Daughter upset at club 'losing' dad's memorial

A daughter said she was mourning her dad again nearly four decades after his death, following a football club's removal of a memorial stone that contained some of his ashes.

Julie Westwood paid £99 for the "permanent" stone in 2000 which she regularly visited at Birmingham City, but on 20 December she discovered it was "nowhere to be found" when she went to lay flowers for Christmas.

"It's worse than losing him again as I've got nowhere to go now," she said.

The club have since showed her a stone with her dad's name on, but she says it does not match the original. A spokesperson said they had "engaged directly" with Westwood and were "disappointed" a "positive conclusion" could not be reached.

Her dad, Roy Westwood, who grew up in Balsall Heath, was a lifelong Blues fan and "devoted supporter", before he died in 1988.

Julie Westwood had joined him at St Andrew's from the age of 10 and said even during an eight-year illness with a brain tumour, they always found a way to show their support.

"He couldn't go down to the Blues very often but he'd say to me, 'could you take me down the match' and I'd get him there whatever way I could", she added.

Julie Westwood said when Birmingham City introduced the memorials, 12 years after his death, she decided to have a stone laid with a "few of his ashes" in the cement" as "that's where his heart was" and he did not have another grave.

The stone was placed beside the club's main entrance off Cattell Road and she received a certificate that stated it was a "permanent memento", which would "last a lifetime".

"I used to go every home match, every birthday, every Christmas, every anniversary, I've always done it, even driving past I'd stop and go and say hello to my Dad," she added.

The 63-year-old said she was devastated the stone was missing and described how a vertical blank brick was now in its place.

Julie Westwood contacted the club and was invited for a meeting in January, where she was taken to a brick that the club claimed to be her dad's.

"It's not the same colour, it's not got my mom's, mine or my daughter's name on it", she said.

She added that it was also in a completely different place, further forward and closer to the main road than the original.

In a statement, the club said a "permanent memorial" did not mean the original stone would "remain in a single fixed location indefinitely" but that it would always be in an "accessible location" at the stadium.

When asked specifically about where the missing stone was, the club said it was "making no further comment".

Julie Westwood said she felt worse now than when her dad died as it had been a "blessing" for him to be out of pain and she knew "he would eventually be at St Andrew's".

"Now it's gone, it's just like losing him all over again," she added.

After several emails from Julie Westwood to try to track down the stone, the club responded to her emails with an "offer of goodwill" of £250 - but it came with conditions.

They outlined that it was not a "compensation payment" and if she were to accept the offer, she must not share any details that a "goodwill payment" had been made with third parties - or share any details of the payment on social media.

Westwood said she would never go back to the club or support the team again.

"They don't deserve me to support them how they have treated me," she said.

"I know it's been a long time since he's passed, but at the end of the day he's still my dad."

The club said it recognised and respected the "deep sentimental value" the tribute stones held.

They added that they have offered to install a new stone, with the intention to move it when the club relocates to its new stadium.

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