Good morning everyone and welcome from Perth, Western Australia!
It’s 9.50am here at Macedonia Park, 9,000 miles from London Stadium, but the weather is certainly familiar, with rain falling, grey skies and a temperature of 12C (54F)!
David Moyes and Jarrod Bowen will be with us shortly to talk about West Ham United’s two-match pre-season visit to Perth and, I expect, summer transfers.
Australian and British media are both here at the home of Stirling Macedonia FC, the National Premier Leagues Western Australia club where Dylan Tombides started his career as a schoolboy.
The Irons will be here until next Wednesday, meeting fans, attending community events and civic functions, training at Macedonia Park and facing A-League side Perth Glory (Saturday 15 July, 6pm AWST) and Premier League rivals Tottenham (Tuesday 18 July, 6pm AWST).
Stay tuned for live coverage of this morning’s press conference…
9.55am: There is plenty of interest in our visit, with eight camera crews here to cover the manager and Jarrod Bowen’s press conference.
Among them are Sky Sports News from the UK, then a host of Australian crews, including Optus Sport and Channels 7, 9 and 10.
Football is on the rise in Australia, with the A-League thriving and the Socceroos national team reaching the knockout stages of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Their captain Mathew Ryan won’t be a fan of ours, though, as he was in goal for AZ Alkmaar when we beat them in the recent UEFA Europa Conference League semi-finals!
10am: Inside Irons is back, but with an Australian flavour!
Presenters JaackMaate and Carlton Cole were out and about in Perth meeting the great and the good in the second episode of our West Ham TV show Inside Irons Australia!
Popular YouTuber and podcaster JaackMaate and Hammers legend Cole were here at Macedonia Park with 2,600 fans for the Club’s open training session at Macedonia Park, where they met supporters from all over Australia.
The duo also spoke to Noongar Aboriginal statesperson Dr Richard Walley OAM, who led a song and dance Welcome to Country ceremony and spoke about his people and their long history in what is now Western Australia.
With the Upside Down Quiz, a specially themed set and all the latest from Perth, Inside Irons Australia will be must-see content during our eight-day stay!
Presenters JaackMaate and Carlton Cole were out and about in Perth meeting the great and the good in the second episode of our West Ham TV show Inside Irons Australia!
Popular YouTuber and podcaster JaackMaate and Hammers legend Cole were here at Macedonia Park with 2,600 fans for the Club’s open training session at Macedonia Park, where they met supporters from all over Australia.
The duo also spoke to Noongar Aboriginal statesperson Dr Richard Walley OAM, who led a song and dance Welcome to Country ceremony and spoke about his people and their long history in what is now Western Australia.
With the Upside Down Quiz, a specially themed set and all the latest from Perth, Inside Irons Australia will be must-see content during our eight-day stay!
10.05am: The logo of West Ham United’s principal charity partner DT38 Foundation will appear on the Club’s shirts during the Irons’ pre-season tour to Perth, Australia.
The Club’s principal partner Betway will kindly provide support and help raise awareness for the male cancer charity, which was founded in memory of Perth-born Dylan Tombides, the promising Academy of Football player who passed away in 2014, aged just 20.
Tombides played youth football for the city’s Stirling Lions club 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.
The young striker was diagnosed with testicular cancer following a random drugs test at the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup finals, where he was representing Australia, and underwent intense treatment before making his senior West Ham debut in September 2012. Tragically, Tombides’ cancer returned aggressively and, despite his incredible positivity and resilience, he died in April 2014, only three months after playing for his country for the final time at the AFC U-22 Championship.
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. Just weeks later, Betway made the first of a number of donations to fund the charity’s mission to raise awareness and change the stigma associated with men’s health issues.
Now, thanks to Betway’s generosity, West Ham’s players will proudly wear the DT38 Foundation logo on their new 2023/24 Umbro Home shirts in the pre-season tour fixtures with 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.
10.11am: Jarrod Bowen has joined us, so we’re just a manager away from getting this press conference underway!
10.12am: Here we go!
The manager is asked how he has found Perth?
“We’re very much enjoying it and looking forward to seeing around. We’re getting over the jet lag. I’ve been to Australia before and I very much enjoyed it.
“We’re still buzzing after the Conference League final and have fantastic memories that won’t fade too quickly.”
Jarrod Bowen is asked about being in Australia for the first time?
“I said I would do a schooner if I score on Saturday, so hopefully I’ll score and we can do it!
“It’s mental to see the reaction here. I’ve never been halfway across the world and met fans, and it puts it into perspective how big it is to play for this Club. It gives me real pride and honour to meet the fans and sign their shirts and hats.”
Jarrod is asked about honouring Dylan Tombides’ legacy…
“I played with Dylan’s brother Taylor at Hull for two years, so wearing the DT38 Foundation shirt yesterday, I know it means so much to the Tombides family and to be able to give back to them is so important.”
The manager is asked about his knowledge of Australian football…
“I watched a couple of A-League games recently on the TV. We can see all sorts of games on TV in the UK now.
“Because of Tim Cahill, who did an unbelievable job for me, I have kept an eye on Australian football and the national team to see which players are coming to the fore.
“We know a little bit about it, but not as much as you!”
And the manager is now asked if he could see West Ham repeating their trick of 1995, when they signed Australian Stan Lazaridis after he starred for Western Australia against the Hammers here in Perth…
“Someone has already tipped me off on a player, but I won’t tell you which one, so it’s part of the job to see what else is out there.
“It’s very difficult to concentrate on the opposition, but at this time of year you can sit back and watch the game and see it a bit better.”
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- Jarrod is asked what he is targeting this coming season…
“On a personal level, as an attacker, it’s always about goals and assists and as a team it’s about being back in Europe again. We won the Conference League last season, so we have that ambition again and we want to win as many European games as possible.“In the Premier League, we have set standards over the past three seasons and we want to keep building on them.“It’s about letting my football do the talking and we’ll see where it takes me.”The manager is asked about Tottenham’s new Australian manager Ange Postecoglu…“I managed against him with Manchester United here in Melbourne and again when we played Celtic in pre-season a couple of summers ago and I remember he gave me a really nice bottle of Australian wine!“I gave him a nice bottle back when we met again in Glasgow.“He’s done an amazing job at Celtic and I think he’s a very good manager.“He sent me a really nice message when we won the Conference League.”Jarrod is asked what he is looking forward to seeing Australia’s wildlife…“I hate snakes and spiders and are scared of seeing them!“I went to the stadium and they told me we could walk on the roof platform, but I didn’t want to do that!“I am hoping to see some animals, but I’ve heard kangaroos jump at people, so I’ll stick to koalas!”The manager is asked about handling European football again this season…“I think it took its toll on our Premier League form last season, but we’ve been to a European semi-final and final and won the latter.“It’s very difficult to explain how it is to play Thursday/Sunday and we’ve tried to handle it, so the aim is to handle it better this coming season and improve our Premier League form.”Finally, our Hammer for the Day, nine-year-old Logan, asks the manager how he selected his squad for the tour…
“That’s a good question, because we are without a number of our international players as they have not yet returned from their summer breaks.“We had to make a decision over which young players to bring, and that was difficult because we had to leave some of them behind, but the ones who are here we hope will do well.“We’ve got nine senior players here as well, so we hope they also do well.”That’s all from the manager and Jarrod for now. We’ll have full coverage on whufc.com as the day rolls on.Thanks for joining us!
- Jarrod is asked what he is targeting this coming season…
