23 August 2023 , 16:14
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A football fan who was mocked and abused online says "the trolls will never win" after he woke up to discover his charity fundraiser had gone viral overnight.
Norwich City supporter, Nathan West, 31, was targeted with hateful comments after an interview with local sports website The Pink 'Un was posted in the build-up to the Canaries' Championship victory over Millwall on Sunday. But the football community has rallied behind him, helping him silence the abusers in the most remarkable way.
Mr West, who is known in the community as Westy, will be running the Tonbridge half marathon for Macmillan Cancer Support in October and, when the video emerged online, he had yet to reach his £500 target on his JustGiving page. However three days on and the Norfolk resident has now raised a whopping £50,000, while the video has been viewed by more than 26million people. He has also been offered England tickets, as well as a signed shirt from Norwich City star and his hero Jonathan Rowe.
Norwich footballers Angus Gunn and Shane Duffy are among those to have contributed to the fundraiser, but it is the support from fans across the globe that has left Mr West feeling on top of the world. He told Mirror Football: "At first the outpouring of support was overwhelming - but it's settled down a bit now! The fundraising is great news.
"I couldn't believe it, it was amazing. I had no idea what to expect - then I saw the next morning that it was around £20,000. I looked at all the amazing messages from rival football fans. The footballing world has come together. One of the messages was from an Ipswich fan who said 'there's not many times I'll give money to a Norwich fan but this is one of them'."
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'Westy' says he tries to ignore online abuse and doesn't have an account on Twitter - now known as X - but his younger brother Troy made him aware of the abuse. He says he's delighted that he has educated those haters and that some of them have even apologised and donated to his cause.
He added: "Some of the fans who were trolling me actually donated in the end and said sorry - that was the best bit. It's great. But I didn't expect it at all. I've had fans from America, Italy and Thailand also donate and message. The support has come from everywhere. The video has 26million views!"
The fan is known in the community as 'Westy' and has supported Norwich since he was nine
Mr West will be running the Tonbridge half marathon in Kent for Macmillan Cancer Support in OctoberAsked what his message would be to his trolls, the majority of whom have now deleted their messages, he replied: "I'd say you're never going to win. Thanks to everyone who has supported. I appreciate all the donations. It's been amazing. It's wonderful. Football is the winner."
The donations started to pour in after Chris Reeve, co-host of BBC Radio Norfolk's fanzine show The Scrimmage, shared a message online. 'Westy' had asked the journalist to make a charity donation but little did he know that he would become a social media superstar overnight - and for all the right reasons.
He reflected: "Chris Reeve messaged my brother and put a call to action out about owing me a crate of beers. I didn't want the beers but asked him to donate and he took it up to £500 to get the total and then shared it. Then the next morning my brother said 'look it's gone crazy' and then all of a sudden it was getting posted all over social media."
The fan has also been invited to go on to The Scrimmage show and is expected to be joined by famous Norwich fan and new Sky Sports Soccer Saturday host Simon Thomas. On potentially meeting the celebrity fan, he said: "He's going to be there. It will be amazing to meet him."
Mr Reeve, who is also a co-host of Talk Norwich City fan channel, has hailed the impact of social media after putting his message out to his followers. But what has surprised the podcaster the most is the fact that fans of Ipswich Town, fierce rivals of Norwich, have pledged their support.
He added: "Don't get me wrong, I never expected this gesture of kindness to go viral. The response has absolutely been out of this world. What has pleasantly surprised me isn't just the wider footballing family have got involved - but even Ipswich Town fans have got involved! That speaks volumes.
"It's just one of those things - it doesn't happen often - but I think its showing what the power of social media can do. It's educated people as well. There's one particular comment - I wont name them - but effectively they've apologised and said 'I'm sorry, I posted something nasty but I hope this donation makes up for it and I've taken my comment down'.
"It makes me wonder if people are now ready to fight against online abuse rather than let it happen. People want to sort it out and put it right. This is how the football family want to fight against the trolls and the abuse he got.
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"But this hasn't just fought against the trolls. It's educated some of the football fans who said nasty things. This is something that Westy can be incredible proud of achieving. A normal bloke from Norfolk has literally raised £45k and he's educated people which is an added bonus."
You can donate to Westy's fundraiser on his Just Giving page.