Two days before their big match at the London Stadium, West Ham United have announced a special shirt that their women's team will wear for the entirety of October.
They will be sold online and at the main stadium shop, with all profits of the match will be donated to Breast Cancer Now, a charity focusing on spreading awareness of the disease.
To mark the women’s inaugural fixture at London Stadium against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday 29th September, Matt Beard’s side will warm-up in the specially-designed Umbro shirt to raise awareness of the illness and the superb work of the charity.
The team will then wear the shirts for every fixture throughout October, which marks Breast Cancer Awareness Month, becoming the first Barclays FA Women’s Super League team to don the Breast Cancer pink colours.
The club will also be donating the entire profits from the sales of the shirts to Breast Cancer Now, with the shirts also incorporating a label detailing the ways to check for potential signs and symptoms.
💗 Our special edition Third Kit in support of #BreastCancerAwarenessMonth pic.twitter.com/05JheWtzF9
— West Ham United Women (@westhamwomen) September 27, 2019
The club's views
West Ham United women’s managing director Jack Sullivan is delighted to strengthen the partnership and said:
“Any opportunity we have to use our status as a professional football club to highlight and raise awareness of important health issues we are keen to support.
"Our commitment to the partnership started last year when we wore t-shirts prior to a game, but this year we wanted to go one step further and we are thrilled to be launching this shirt before we play this historic fixture.
“The introduction of a new limited-edition shirt will allow for our support to be visual prior to the match, but our commitment to selling the shirts in our official stores and donating all of the profits to the charity shows our full backing for Breast Cancer Now and the incredible work they do.”
West Ham United women’s captain Gilly Flaherty added:
“Breast cancer is such a common disease that affects women of all ages around the world.
"Any help we can provide to raise awareness and funds for the vital work Breast Cancer Now are doing is something we are delighted to support.
“I hope all West Ham fans will back this great cause and come down to the game to show their support for our team but Breast Cancer Now and the partnership as well.
"It would be great to see fans in the same shirts as the team throughout October!”
Tottenham tie at London Stadium
The announcement comes before an important match on Sunday when they host fellow London side Tottenham at the main men's team's stadium.
The last time Spurs visited West Ham in a league match was back in May 2017, when the away side ran out 7-0 winners in what was a third-tier encounter.
Despite losing five of their last six home matches in the top-flight, West Ham are looking to win back-to-back games for the very first time following their 1-0 win over Birmingham last time out.
Spurs, who have won one and lost one of their two Barclays FA Women’s Super League games this season, secured their first-ever victory in the competition last time out against Liverpool – a Rachel Furness penalty making the difference.
West Ham boss Matt Beard has never won a Women’s Super League London derby, drawing one and losing eight of his previous nine games across spells with Chelsea and West Ham.