When Huw Davies was named the San Francisco 49ers 2024 International Fan of the Year, the team had no idea it would soon be headed to his home country.<\/p>\n
Davies has been cheering on the 49ers long before the NFL announced its first-ever regular season game in Australia, with San Francisco set to make history by opening the 2026 season in Melbourne.<\/p>\n
For Davies, who first fell in love with the team all the way in Tasmania more than 30 years ago, it’s the kind of full-circle moment he never imagined.<\/p>\n
“It’s amazing,” Davies said after being named the team’s International Fan of the Year. “I’m speechless.”<\/p>\n
His story began in 1990 with a simple souvenir, a hat.<\/p>\n
“When I was about 12, my dad went to America,” Davies said. “He’s got five kids, and he bought each of us a hat. I was lucky enough to get a 49ers hat.”<\/p>\n
Growing up in Tasmania, American football wasn’t the most common sport around.<\/p>\n
“There were no football teams or anything like this,” Davies recalled. “I was like, ‘Who’s this team?'”<\/p>\n
Determined to learn more, he began watching a weekly NFL highlights show that aired in Australia. Those brief broadcasts introduced him to one of the league’s greatest dynasties.<\/p>\n
“I found the 49ers, and Joe Montana, and Jerry Rice, and I was mesmerized,” Davies said. “That was my first and favorite football team\u2026 It took my heart.”<\/p>\n
As NFL coverage slowly expanded in Australia, Davies remained committed to following the 49ers, even if it meant early morning wake-up calls to watch games live. And by 1996 at the age of 18, he knew he had to experience the 49ers in person.<\/p>\n
When his parents planned a trip to the United States, Davies convinced them that San Francisco had to be on the itinerary.<\/p>\n
“They were going to America on their own, and I was like, ‘No, you’re going to San Francisco. I’ve got to come,'” he said.<\/p>\n
The trip included sightseeing around the city, but one event stood above everything else.<\/p>\n
“We saw the sights of San Francisco, but the whole reason for being there was to go to the 49ers game,” Davies said.<\/p>\n
On October 20th 1996, Davies attended his first 49ers game at Candlestick Park alongside his younger brother. The two watched the 49ers have a dramatic comeback win over the Cincinnati Bengals.<\/p>\n
“It was quite the spectacle,” Davies said.<\/p>\n
When he returned home to Australia, Davies remained committed to growing football and 49ers fandom in his country. As a firefighter in Melbourne, he made sure 49ers games were on at the fire station and organized watch parties at local pubs, helping build a community of NFL fans along the way.<\/p>\n
Nearly 30 years later, that life-long passion earned him one of the 49ers highest fan honors.<\/p>\n