Sydney Supporters Clubs take Palace-Brighton rivalry down under

One of the more common questions Crystal Palace fans face – when it comes to discussing the Eagles’ biggest rivals, and given the two teams’ relative lack of proximity – is, of course: “Why Brighton?”

But whilst the fixture is often jovially referred to as ‘the A23 derby’ or ‘M23 derby’, it is one whose tradition extends far beyond just the hour’s drive separating Selhurst Park and the Amex Stadium.

Palace against Brighton has, in fact, reached the other side of the world – thanks to a recent charity match-up between the two teams’ respective Sydney Supporters’ Clubs.

Taking place on a Saturday afternoon in mid-February – but still in temperatures likely much higher than those in SE25 today – the game came about following a conversation between Lewis Dew, who co-runs the Palace group, and his friends.

Lewis was, in fact, South London born and raised – “a Bromley boy through and through,” he describes himself – and started supporting Palace as a four-year-old thanks to his Grandad.

At the age of 10, Lewis became a Season Ticket Holder, and attended Selhurst weekly right up until he moved to Australia in 2018.

“I wanted a bit of a change,” Lewis recalls. “I first came here in 2010 and loved it, but I just didn’t get the chance to move out here.

"But then I met my now wife, and she wanted to come to Australia to travel and study, so we said: ‘we’ll just see what happens.’ It’ll be seven years in July!

“We try to go back to England every year or 18 months to see our family, and we’ve got a baby on the way as well in August, so we’ll be taking them back for Christmas to meet the family – and to go to Selhurst Park as well!”

Lewis recalls fondly his own many years of sitting in the Arthur Wait – his first match being a Palace win over Sheffield United, and his personal highlight 2014's 'Crystanbul', which he says "among loads of good memories, will always stand out."

It was a passion which followed Lewis to the other side of the world: “When I first moved out here in 2018, my wife came across the Sydney Supporters’ Club on Facebook. It was started in 2010 by a guy called Jordan.

“At first, I just went to watch a few games with them. Kick-offs are terrible times here – they can be anything between midnight to 4.30am in the morning. The Fulham game in the FA Cup was 11.15pm – so not too bad, we can cope with those!

“We try to do at least five or six meet-ups a season to watch games, and once a year, we’ll get people together from all different states and all meet up.

“It gives you that bit of home. Obviously it’s my own choice to move over here, but you do get homesick, so it’s good to bump into people. One of the guys in the group grew up literally around the corner from me, but I never knew him from back home! We talk about our times at Selhurst, away days... that sort of thing.

“We’ve got quite a good little community. Nationwide there could be a few hundred of us – most of us are from Bromley, Croydon, those sorts of areas. Sydney’s probably got most of us. About 40 or 50 of us here have a WhatsApp group, and we chat daily.

"You wake up in the morning and, if you haven’t watched a Palace game, there’ll be hundreds of messages about it!”

What, then, led to Palace taking on Brighton in Sydney? “It apparently used to happen before I moved here,” Lewis, who now co-runs the group, explains.

“We used to play them yearly, but the last one was about eight years ago, and then it just sort of dropped off.

“From what I’d been told, we’d never beaten them – so a few of us got the idea to reignite that flame, see if we could start a match-up again, and make it a yearly thing.

“A friend called Seany made contact with one of the Brighton guys in their Sydney fan club, and we got some players together. I organised getting the players together, and a pitch and linesmen. Seany organised a barbecue and beers afterwards. And my friend Jimmy was making things for social media and promoting it.

“On the day, it was roasting hot – 27 or 28 degrees. We played on AstroTurf, so your feet were cooking! There was no shade at all. We had 20 players in our team – roll on, roll off subs, literally rolling off for some of us! – and a lot of people turned up to watch.

“We were 2-0 up by half-time – we battered them first-half, possession-wise. They put on a few youngsters in the second-half, and our old boys were struggling, so they pulled one back to make it 2-1. But we managed to win 4-1!

“After the game, we all showered up, went for a few drinks and had something to eat – Seany's dad did a barbecue for everyone. It was a good day out, really.”

And for a fantastic cause, as Lewis explains: “We covered our costs and everything that was left over, which was around $1,000, we put towards a men’s mental health charity out here called Mr Perfect.

“I personally struggled myself with mental health about a year ago. Men’s mental health doesn’t get ignored, but we don’t really talk about our feelings too much. It’s good to put the charity out there because they do a lot for men, so it’s good to give something back.”

So having enjoyed their own win over Brighton, will Lewis and Palace’s Sydney Supporters’ Club be watching from afar today?: “It’s a 1am kick-off for us!” he laughs. “We normally try and do meet-ups for Brighton games if we can, but 1am is hard...

“But it’d be nice if we can get a 4-1 win – and keep our tradition going!”

You can find out more about the Sydney Supporters’ Club on Facebook.

You can also find out more about, and donate to, Mr Perfect by clicking here.

Got a Selhurst story to tell? Let us know by emailing selhurst100@cpfc.co.uk !