Cockpits, camper vans, Crystal Palace and the Conference League final

As the club prepares for one of the biggest matches in its history, Crystal Palace supporters have gone to remarkable lengths to reach Leipzig for Wednesday's Conference League final against Spanish side Rayo Vallecano.

Their 13,000-ticket allocation has sold out, and more than 10,000 fans are also expected to attend a screening at Selhurst Park in London.

From a pilot flying his son to supporters taking camper vans on 12-hour trips and others piecing together routes between cities to keep costs down, for many, the journey has become part of the occasion.

Here are some of the fans making the most of what could be a once-in-a-lifetime trip.

Robin Wicks from Gerrards Cross in Buckinghamshire is flying himself and his son to Leipzig in a small single-engine aircraft.

He grew up in Bromley and began following Crystal Palace aged about 10, attending his first game in 1964 when he was 12.

In his 25 years of flying experience he has taken the plane to "just about every corner of Europe" and even across the Sahara Desert, but added that he hoped this trip to Leipzig would be the most exciting for a Crystal Palace supporter.

"There have been other exciting times, like when we got to the FA Cup Final in 1990 - but I think it's definitely the most exciting time for the club in my memory."

The Cessna 182 aircraft which will be flown to Leipzig is jointly owned by Wicks and five others.

He set off from Denham Airfield near Uxbridge on Tuesday morning, made a refuelling stop in western Germany and continued on to Leipzig.

The journey is expected to take around four and a half hours of flying time.

Not everyone is travelling by air, though, with some supporters opting for a slower, road-based adventure.

A trio of friends, Harry Green, Steve Brooker and Derek Caunter, are taking a campervan from Croydon, south London.

They picked up the vehicle on Saturday and set off early on Monday, driving to Dover to catch a ferry to Dunkirk before continuing through Belgium to Düsseldorf for an overnight stay.

From there, they travelled to Leipzig, where they plan to camp near the ground for a few days before beginning the return journey later in the week.

The trip could take up to 12 hours and cost around £500 each, with direct flights now priced at about £1,000.

Caunter told the BBC: "I think that the main thing is sharing it with each other. It's going to be a road trip. We're looking forward to it.

"We're just living a dream. It's a bit of a rollercoaster and we're just following it all the way to the end."

Others are making the trip in stages, using a mix of flights and rail journeys to reach Leipzig.

The Joyce family's trip was planned by 15-year-old Aiden, who is travelling to the match with his father Jimmy, and sisters 13-year-old Oonagh and nine-year-old Niamh.

The group from south-east London flew on Monday to Memmingen in Bavaria, before taking a FlixBus to Munich, where they stayed overnight near the train station.

On Tuesday morning, they travelled by train across Germany to Leipzig for the match.

Afterwards, they will continue north to Hamburg for one night, before heading to Bremen and then returning home to Stansted Airport.

The journey is expected to take nine hours each way.

Dad Jim explained that he had started to tally the total cost, but then "stopped counting".

He told BBC London: "I figured this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, potentially.

"I wouldn't be sitting on my death bed thinking, oh, I saved £500 there – I've got to go, we've got to go.

"My children have been brought up Crystal Palace fans.

"They know how important it is. We're part of the community, we're part of the team. It's just a love affair that we can't shift."

For many of the fans, keeping the trip as affordable as possible is essential.

Dan Turner Browne, who is based in south London, is travelling with Rich Amponsah and friends on a cost-saving, multi-leg journey to Leipzig.

They are flying from Stansted to Prague before taking trains via Dresden and then on to Halle, where they are staying.

The journey, which has been planned by Browne, is expected to take around 11 and a half hours, with travel costing just over £300 per person.

Accommodation in Halle, about 30 minutes from Leipzig, is costing around £75 each after booking as a group.

For the two friends, this game means everything.

Amponsah said: "For those who have never gone and looked at Palace's history and stuff, I implore you to do it.

"We were obviously one hour away from complete administration and probably not existing at all, to being able to get ourselves up through the play-offs and now have our 14th consecutive year in the league.

"It's no mean feat."

The final between Crystal Palace and Rayo Vallecano will take place at the Leipzig Stadium, kicking off at 20:00 BST on Wednesday 27 May.

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