As soon as Terry Hickey pulled the protruding handle from a bin of scrap metal and freed the the object, he knew exactly what he was holding....

"At that time I knew what I had in my hands. Being a History and Australian Studies graduate from Deakin University, Australian sport is a research area I am so passionate about.

It's hard to convey what I felt  at that moment. Certainly surprise and grateful of the find but, a little bitter. Bitter because this is not just a sponsors cup, it is 12 years of NSW Australian Soccer history. How could this happen?"

Terrence Hickey 2016

How many times have you looked at the fantastic 1936 photo of the all conquering Weston team? Well, in that photo is the State Cup. Right next to the legend James 'Skeeta' Wilkinson and a young club mascot.

On February 26 Terry contacted our Club and briefly explained what he had in his possession and if we would like to work with him to restore this wonderful piece of history?
Bears President - Rod Henderson, Vice President - Duncan Nisbet and Club Secretary - Shane Johnson met Terry not long after and were blown away with what was sitting on the table in front of them. They immediately agreed to exploring the different avenues and advice to restoration.

Their investigations led to the famed WJ Sanders. W.J. Sanders & Company was established in Sydney by accomplished Birmingham silversmith William Sanders in 1911, and is today, the only traditional manufacturing silversmith still operating in Australia. Amazed by this trophy and even more by the story of how it was saved, the people at WJ Sanders were adamant that the the process to restore begin ASAP. 

The State Cup is now, as we speak, taking a long soak to clean and prepare for the next phase of it's new life.

We look forward to bringing you more updates soon and what the future holds for the cup.