Mile, marriage & Mateta: Matt's decade as an Eagle

I became a Crystal Palace tragic on 23rd November, 2014. It’s an easy date to remember, trust me.

I was living in Western Sydney in Australia at the time and our Socceroos (our beloved national football team) had just participated in the 2014 FIFA World Cup – the lowest FIFA-ranked country in attendance.

We didn’t win a game in our ‘Group of Death’ (Spain, Chile & Netherlands!), but that didn’t matter. We were in the World Cup – and it was awesome.

I remember watching Mile Jedinak taking a brilliant penalty against the Netherlands and hearing the commentator talking about how he captained a Premier League team, Crystal Palace.

I went straight to Google, read about the Eagles’ amazing history, and waited patiently until the moment I could finally watch a game.

That moment came about on 23rd November, 2014, when Palace hosted Liverpool at Selhurst Park. What do you think the chances would have been that Mile Jedinak would score one of the greatest free-kicks in the history of the Premier League on that very night? Pretty good, as it turned out!

From that moment on, the mighty Crystal Palace was my team.

I even travelled over 500 miles from Sydney to Melbourne to watch them take on Manchester United at the glorious Melbourne Cricket Ground in July 2022 – the same trip on which I proposed to my now wife, Morgan.

Fast forward to 2023, and my (soon-to-be) wife and I were not only planning our wedding, but also our honeymoon, of course.

We decided that London would be our first stop on our way through to Scotland and, as luck would have it, we found out we would be there at the same time Leicester City were visiting Selhurst Park on 1st April 2023.

I never thought I’d watch the Eagles at Selhurst, but Morgan decided that we should try and get there – we may never get another chance, after all! After becoming a Gold Member to make sure I could purchase tickets, at 10pm Sydney time, I managed to snag us some.

Morgan and I married on 25th March 2023, and three days later jumped on a plane to London to enjoy our honeymoon. April came around fast and Morgan and I – dressed in our Palace best – boarded a train at Liverpool Street Station and headed to SE25.

As the train started to fill with a sea of blue and red, it was hard to hide my excitement – even though we hadn’t won in 13 matches at that point!

I didn’t care – we were almost there! We followed the crowd through the streets and then, like an oasis in the South London desert, there it was: Selhurst Park.

We found our seats, wide-eyed, and soaked in the atmosphere. The players ran onto the pitch and the singing started. It was absolutely incredible – there’s no sound like it in any football stadium in Australia.

The game kicked off – and Morgan and I were entranced.

This is where things get a little blurry for me, as the game was a whirlwind. I can’t confirm that I cursed him, but I hope wearing my Wilfried Zaha jersey had nothing to do with the groin injury which finished Wilf’s afternoon at half-time. I remember Morgan turning to me and saying: “We’re in trouble now, aren’t we?”

Leicester scored first, almost an hour in, and I thought that on potentially my only ever visit to Selhurst Park, I’d be seeing another loss.

Then, maybe three minutes later, Ebere Eze won a free-kick and took it – snagging us a goal back as it bounced off the woodwork, and then the ‘keeper, for a (technically) Daniel Iversen own goal. As if by magic, Morgan managed to snap a picture just as the ball crossed the line! We were back at 1-1 with 20 minutes to go.

Then, a moment I will never forget: Jean-Philippe Mateta’s winner in the 94th minute.

After getting subbed on less than 10 minutes earlier, Mateta controlled a brilliant ball from a rampaging Jordan Ayew and slotted it past Iversen, giving Palace our first win in 14 games.

Selhurst Park exploded with noise. We could feel the stand sway as the crowd jumped and chanted, Roy Hodgson was hailed in his first game back, and we got swept up in the moment.

It was magic.

Here I was at Selhurst Park with my wife, on our honeymoon, watching Crystal Palace win in person – nearly a decade after I first fell in love with them from the other side of the world.

When we got back to our hotel in Central London, there was only one thing left to do: wear my brand new Selhurst jumper, and head out for a celebratory beer or five with my beautiful wife.

I hope someday I’ll be able to get back to Selhurst Park and watch the Eagles again, but will it ever be as special as the 1st April 2023, whilst on honeymoon?

It’ll be a hard act to follow, but we’re willing to take another 27-hour flight sometime soon to make sure!

Got a Selhurst story to tell? Let us know by emailing selhurst100@cpfc.co.uk, and you could see your submission in the official matchday programme!