Dylan Tombides

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Dylan Tombides
Dylan Tombides West Ham United.jpg
Tombides warming-up for West Ham United
Personal information
Full name Dylan James Tombides[1]
Date of birth (1994-03-08)8 March 1994
Place of birth Perth, Australia
Date of death 18 April 2014(2014-04-18) (aged 20)
Place of death London, England
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position Striker
Youth career
2010–2012 West Ham United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2012–2014 West Ham United 0 (0)
National team‡
2011 Australia U17 5 (1)
2014 Australia U23 4 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 26 September 2012.
† Appearances (goals)

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21 January 2014

Dylan James Tombides (8 March 1994 – 18 April 2014) was an Australian soccer player who played as a striker for West Ham United and the Australian under-17 and under-23 teams.

Club career[edit]

Dylan Tombides with West Ham.

Tombides played youth football in Australia with Stirling Lions SC before moving to Macau aged 13,[2] and played in nearby Hong Kong before joining West Ham United aged 15.[3] Playing for West Ham in their reserve team he was an unused substitute in the Premier League game on 22 May 2011 against Sunderland.[3]

On 25 September 2012, he made his only professional appearance for West Ham in a 4–1 home defeat to Wigan Athletic in the League Cup third round, coming on as an 84th-minute substitute for Gary O'Neil.[4][5]

International career[edit]

Tombides played in the Under-17 World Cup in Mexico in 2011, and played all four of Australia's matches as they reached the last 16 before elimination by Uzbekistan. In their opening game in Guadalajara, he scored the winner for a 2–1 victory over the Ivory Coast.[6] He was considered by Australian fans and media to be a successor to Harry Kewell, but his coach Jan Versleijen downplayed the comparisons, saying that despite his talent it was too early to make such a judgement.[6]

In January 2014, he represented Australia at the AFC U-22 Championship in Muscat, Oman. He played in games against the hosts,[7] Iran,[8] Japan,[9] and Saudi Arabia as Australia reached the quarter-finals.[10]

Cancer diagnosis and death[edit]

Fans' tribute to Dylan Tombides at the Boleyn Ground, Upton Park

In 2011, Tombides was diagnosed with testicular cancer, discovered after a random drugs test taken shortly after Australia's elimination from the Under-17 World Cup.[11]

In June 2012, after treatment, Tombides was told he was back to full health and returned to training,[12][13] and made his West Ham debut in September 2012. He played at the Asian under-22 championship in January 2014 after intense chemotherapy, but was told on return to England that his condition was now incurable.[2] He died on the morning of 18 April 2014, with his family surrounding his bedside.[14] The next day, before a game against Crystal Palace at the Boleyn Ground, his father and brother Taylor, laid a shirt on the centre spot which carried Tombides' squad number 38 and his name. West Ham United announced that this number would be retired from use,[15] an honour previously bestowed by the club only to Bobby Moore.[16][17] Crystal Palace captain Mile Jedinak, also an Australian, did not celebrate when he scored in that match.[2]

Legacy[edit]

In February 2015, The "Dylan Tombides DT38" charitable foundation was launched with the aims of fundraising, raising awareness of testicular cancer and of the education of young people on the subject.[18]

In September 2015, a statue was unveiled at nib Stadium commemorating his life. [19]

Fans' tribute to Dylan Tombides at the Boleyn Ground, Upton Park

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Premier League Clubs submit Squad Lists" (PDF). Premier League. 26 September 2012. 
  2. ^ a b c Taylor, Daniel (28 February 2015). "Dylan Tombides’s heart-rending life story receives a fitting tribute". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 August 2015. 
  3. ^ a b "On this day - 8 March". www.whufc.com. Retrieved 4 March 2015. 
  4. ^ "WA's Tombides makes West Ham debut a year after cancer diagnosis". Au.news.yahoo.com. 25 September 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2012. 
  5. ^ "West Ham 1–4 Wigan Athletic". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 September 2012. 
  6. ^ a b "Australia make a strong start to their Under-17 World Cup campaign with a 2-1 win over Ivory Coast". Fox Sports. 21 June 2011. Retrieved 11 August 2015. 
  7. ^ "Oman vs. Australia". The-Afc.com. Retrieved 18 April 2014. 
  8. ^ "Australia vs. Iran". The-Afc.com. Retrieved 18 April 2014. 
  9. ^ "Australia vs. Japan". The-Afc.com. Retrieved 18 April 2014. 
  10. ^ "Australia vs. Saudi Arabia". The-Afc.com. Retrieved 18 April 2014. 
  11. ^ Ashton, Neil (30 May 2012). "I just said: Dad, could this kill me? Hammers kid Dylan relives his 10-month hell fighting cancer". www.dailymail.co.uk. Retrieved 26 September 2012. 
  12. ^ "Ex-HK soccer starlet defeats cancer". www.scmp.com. 3 June 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2012. 
  13. ^ "Dylan Tombides opens up on cancer battle". www.heraldsun.com.au. 30 May 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2012. 
  14. ^ West Ham. "West Ham United player Dylan Tombides dies aged 20 after battle with testicular cancer". Telegraph. Retrieved 18 April 2014. 
  15. ^ "Hammers pay tribute to Dylan". www.whufc.com. 19 April 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2014. 
  16. ^ Dylan Tombides honoured by moving tributes at West Ham
  17. ^ Hammers make Moore shirt gesture
  18. ^ "Dylan Tombides Foundation". www.whufc.com. Retrieved 1 March 2015. 
  19. ^ Peter Kapsanis (1 September 2015). "DT38 Down Under". Perth Glory. Retrieved 2 September 2015. 
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