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.”
