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He’s traveled more than 12,000km, racked up a bill in nearly five figures and watched his beloved Socceroos make history in Qatar, but just six words sum up Julian Farrell’s wonderful World Cup journey.
‘Jesus, we’re on the fucking telly.’
It was at that moment, as Australia were trying to come back from a 2-1 deficit against France that the camera panned to the 49-year-old Melbourne security guard, with the resulting footage plastered all over social media after the match at Al-Wakrah.
Socceroos fan who went viral at World Cup opens up about his experience in Qatar
Fans were in stitches at Julian’s glazed, surprised expression as he stared up at the big screen. On TikTok, the six-second clip has been liked more than 400,000 times, and the enormity of that moment only hit him the next day.
“I was getting message after message,” Julian tells Daily Mail Australia of the reaction to his viral clip.
‘I received messages from people all over the world, everywhere. Probably one in two people I meet in Australia told me, “You just went viral in Australia.” Even Gary Lineker liked it too.’
The nature of his reaction inevitably gave rise to widespread speculation: had he lied to his partner about being in Qatar? Or his boss?
Julian Farrell made headlines around the world with his ‘shit, we’re on fucking telly’ outburst.
The Melbourne security guard, 49, has explained the reason for his reaction
“No, everyone knew that he was going to Qatar,” he clarifies. “My partner knew I was going to Qatar, so to hear all these people say ‘oh, your wife doesn’t know’ or ‘your boss doesn’t know’, yeah, everyone knows. Unfortunately that doesn’t make it half the time. funny.
“I’m a little puzzled why it’s gone so viral, because that’s the kind of thing I usually say. I just said, “God, we’re on fucking TV.” Unfortunately, the reality isn’t as exciting as people thought it might have been. I was worried because we were losing.
In fact, he had a far more pressing concern in mind, with the implications of that viral moment reaching far beyond the limitations of soccer.
“It’s okay to say this because I’m in Australia now… my partner is a man,” she says. ‘He made things in Qatar very interesting. When this all came out, I was like, “Oh, gosh, this is the last thing I need.”
The Australian staunch was ‘perplexed’ by the reaction, saying it was just his typical language.
In the video, Julian comes across as what he describes as “a playful image of a quintessential Aussie”, but insists he is anything but that stereotype.
When the 49-year-old isn’t working major events like the Australian Open and Melbourne Cup, he takes up his role as president of a Bayern Munich supporter’s club in Melbourne, flying all the way to New South Wales to watch the Sydney FC and can speak fluent German and French.
It was during his German studies that he fell in love with soccer, attending his first Socceroos match in 1988, when Australia faced Israel in a World Cup qualifier.
He has traveled far and wide to follow the Socceroos, but says he was worried about traveling to Qatar to watch Graham Arnold’s team this year.
“Due to my lifestyle, I was a bit afraid to stay in Qatar,” he admits. ‘I was originally going to fly in from Dubai, watch the games and then fly back. Do that three times. So I booked the flights and then decided to settle in Doha, in one of the fan camps, and it ended up being quite an expensive trip.
Farrell is the president of a Bayern Munich supporters’ group in Australia.
After the Socceroos’ trip came to an end, the 49-year-old visited Madrid in Spain
But Julian now sees those early fears as “total rubbish” compared to what he experienced in Qatar. He says that he encountered ‘no problems’ while he was in the Middle East and that he would ‘be back in a heartbeat’.
It was an interaction with a Qatari police officer that resonated the most with the Melbourne security guard, where he bravely came out as gay.
“The strange thing is, after playing in Tunisia, I got into a DNM (deep and meaningful conversation) with a Qatari policeman,” Julian explains. “I was going back to look for flagpoles that were confiscated, and he says to me:” What do you think of Qatar? “.
“I said, ‘It’s warming me up, give me time to get used to it and feel comfortable knowing more about the place, then I can give you an opinion.’
Then he says, “Can I ask you a couple of questions?” and I’m like, “Yeah, okay, sure,” and he’s like, “What do you think about the LGBT community?”
‘I was like, ‘Oh shit, here we go’, because this is the last thing I wanted, I didn’t want to make waves. I met another gay Australian fan who brought a pride flag and almost got deported.
Farrell is openly gay and said he told a Qatari police officer about his sexuality during a frank discussion.
I said, “Can I tell you something? I’m openly gay myself.” The cop says, “Oh, okay,” and then says, “Do you realize that it’s against our religion to be in a gay or lesbian relationship?”
And I said, “Yeah, I understand that. I was very scared coming here and I understand that. But what do people do if they find out they have same-sex relationships, or same-sex feelings, when you live in Qatar? ( A) do you have to live a lie your whole life? (B) do you have to leave the country? or (C) do you commit suicide?”
‘The fact that I said that to the policeman, and he was like, ‘Oh…’ I think that’s the first time anyone’s really explained it to him. Then he said: “I will protect you.”
‘You have to keep things private, which I have no problem with to be honest, and if you keep things private nothing will happen to you. Especially as a tourist.
Julian’s only flaw in Qatar was the fan camp, which he initially likened to a ‘refugee detention center’, though he made great friends once he got used to his surroundings.
But in football terms, I couldn’t have asked for a better performance from the Socceroos.
Australia’s 2-1 loss to Argentina “still stings” him, even 10 days after his elimination, but as far as Julian is concerned, Graham Arnold is the man who will grow the Socceroos, as long as he wants to keep the Market Stall.
The security guard was one of the few Socceroos fans to see them make history
Farrell hopes Graham Arnold will stay on as manager, but only if the 59-year-old wants to.
“He has to do what’s best for him,” he says. “This World Cup was not a fluke. He knew exactly what he was doing.
I don’t want to start over with a new manager, but he has to do what he has to do. As a Sydney FC fan I’m a bit afraid Kevin Muscat will get the job, he’s probably the closest thing to an antichrist.
“I don’t know about John Aloisi, he did well with Western United, he was fantastic as a pundit, he knows what he’s talking about, does he have the mettle to manage the Socceroos?”
Regardless of who is tasked with leading Australia to Asian Cup glory, Julian insists he is on his way to the next World Cup, hosted by Canada, the United States and Mexico.
“I have told the other half ‘take out your passport, we’re leaving’, as long as we qualify.
“Hopefully with this positive World Cup we don’t have to go through the playoffs again. One hundred percent I will go to 2026. I want to go to Mexico, it will be more fun, cheaper and wilder.
I hope we’ll see him on TV again.