'Heartbroken': John Westwood gutted after iconic wig stolen by rival supporter at Portsmouth game near Southampton
The Petersfield Bookshop owner is easily recognisable at Portsmouth matches
John Westwood admits he is ‘heartbroken’ after his iconic blue wig was stolen by rival supporters.
The Pompey fan, who is easily recognisable by his distinctive match-day dress sense, attended the Blues’ Hampshire Senior Cup fixture at Romsey Town on Tuesday night.
A bumper crowd of 1,022 turned up for the match at the Bypass Ground home of the Wessex League Division One club, with a large number of Southampton supporters also present.
During the second half, with Westwood’s wig lying on an outside table in front of him, an opportunist home fan snatched it.
Romsey have confirmed they called out Hampshire and Isle Of Wight Constabulary, who subsequently attended, in an attempt to prevent the situation escalating.
However, despite the best efforts of stewards and the police present, they were unable to retrieve the wig.
Westwood: The last thing I want is to cause trouble
Westwood told The News: ‘I was sitting there, we’d had a great evening, having a laugh and everyone was fine. Then they started singing “We hate Pompey”, so I started singing “Play Up Pompey”. A bit of fun.
‘My wig, hat, bell and bugle were on the (outside) table in front of me and suddenly one of their fans walked past, grabbed the wig as he went by and ran off.
‘It happened too quickly for me to stop him. Then he took it into a mob of them and I didn’t see it again. I was on my own, so I suppose it was easy to do.
‘I get the banter, I get all that. This is obviously a Pompey/Southampton thing, it is what it is, it’s not something you want to happen to you. The stewards tried to find him, but it had gone.
‘The last thing I want is to cause trouble, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. I just love this football club - and it breaks my heart when something like that happens.
‘I didn’t want any of it, I just wanted to support Pompey. In the end, the club called the police and they joined stewards to form a protective shield around me. I didn’t want that to be honest, I’ve been around in the 70s and 80s, so I felt embarrassed.
‘I have nothing against Romsey, though, they are an absolutely lovely little football club, with lovely people. When I got there, their manager came up to me for a chat, they were so nice.
‘They were so apologetic afterwards, nothing against them whatsoever. The police who turned up were really nice as well.
‘It is what it is, I suppose.’
Ahead of this weekend’s first south-coast derby for five years, Westwood had admitted how Southampton supporters ‘hate’ him due to his Pompey loyalties.
Footage of the wig being stolen has since emerged, while it has now been listed for sale on Facebook Marketplace.
‘It won’t stop me’
Regardless, Westwood will be at St Mary’s on Sunday - wearing a different blue wig.
He added: ‘That wig cost me a lot of money at the time, I had it for 20 years. I’ve got a sort of back-up one, just in case it was nicked, but it’s a cheap and cheerful one from eBay.
‘Still, it won’t stop me, I’ll be wearing that on Sunday at their place, cheering on Pompey.’
Romsey Town have apologised to Westwood and pledged to continue trying to find the culprit.