Sporting officials said on Tuesday that this year’s “Soccer Ashes” match between Australia and New Zealand will be played for this long-forgotten trophy that was only recently unearthed, almost 70 years after it was lost.
The elaborate hardwood trophy, which has been named the “greatest domestic treasure” in Australian football, contains a silver razor case that was carried during the perilous Gallipoli landing during World War I.
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The trophy, which had been missing since 1954 when it had been a staple, was found again earlier this year during a clean-out of a suburban Sydney garage.
It contains the ashes of cigars that the Australian and New Zealand captains smoked following their 1923 match, and is reminiscent of the renowned Ashes cricket urn.
When the Australian Socceroos play the New Zealand All Whites at London’s Wembley Stadium in October, it will be on the line for the first time in 69 years.
The head of New Zealand Football, Andrew Pragnell, said: “This is a truly historic trophy and it will be brilliant to see it played for this year, and in future years, for the first time since the 1950s.”
The trophy, according to Football Australia’s chief executive James Johnson, is a “wonderful piece of sporting history” that emphasizes the strong Anzac military ties that exist between the two nations.
“Returning the trophy to its rightful place as the prize the Socceroos and All Whites play for was an easy decision when discussing the significance of the trophy and the story behind it,” the author writes.
The silver razor case was carried by Private William Fisher, a football administrator, during the Gallipoli landing in 1915. The wooden prize, or casket, was made from a combination of Australian maple wood and New Zealand honeysuckle.
Football historian Trevor Thompson stated earlier this year that “this is quite possibly the greatest domestic treasure there is in the game.”
The razor case that had traveled to Gallipoli made reference to the recent experience of fighting side by side during the First World War, and it is filled with so much imagery about the togetherness of the two countries.