stadium for a game, I was like ‘oh my God, it’s real, I’m here!’

“I’d pictured it in my head. The games in Australia kick off, for most of the season, at 2am on a Sunday morning, so for 15 years that’s all I saw.

“But seeing it for myself, a place which is so magical to me, and which I’d seen on laptop screens for so many years…

"I was watching it with my own eyes and it was hard to put into words how special it was, the experience of being there.”

Phil managed to squeeze one final trip to Selhurst Park into his time in London – as he also caught Palace Women's vital 3-2 win over Charlton Athletic on their way to promotion last season.

"That was an awesome day - and the perfect way to finish my Sydney to Selhurst odyssey," he concludes.

He duly travelled back to Sydney… thankfully, this time, by flight. It's fair to say he had done his fair share – over 40,000 kilometres – of supporting Palace on the road.

His bike, meanwhile, ended up in a shipping container – "we were both pretty sick of each other by then!" he laughs – before joining him again all the way back in Sydney.

"I've very mixed feelings to be home, of course. It's so nice to be back with my beautiful partner and our cheeky cat. And of course seeing my friends and family has been great. Even being back at work hasn't been too bad!

"But I'd be lying if I don't occasionally fantasise about being back on the road again!"

There was still the small matter of watching Palace in a European Final, however. "I met up with the Palace Sydney Supporters crew – we were in the pub at 3:30am for the 4am kick-off!" he added.

"There must've been a hundred of us in there, it was incredible. Some tense moments before the goal, and then the win - and then the celebrations as the sun came up! Thank god I'd booked the day off work!

The commitment of the Palace family – the pride of South London – once again on show over land and sea...

And once again truly unrivalled.

Everton v Crystal Palace

• Saturday, 22nd August
• 15:00 BST
• Premier League
• Hill Dickinson Stadium
• Live audio commentary on Palace TV+.