This is the story of Dylan Tombides. The young West Ham footballer who’s brave battle with testicular cancer inspired the Foundation in his name and left a legacy that aims to educate and raise awareness, throughout the football community and beyond.
Dylan was raised in Perth, Western Australia and from a very early age, football became his focus. His father, Jim was the stay at home parent and played an important role in his early development.
By the age of 11 Dylan moved onto Stirling Lions Soccer Club for a season before joining Perth SC. In 2007, the family moved to Macau, but that didn’t stop Dylan and his younger brother Taylor from playing as much football as they could. They would play and train locally in Macau but would travel to Hong Kong on the weekends for more serious matches and training.
Given the Portuguese culture in Macau, the opportunity arose for Dylan to participate in some trials in Portugal. But Mike Leigh, one of Dylan’s former coaches back in Perth who was also an Academy scout for West Ham United, suggested Dylan visit the East London club first. After a four week trial with the Under 18s, Tony Carr was impressed with Dylan. His family had the opportunity to move to London and so Dylan signed with West Ham. By this time, Dylan was 15 years old and he quickly adapted to life at the club, in what was a very competitive environment.
Listen to the heart breaking story on an audio recording by ByAssociation below