When Arthur and Maureen Leong hosted a 50th reunion of Hamilton Technical's 1962 Chatham Cup win they didn't expect a visit from Hamilton deputy mayor Gordon Chesterman.
Former soccer player Gordon read about the reunion in Hamilton News and decided to call in and catch up with old team mate Trevor Jones. The two played for a North Island reserve team.
Trevor was one of several players to attend, including Paul Nevison, Rae McLean, Charlie Caldwell, Arthur Leong (capt), John Dekkers and John Walker - a committee member of the time.
But Gordon's overriding memory was his coverage of that historic match, when a team from Hamilton beat the defending champion team from Dunedin, in Wellington, to become the first club from outside of a main centre to hoist the Chatham Cup.
Gordon remembers the 4-1 victory clearly. He was there.
"It doesn't seem like 50 years ago," he says, "but I have vivid memories of the whole weekend."
At the time, a younger, soccer-playing Chesterman was a cadet Waikato Times journalist. He was assigned to cover local soccer - but when it came to the Chatham Cup final in Wellington no one was sent to the assignment.
"I decided to go and cover the match myself. I bought a ticket on the overnight Limited Express to Wellington, went to the game and returned on the overnighter on the Saturday night.
"I wrote the story on Sunday and it was published on Monday - local team wins Chatham Cup."
Gordon recalls he was reimbursed for the rail ticket and was fortunate to be able to sleep on the train as there were no expenses for accommodation.
"The late Andy Quick, the Times' sports editor of the day, known to give bylines sparingly, published my story with the byline Staff Reporter, Wellington."
Gordon is now trying to locate the film of the match, which he believes was the first outside broadcast by a fledgling New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation.