Heineken’s ‘Cheers To’ campaign aims to celebrate the commitment of West Ham United fans around the world, rewarding a handful of individuals with football experiences they’ll truly never forget.
Next to share his story in the series is 60-year-old Anthony Pemberton, AKA Westy, whose Cardiff home is a true shrine to West Ham United.
You will struggle to find a bigger Hammer in the whole of Wales – Westy has decorated his home with West Ham carpet, the walls are adorned with framed shirts and even the radiators have been painted to fit the Claret & Blue colour scheme.
Furthermore, Anthony’s son, Upton is named in homage to the Club he loves – his first name taking inspiration from the Club’s old stamping ground in Upton Park, while his middle name is Brooking, named after Sir Trevor, scorer of our 1980 FA Cup final winning-goal.
Sadly, Westy is struggling with illness at present, suffering from the debilitating illnesses sickle cell anaemia and ulcerative colitis – but he has been determined to live a full life in the face of the conditions, while raising awareness.
Thanks to Heineken, we travelled to Cardiff along with Hammers legend James Collins to surprise him on his doorstep with a host of gifts including a framed signed shirt, plenty of merchandise and lots of goodies from the Club store.
Westy takes up the story himself: ”My support of West Ham goes back to 1969. Clyde Best brought me here, a person of colour, a black person, a person with an afro, a person that looked like me.
“The name Westy was sort of given to me, in the 70s. And it's stuck ever since. If you walk around my community, that's all people know me as, Westy or West Ham.
“I was diagnosed with sickle cell anaemia at about three or four months old. It’s a regressive red blood cell disorder and basically my haemoglobin lasts 20 days in my blood cells, whereas yours would last 120 days. So I haven't got as much oxygen in my body. So as I was getting older and I was like playing footy and getting through 90 minutes, my doctor used to call me a freak. I shouldn’t have been able to do that!
“The other problem is because you have a short life expectancy, when I started to work, I wanted to buy a home. Every insurance company would say, nope, you're a dead man walking. You can't have a mortgage. It's 25 years. You ain't living 25 years.
“I [had to] stretch the truth of it and I can proudly say I put a good service to the kids and made the 25 years, paid off the mortgage and everything. So I was successful in that. I'm one of the successes.
“But when I tell you about my successes, you always got to remember there's lots and lots and lots of other babies, a lot of other children that don't make it.
“For me it's very important to raise awareness because when West Ham kindly got in touch with me and said they'd be interested in doing some content, I was so happy, ecstatically happy. But one of the caveats I had to put in there was me.
“My disease is part of me. So as much as I love West Ham, as much as I adore West Ham, the sickle cell is part of me because it was there when I was born. So as long as I'm supporting West Ham, the sickle cell's been there a little bit longer.”
Seeing Collins – who was born in South Wales before becoming an adopted East Ender with the Irons – on his doorstep was a thrill for Westy.
He added: “I opened the door and it was that giant shadow of a man. That great physical specimen. Ginge, James Collins. Oh, I couldn't believe it. I thought, 'wow!'.
“I always think of him and Danny Gabbidon as a pair. Because when I used to club in Cardiff, quite often they'd be together. So I always think of them.
“Cardiff City, Gabbidon and Collins, West Ham, Gabbidon and Collins, Wales, Gabbidon and Collins. They're synonymous like Laurel and Hardy. But they're not comedians, these two. They're great players.
“I loved Billy Bonds' aggression and his tenacity. I was once called Frank Lampard Senior because I played left-back and I was playing against Cardiff City. They were training with us and they said, oh, you play like Frank Lampard.
“Obviously I named my son after Sir Trevor. So I think that says a lot. And then if you say Brooking, you have to say like Devonshire, because again, they're like a partnership, synonymous with each other
“I loved [Dimitri] Payet too. Do you know how happy he made me for a year and a half in Cardiff? Living down here on my own, on my own against the big traditional six. And the things he was doing, the Crystal Palace goal, the Middlesbrough goal. I loved that year-and-a-half.
“In the current squad, I like Kudus. He just oozes talent. I love the way he wants to take on players. He's like a bit of a baller.
“I just want the Club and the team to do well. I just want them to perform.”
Collins was honoured to meet Westy and help him raise awareness of the two illnesses, saying: “To come back to Wales to surprise Westy has been incredible,” he said. “He's a proper character, proper die-hard West Ham fan and he's been a joy to be around.
“His whole house inside is covered in West Ham as well, so to come down and give a little bit back to fans like Westy has been incredible.
“Since I joined the Club in 2005, the fans have always been the heart of it. He’ll remember this for a long, long time. So, just to show a little bit of support back to the people who've been supporting us for ages is massive.”
Faith Walker, Executive Director at Friends of Cymru Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia, added: "We are delighted to see Anthony, aka Westy, surprised by James Collins and everyone at West Ham United. There are few people more deserving of this type of recognition than Westy, who inspires many across the community and beyond.
“It is vital to raise awareness of sickle cell and the impact it has on people across the world. It is great that Westy has been able to share his story with fellow supporters of his beloved West Ham United. It was a privilege to see Westy rewarded in this way and to see the joy it brought to him."
To find out further information from Friends of Cymru Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia on sickle cell disorder visit their Instagram or Tik Tok channels or Website.
In addition, visit the Sickle Cell Society.
*Westy is the latest fan Heineken have recognised as part of their 'Cheers To' series with the Hammers.
In November last year, 64-year-old Neil Taylor, who has been helping his fellow West Ham United supporters since 2020 through his co-founded Hammers for Work and Support Group, was rewarded with an Ultimate Matchday Experience in hospitality at London Stadium this season, a signed shirt to auction off for local charities which achieved over £1,500 in donations and a huge merchandise donation of West Ham United gear to help Neil’s winter support campaign.
Additionally, the Club and Heineken joined forces to go one step further, arranging for long-serving defender and current vice-captain Aaron Cresswell to surprise him during a tour of the Rush Green training ground.
Heineken’s ‘Cheers To’ campaign aims to celebrate the commitment of West Ham United fans around the world, rewarding a handful of individuals with football experiences they’ll truly never forget. Find out more by clicking HERE.
