The inaugural Cup will be held from March 3-5 and involve clubs with a history of 100 years or more. Adamstown Rosebud, Cessnock, Edgeworth, Lake Macquarie, Maryland Fletcher, Wallsend, West Wallsend and Weston will take part in the first edition. Maryland Fletcher were included to acknowledge the area where the region’s first club, Minmi Rangers, was established.

Harper, a football analyst with Fox Sports, proposed the concept, which Northern NSW Football backed. It is hoped more clubs from the region will be invited once they have reached their centenary.

“Away from the national stage of modern football, it’s great to make the effort to recognise those clubs who put the game where it is today,” Harper said in a statement. “These clubs, with miners who walked out of the pits and onto a roughshod field to kick a ball around with mates for recreation, were the founding fathers of our great game.

“Their strength of character, their own love of the game and their persistence are all traits that carry on into our players today. The Heritage Cup is a great way to acknowledge the significance of those early years and the clubs who have stood the test of time in the region and whose players share that same passion. 

“Acknowledging and celebrating football’s rich history hasn’t always been a strong point for our game and the Heritage Cup is a means to address that.”