A little bit of history: The Soccer Ashes

[El Presidente]

 

ANZAC Soccer Ashes trophy rediscovered in suburban garage after almost 70 years

By Samantha Lewis

Posted 14h ago14 hours ago

For decades, Australian football has been hunting down an object described as "the greatest domestic treasure there is": a small, hand-carved wooden box containing the ashes of two cigars smoked by the captains of Australia and New Zealand after their first 'A' international match on Australian soil in June, 1923.

Known as the Soccer Ashes, this precious relic was the first trophy that was ever contested between the two trans-Tasman rivals, and forms a key chapter in the larger history of the Socceroos.

The trophy was the brainchild of New Zealand team manager and trophy-maker Harry Mayer, who was convinced the two nations needed to play for something physical, something real, like what they had in cricket.

Mayer designed the casket with a combination of woods — New Zealand honeysuckle and Australian maple, to be precise — and adorned its lid with iconic national imagery, a kangaroo and two silver ferns, symbolising the relationship between the two nations.

The lid of the Soccer Ashes contains symbols of Australia and New Zealand.(Football Australia)

Inside the box, nestled into deep blue velvet lining, was a small silver-plated razor case that belonged to Private William Fisher, then-secretary of the Queensland Football Association, who'd carried it with him during the landing at Gallipoli in 1915 — the event that began the ANZAC legend.

For 30 years, Australia and New Zealand contested the Soccer Ashes, with the trophy travelling back and forth across the Tasman, paying homage to their wartime origin story.

But in 1954, the trophy completely disappeared.

Rumours swirled as to the trophy's whereabouts, with some fearing it had been thrown away or destroyed entirely by someone who did not appreciate its significance.

And were it not for the ongoing efforts of historians Trevor Thompson and Ian Syson — who, with the backing of Football Australia and some government funding, spearheaded a project to track down the trophy in 2019 — it may have faded from Australian football's collective memory, too.

Until now.

69 years after its last known sighting, the Soccer Ashes have finally been found.

The Soccer Ashes were found in the garage of Sydney Storey, former chairman of the Australian Soccer Football Association (ASFA) in the mid-20th century.(Football Australia)

Discovered by the family of former Australian Soccer Football Association (ASFA) chairman Sydney Storey, who helped run the game between 1922 and 1966, the trophy was identified amongst a treasure trove of football memorabilia, documents, photos, and other items as they sorted through old boxes in his garage after his death.

The sheer volume of artefacts meant the family took over a year to actually go through each box and verify their contents, but once they realised what they had on their hands, they immediately got in contact with FA.

"The large shed was literally full of relics of past days, and not easy to move around in," Storey's son Peter said.

"Most of these boxes had sat there untouched, decade after decade, until we started to go through them.

"There were so many historical, classical last-century items in the garage — even in the house — and the items we came across were of great interest. These included team photos, annual reports of the ASFA, an ASFA's official badge, newspaper clippings, souvenir soccer match leaflets.

"And, importantly, found inside a well-sealed box, a wooden football match souvenir, which we identified as the Australia-New Zealand Soccer Ashes trophy.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-25/anzac-soccer-ashes-rediscovered-after-almost-70-years/102263154

[Chibearsv]

Very cool

[99call]

Awesome but of history