Jonathan Parr on going from Norway to South London, Wardy and Wilf, and Europe

This interview originally appeared in the Crystal Palace v Fredrikstad matchday programme. You can shop for programmes by clicking HERE.

He might have only been a Palace player for three seasons – but Jonathan ‘Jonny’ Parr sees only smiles whenever he returns to Selhurst Park.

Part of the promotion class of 2012/13, Oslo-born Parr – an energetic, accomplished full-back – made his breakthrough with a handful of local clubs, before debuting in Norway’s Tippeligaen – now Eliteserien, the topflight – with Lyn in April 2006.

Parr’s early promise earned him a move to Aalesunds FK at the beginning of the 2007 season, where he would win not only his senior international debut against Montenegro, but two Norwegian Cup titles.

Then, at just 22 years of age, Parr joined Palace in 2011 – and quickly became an instant regular in the side at left-back. Such was the impact he made, the defender won Player of the Season in his first year at the club, helping the Eagles to reach the League Cup semi-finals – including playing in the famous quarter-final win over Manchester United at Old Trafford.

The following season, after nailing down his place on the left side of defence early in the campaign, he continued to show great versatility and commitment to the cause, often deputising on the right flank when required.

His season ended in disappointing fashion with injury in April, but Parr’s 38 league games proved crucial in powering Palace towards the Championship play-offs, where his team clinched a ground-breaking promotion – one from which the club has never looked back, and indeed gone on to reach new trophy-winning heights.

Recalling his role in Palace’s formative stages on this most spectacular of journeys, Parr could scarcely hide his excitement at the prospect of bringing his family along to join his fellow Eagles in the away end at Fredrikstad this week...

Jonny, great to catch up with you! How are you, and what are you up to at the moment?

I’m good, thanks! It’s now been three-and-a-half years since I retired from football and co-founded a company in Norway.

We now have close to 100 employees, dealing in used cars – similar to Cazoo in the UK in the beginning. We’re a Norwegian version of that. I’m Chief Growth Officer – that’s my title. It’s something completely different!

But I still watch a lot of football and keep an eye on my old teams, hoping that they do well. It’s been very fun to see Crystal Palace do so well over such a long period and, of course, with the Cup win last season, and the Community Shield now, it’s a great time… so I’m looking forward to seeing them in Europe as well!

How did you get into your new venture?

Yeah, I ask myself that question a lot! I always studied alongside my football career, so before I’d stopped playing, I had also finished a Master’s degree in Economics & Finance.

During the last part of my career, I started looking at what I was going to do after football, and maybe by accident – or just by coincidence – I met up with a group who were starting a new company.

I got to know them, got involved, and just jumped all in with it!

It’s been fun to start a new business, and to build it up from scratch. There are a lot of similarities to football: competing, trying to achieve goals, always improving… a lot of the things that I loved doing during my football career.

I ended up in cars a little bit by accident, but I always wanted to create something. It’s been a really interesting and fun three-and-a-half years, going from two employees to 85. We’re now one of the largest used car platforms in Norway, so it’s gone really well.

I don’t really know how I ended up here, but I’m very glad that I did!

With Palace heading to Norway, let’s go back to the start of your footballing career...

I played for Lyn for one season and then, when I was 17, I moved to Aalesunds, which is where my family is from, on the west coast of Norway.

They were a newly-promoted team at the time and we did really well over the four-and-a-half seasons I was there, winning the Cup twice, finishing high in the league, and playing in the qualifying rounds for Europe.

Of course, I always had the dream to move abroad. Growing up in Norway, we watched a lot of English football, and the Premier League was the main target. So when I had the chance to go to Palace, who were then in the Championship, with plans to get into the Premier League…

I was very excited to hear of their interest. I had made my debut for the national team the year before, so I knew there had been some interest from different clubs, but I was just eager myself to take the next step and move abroad to a different league, and a new challenge.

How did your move to South London come about?

The first time I heard about Crystal Palace being interested was when Steffen Iversen, who was playing there then, called me. I think I was at the hairdressers at the time!

He called me and said: ‘The Manager [Dougie Freedman] said he’s interested in you – what are your thoughts on coming over and playing for Palace?’ I thought: ‘Yes’!

We started talking, and then I went over to have a chat with Dougie. It just seemed like a really exciting project. The club had just been through some tough times, almost getting relegated after some financial problems – but Steve Parish and the other owners had come in, and they had a vision of the club that they wanted to build.

It was a vision I knew immediately I wanted to be a part of.

How big a change was it, moving to South London at just 22?

A big one!

At the time, I was living in Ålesund, which is a small town on the west coast of Norway. If you Google it, you’ll find beautiful pictures of a small town, where just 55,000 people live.

At our home matches, we’d sell out every game with just 11,000 people at the stadium! It was special in its own way.

But of course, moving to London and playing for Crystal Palace was a big step. It helps that in Norway we learn English in school as a second language, so that part of it was okay.

I could travel over and was able to speak with people and understand – and Norway and England are quite similar in terms of culture – but it was a big move for me.

There were a lot of big characters in that team – how did you find going into the dressing room?

It was a good group that had built up there over the years.

I must say Paddy McCarthy, who was the captain at the time when I came over, was brilliant at getting everyone together and bringing the new players in. As a young lad coming from a different country, he was great in getting me into the group and helping me settle in, so he was very important to the dressing room.

David Wright was there. He was the same type of character – a bit older than me, but he had a lot of experience and helped me to adapt to my new surroundings.

And then, of course, Wilfried Zaha was there, [Nathaniel] Clyney was there, and [Joel] Wardy came one year after me – we became close when he arrived.

Wilf was my roommate for a long time, and I was close with him – he was a fun guy!

But overall, it was a great team, and a great club, to be honest – not just the players, but the people around the club as well. For example, [Club Secretary] Christine Dowdeswell was always there, helping me get sorted with different stuff when I came over.

It was a really good move, and I felt welcome and supported all the time I was at the club. I really look back at my time playing for Palace as the highlight of my career – it was a truly great time.

Fast forward over a decade, then, and what was it like seeing Joel lift the FA Cup at Wembley earlier this year?

It was amazing! For Joel to have been there for over a decade, and then to be able to lift a trophy at the end… it was simply meant to be.

I’m happy for him, and for the career he went on to have at Palace. I’m happy, of course, for the club as well, and how it’s developed and kept on investing in the Academy and building the structure around the club to make it a solid Premier League team. It’s great to see how the whole club has developed over the last 10 years.

I’m happy to have played my part in the promotion, particularly after a time it had almost come into some trouble, but these days, I’m just proud to watch the club. It was fun to win a trophy last season, win the Community Shield – and now, this year, play in Europe!

It’s been some great months to be a Crystal Palace supporter.

Speaking of Europe, what should Palace supporters expect from Fredrikstad?

I would say that the style of play in Norway is a little bit similar to that in England, but maybe the quality is a few steps behind. Fredrikstad are historically a big club in Norway.

They have won a lot of league titles and cups, but their last years have also not been great. They have been down to the First Division [the second tier] in Norway, and even down to the Second Division.

In Norway, it’s only the top two divisions that are professional, so when they went down to the third level, Fredrikstad were kind of semi-professional for a while. It was only in 2020 they won promotion back to the First Division – and then, last year, they finished sixth in Eliteserien (the top-flight) and won the Norwegian Cup, which was their ticket into Europe.

If I had to predict the result, I’d suspect that Crystal Palace will be a bit too tough an opponent for Fredrikstad… but every game has to be played, and anything can happen, so you never know.

Personally, I think – and hope – that Crystal Palace will go onto the group stages, and will have a good run in Europe.

And will you be joining us in Norway?

Yes – I have to! It’s rare that I get the chance to go to London to watch Palace play – and Fredrikstad is only one-and-a-half hours away from where I live in Oslo!

I’m definitely going to go with my family, watch the game, and support my team. I can’t be patriotic this time and support the Norwegian team – I have to support Crystal Palace, hopefully having already played a good first leg at Selhurst Park.

I’ll definitely be there!

Match Details

Fredrikstad v Crystal Palace

• Thursday, 28th August
• 17:00 BST
• UEFA Conference League play-off round, second leg
• Nye Fredrikstad Stadion
• Live on Palace TV+