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.
Weston Bears coach stunned by red cards in 4-0 loss to Hamilton
Weston Bears coach Trevor Morris is still struggling to understand how three players were sent off in Saturday's 4-0 loss to Hamilton.
Morris said the game will be remembered for three red cards, but even after watching a replay he struggled to see how any of them could be justified...
Read the full article online at the Maitland Mercury
Weston travelled to Darling St on Saturday night to take on Olympic. The Bears U19s kicked the night off with a 3-0 defeat.
U22s were very unlucky and deserved more than a 2-1 loss.
1st Grade were well and truly up for this encounter having shared the points with Broadmeadow the previous week. The early stages of the game had everyone on notice for an entertaining game. Unfortunately this was short lived when midway through the first half Bears keeper Benn Kelly was controversially sent off and a converted penalty the result. This changed the game completely and although Weston continued to work hard and remain competitive it became a mammoth task when a second red card, with 10 mins to go and at 2-0 down, was shown to Robbie Turnbull. The end result being a 4-0 defeat.
View the full replay below...
Weston's youth travelled this week to Speers Point to take on the Emerging Jets.
They are always difficult games against the Jets and a great challenge for our players to rise to. Rise they did with some super perfomances while representing their Club superbly!
Well done all and...
C'mon You Bears!!!
U13 | Jets 1:3 Weston
U14 | Jets 0:3 Weston
U15 | Jets P:P Weston (to be played Wednesday May 11)
U17 | Jets 1:1 Weston
