Soccer Ashes

Soccer Ashes

Founded	1923;102 years ago (1923)
Number of teams	2
Current champions	Australia
Most successful team(s)	Australia (5 series wins)

The Soccer Ashes is a soccer trophy contested by Australia and New Zealand. ^[1] It was initially held between the 1920s and 1950s before the trophy was lost. ^{[2] [3]} The trophy was found in 2023, and a renewal was held in London in October. ^[1]

History

The concept of awarding a trophy made of ashes was inspired by the Ashes urn awarded to the winner of series between Australia and England in cricket.

The Soccer Ashes were created in 1923 after New Zealand had defeated Australia in the inaugural series in 1922. The ashes consisted of the remains of cigars smoked by the two captains, Alec Gibb (Australia) and George Campbell (New Zealand), after the first match between the two teams on Australian soil in June 1923. The ashes were encased in a razor case used by an Australian soldier, William Fisher during the Gallipoli campaign during World War I. The case was then set in a box made of wood from both countries. ^{[4] [5] [6]}

The whereabouts of the trophy were not known from the mid-1950s until it was found in 2023 at the estate of former Australian Soccer Football Association chairman Sydney Storey by his grandchildren. ^{[7] [6]} Upon the recovery of the trophy, the first edition of the match since 1954 was scheduled for October. ^[1] It was played in London, with Australia winning the series. ^[8]

List of Soccer Ashes series

Series	Year	Host	Home team	Results			Away team	Ref.
1	1922	New Zealand	New Zealand	3–1	1–1	3–1	Australia	[9]
2	1923	Australia	Australia	2–1	2–3	1–4	New Zealand
3	1933	Australia	Australia	4–2	6–4	4–2	New Zealand
4	1936	New Zealand	New Zealand	1–7	0–10	1–4	Australia
5	1948	New Zealand	New Zealand	0–6	0–7	0–4	Australia
6	1954	Australia	Australia	1–2	4–1	4–1	New Zealand
7	2023	England	Australia	2–0			New Zealand	[10]

Results

2023

18 October 2023 (2023-10-18)

19:45 (UTC+0)

Australia	2–0	New Zealand
Souttar 13' Irvine 76'	Report

Gtech Community Stadium, London

1954

14 August 1954

Australia	1–2	New Zealand
Robertson 75'	Report	King 5' Steele 7'

Melbourne Showgrounds, Melbourne

Referee: G. Gatt (Australia)

28 August 1954

Australia	4–1	New Zealand
Robertson ?' Stewart ?', ?' Lennard ?'	Report	Ted Smith ?'

Brisbane Cricket Ground, Brisbane

Attendance: 7,000

Referee: V. Robertson (Australia)

4 September 1954

Australia	4–1	New Zealand
Murphy ?' Nunn ?', ?' Stewart ?'	Report	Steele ?'

Sydney Sports Ground, Sydney

Attendance: 5,798

Referee: Dick Thorpe (Australia)

1948

14 August 1947

New Zealand	0–6	Australia
	Report	Parsons ?', ?', ?' Hughes ?', ?' Cunningham ?'

Basin Reserve, Wellington

Attendance: ^[11]

Referee: V. Wheeler (New Zealand)

28 August 1948

New Zealand	0–7	Australia
	Report	Parsons ?', ?', ?' Hughes ?', ?' Cunningham ?' Johns ?'

Lancaster Park, Christchurch

Referee: T. Gottermeyer (New Zealand)

4 September 1948

New Zealand	0–4	Australia
	Report	Johns ?', ?' Hughes ?' Lawrie ?'

Basin Reserve, Wellington

Attendance: 3,000

Referee: J. Sanderson (New Zealand)

11 September 1948

New Zealand	1–8	Australia
Masters ?'	Report	Parsons ?', ?', ?', ?', ?', ?' Cunningham ?' Hughes ?'

Blandford Park, Auckland

Attendance: 7,000

Referee: C.G. Edwards (New Zealand)

See also

• Trans-Tasman Cup
• Australia–New Zealand soccer rivalry

References

1. "All Whites to face Socceroos for historic Soccer Ashes trophy this October in London". www.nzfootball.co.nz. New Zealand Football . Retrieved 10 July 2023.
2. Rugari, Vince; Bossi, Dominic (11 April 2019). "FFA backing fresh push to find the lost 'Soccer Ashes'". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
3. Bertram, Gavin (22 April 2015). "Anzac Ashes the forgotten sporting battle played between Australia and New Zealand". Stuff. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
4. "Soccer Ashes". Sun-Herald. 5 September 1954. Retrieved 19 February 2014– via National Library of Australia.
5. "The Soccer Ashes of Australasia". Hawera & Normanby Star. 3 May 1924. Retrieved 19 February 2014– via National Library of New Zealand.
6. "ANZAC Soccer Ashes Trophy recovered". Football Australia. 24 April 2023. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
7. "Anzac 'Soccer Ashes' trophy found after vanishing for 69 years". Guardian Australia . 25 April 2023. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
8. Lynch, Joey (18 October 2023). "Jackson Irvine seals Socceroos win over New Zealand to claim 'Soccer Ashes'". Guardian Australia . Retrieved 22 November 2023.
9. Curulli, Chris (13 July 2023). "What is the Soccer Ashes Trophy? Find out more about the prize for October's match v New Zealand". socceroos.com.au. Football Australia (FA). While the Soccer Ashes trophy was not masterminded and built until 1923, it was actually played for a year earlier. Australia and New Zealand took to the pitch for their first 'A' Internationals in June 1922 in Dunedin, Wellington and Auckland, before a return tour in Australia in 1923. With a well-organised set-up, boosted by the heroics of their captain George Campbell, New Zealand had the edge throughout these fixtures, winning two and drawing one of the first series.
10. Gibson, Tim (18 October 2023). "Socceroos secure Soccer Ashes with comfortable New Zealand win". Socceroos . Football Australia.
11. "Socceroo Internationals for 1948". ozfootball.net.