West Ham United’s Principal Partners Betway helped inspire a group of supporters to IFA London Cup glory by supplying them with a new Hammers kit.
West Ham United Fans FC have enjoyed an outstanding season in their Internet Football Association competitions against fellow supporters sides and, upon hearing of their progress to the London final and national semi-finals, Betway were only too happy to lend them a helping hand.
The leading online gaming platform, who have sponsored the Hammers since the start of 2015, ensured the team would be looking at their best for the final, with player-manager Matthew Dilworth keeping the gift a secret from his players until the night of the game.
It proved to be an inspiration for the Hammers fans, who defeated Cambridge United supporters team Abbey United 1-0 to lift the cup, leaving goalscorer Dilworth delighted.
He takes up the story: “It all came through the supporters’ teams family, if you like. A fella who runs Barnet supporters is friends with a lad who works for Betway, and when they sponsored West Ham he put me in touch with him as an introduction.
“We told him what supporters football was all about and Alan Alger at Betway was very keen and offered to buy us a kit when we got to the London Cup final and national semi-final.
“Everyone is thrilled that we’ve got a new kit – in the past we’ve had to buy our own but to be given the current home shirt is a great feeling."
Captain Will Bush ended the evening by lifting the trophy and he was thrilled to start it by pulling on a new kit.
“We appreciate it massively,” he said. “None of the lads knew about it beforehand, so it was a massive surprise for them and they’re all buzzing about it. We’re thankful to Betway and the Club for helping us out with that.
Midfielder Jack Taylor echoed those sentiments: “Being a member of the team, we walked into the changing room to see the kits laid out, and it was brand new, this season’s top sponsored by Betway. It put a smile on everyone’s face.”
Betway spokesman Alan Alger added: “We were delighted to help Matt and the team and we’re proud of the result they pulled off, we look forward to more success for the fans’ team in the Betway kit.”