The Meaning behind Ashley Westwood’s Captain’s Armband
Anton Walkes' #5 is de facto retired by Charlotte FC. The club should make it official.
As Charlotte FC’s captain, Ashley Westwood honors the late Anton Walkes every time he steps on the pitch.
In addition to the AW5 logo, there are two years on Charlotte FC captain Ashley Westwood’s captain’s armband: 1997 and 2023. It’s the year Anton Walkes was born, and the year the 25-year-old Charlotte FC defender passed away in a boating accident during Charlotte FC’s camp in Florida.
Walkes left behind a longtime partner, Alexis Sims, and a daughter, Ayla.
The accident darkened Charlotte FC’s sophomore season, and has reverberated in the years since. Ayla has often accompanied Westwood onto the pitch during pre-match ceremonies, and goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina has said that Ayla’s appearance at Charlotte’s final regular season match in 2023 gave him a “bigger power” in a match where he kept Inter Miami and Lionel Messi scoreless to take Charlotte to the postseason for the first time.
“When you see somebody from the family it's something different … immediately you are thinking how she felt and how big this moment is for her,” said Kahlina. “I gave something even more from me.”
This month, Charlotte fans yet again witnessed the human element of soccer as everyone on the pitch on Saturday, April 5 hoped and prayed Walker Zimmerman would be okay after he was concussed by an accidental kick and carted off the field. The gloom surrounding that moment is a reminder that there are things that happen on and off the pitch that are so much bigger than a scoreline.
All of us at Soccer Sheet are glad Zimmerman was released from the hospital quickly and that he’s on track for recovery. The greatest things in life - art, love, sport, and so many more - are meaningless without the human element. As much as you may love your team and dislike the others (and perhaps the officials even more), it takes two teams and scores of people to make a match happen.
That’s why, while no player has worn number 5 since Walkes’ death, it’s our opinion as both soccer reporters and fans of the sport that it’s past time for Charlotte FC to retire Anton Walkes’ #5.
Click here to add your name in support.
That’s not to say the club has been in the wrong - talk to anyone at Charlotte FC and the reverence for Anton is real and palpable to this day. It's why Westwood wears the armband, and the number #5 is de facto retired for the foreseeable future.
Furthermore, there are good arguments against retiring numbers. In soccer, perhaps more than in any other sport, numbers are linked to positions. Kristijan Kahlina could win MLS Goalkeeper of the Year four more times and still you’d be unlikely to see #1 retired because that number is linked to a club’s top goalkeeper throughout association football. There’s also the fundamental concept of a team, that it is greater together than the sum of its parts, and that no one player no matter how exceptional or special is greater than the team.
However, retiring numbers in North American soccer is not unheard of; the New York Cosmos retired #10 for Pelé during his testimonial match, and in more recent years the New York Red Bulls retired Bradley Wright-Phillips’ #99 after the player scored more than that number of goals with the club (with 108 goals, he’s the club’s all-time greatest scorer).
Just like singing the national anthem as a stadium, or performing a pre-match Poznań long after the departure of the club’s Polish trio, Anton Walkes is forever a part of Charlotte FC. The club should finally make it official - if not now, perhaps during the first home match of their fifth year.
Click here to add your name in support.
Co-signers
Ashe Hamrick
Kara Hunter, Queens’ Pitch
Luke Beadle, Queen City Soccer Show
Matthew Ridenhour
Nic Finelli, Charlotte FC Podcast (Side Story Media Group)
Rebekah Whilden, Soccer Sheet
Sam Spencer, Soccer Sheet
Yara Al Bayyari, Soccer Sheet
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