West Ham United supporters have raised £4,500 for the DT38 Foundation in an auction for the shirts worn during the Irons’ Unmissable Football summer tour to Western Australia.
The Hammers travelled Down Under in July, beating Perth Glory and Tottenham Hotspur in thrilling style in front of over 70,000 fans at Optus Stadium in Perth, hosting thousands at an open training session and meeting many more at community events in and around the city.
Thanks to the generosity of the Club’s principal partner Betway, the DT38 Foundation logo appeared on the Irons’ Claret and Blue shirts for both matches, while the team also trained and warmed-up in DT38-branded t-shirts.
The male cancer charity was founded in memory of Perth-born Dylan Tombides, the promising Academy of Football player who passed away in April 2014, aged just 20, three years after being diagnosed with testicular cancer.
Tombides played youth football for the city’s Stirling Lions club – whose senior team is named Stirling Macedonia in recognition of its close links with the Macedonian Australian community of Western Australia – before being spotted by the Hammers and moving to east London at the age of 16 in 2010. A prolific centre-forward, the youngster made his first Premier League squad a year later and debuted in September 2012.
West Ham trained at Stirling’s Macedonia Park stadium and joined forces with DT38 to host a training session for young footballers from Stirling Lions, Wembley and Perth SC.
Following the tour, the shirts worn by David Moyes’ squad were put on sale in an online auction, with the proceeds donated to DT38. Those worn by Jarrod Bowen, Angelo Ogbonna, Aaron Cresswell and Emerson Palmieri proved most popular, with over A$8,500 being raised.
Donna Giuffre, DT38 Foundation’s head of media and operations, thanked every bidder for their support for the charity.
“The team has experienced an incredibly hectic few months, and we're immensely proud of our accomplishments during this time,” said Giuffre.
“The DT38 x WHU Limited Edition shirt auction turned out to be a remarkable success, enabling us to secure essential funds for our cause. We are truly grateful for the support from everyone and hope for their ongoing support in the years ahead. Our mission is far from complete.”
Stirling Macedonia’s support for DT38 continued in August, when the men’s first team faced Perth SC, where Tombides played as a schoolboy, in a National Premier Leagues Western Australia fixture which has become the annual, unofficial, Dylan Tombides Cup. Perth won 3-0, but Stirling's 4-0 win earlier in the season saw them retain the Cup on aggregate.
The two clubs met again in the NPL preliminary final on Tuesday, with Stirling again prevailing, 4-3 on penalties after a 2-2 draw, and Macedonia defeated 2-0 Perth RedStar in the Grand Final on Saturday 16 September at the newly opened State Football Centre!
