West Ham United’s pre-season visit to Perth links the Club with the late Dylan Tombides and the charity founded in his memory, DT38 Foundation.
Tombides was born in the city and capital of Western Australia in 1994, playing schoolboy football for local sides Perth Soccer Club and Stirling Lions before being scouted by the Hammers, moving to London with his family and joining the Academy of Football at the age of 15 in 2009.
A prolific goalscoring record and outstanding all-round game saw the centre-forward quickly move through the ranks, make a Premier League matchday squad at 17 and his senior debut in an EFL Cup tie at the Boleyn Ground at 18.
Tragically, however, Tombides was diagnosed with testicular cancer while representing his country at the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup and, despite his immense bravery and resilience and at one stage being given the all-clear, the disease returned and ultimately took his life in April 2014. He was just 20.
Following his death, Tombides’ No38 shirt was retired by the Club – an honour only previously bestowed on the late, great Bobby Moore, who was also diagnosed with testicular cancer as a young man – and his family created the DT38 Foundation in February 2015.
In the ensuring eight years, the charity, led by Dylan’s mother Tracylee and younger brother and fellow Stirling Lion and West Ham Academy player Taylor, has driven self-awareness and education campaigns in both countries to encourage the early detection of testicular cancer.
While Dylan and Taylor left Perth as young children, the Tombides family retain strong links with Perth, and the city’s sporting bodies, football clubs and players have long supported DT38 Foundation, hosting regular events to raise awareness and funding for the fight against testicular cancer. In 2015, a bronze statue of Dylan was unveiled outside the city’s Perth Rectangular Stadium in his memory.
A coach with the Academy of Football, whose player of the year award is now named in his brother's memory, Taylor will join the West Ham squad as a Club ambassador on their visit to his home city. There, he will take part in a number of events involving young footballers, including players from Stirling Lions – now known as Stirling Macedonia – to raise awareness for the foundation.
He will also be present when David Moyes’ players take on A-League side Perth Glory (Saturday 15 July, 6pm AWST/11am BST) and Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur (Tuesday 18 July, 6pm AWST/11am BST) at Perth’s Optus Stadium.
Ahead of an emotional and exciting return, he told Perth's 91.3 SportFM: “I love coming back to Australia. Obviously, I get a very warm welcome from the football community and going to see the statue at the stadium and the club Dylan and I used to play for, so it’s always a lovely feeling coming home.
“With the charity, we want to raise self-awareness and self-detection among men in testicular cancer because we know, if you catch it early, you have a 98 per cent chance of success in your treatment, and the longer you leave it, the less chance you have of survival. The message is that early detection makes death preventable.
“As men, we do avoid talking about our health, so it’s about making men feel more comfortable talking about it with their wives, partners or families, and that they’re aware of the situation and how preventable this is if it’s caught early. That’s a massive driver for us.
“There is a big Aussie connection with West Ham. We have a massive fanbase there – the most overseas supporters clubs of any country outside the UK – so it’s lovely and always nice to go back to my home country and represent the Club. It’s a great feeling.”
