The 50th anniversary of Bermuda Football Association?s prestigious Challenge Cup competition will be celebrated in just over a month?s time on April 9.

And to mark the milestone a special committee has been formed to review various proposals put forward to commemorate the occasion prior to and during next month?s final at the National Sports Centre.

The five-man committee ? who met earlier this week ? is headed by BFA executive Charles Clarke and also includes Honorary BFA Life President Charlie Marshall, Southampton Rangers Sports Club president John Tucker, local sports historian Warrington (Soup) Zuill and former BAA footballer Maurice Hankey who played in the inaugural FA Cup Final in 1956 which BAA won 3-2 over Southampton Rangers.

A formal presentation ceremony and pre-game and half-time activities during next month?s final at the NSC are just a few of the initiatives currently under review.

?I think it?s important that after 50 years we look back and remember what happened in that first FA Cup final. This was the beginning of what some considered the amalgamation of football in Bermuda,? said Clarke.

Marshall concurred.

?It was not only a game of football, it was a significant change in Bermuda because this was one of the first occasions when white and black teams played in a competition together,? he said. ?So it was the start of the integration process of Bermuda through sport which has been one of the biggest benefits of it all.

?That match had a big impact on all of Bermuda and all of us who were involved in football at the time.?

In 1963 local football was desegregated when the Bermuda Football League (BFL) and the Bermuda Football Combination (BFC) amalgamated to become the Bermuda Football Union (BFU) ? the forerunner of today?s BFA.

?It was good to see this (amalgamation) happen and I think Bermuda is a lot stronger because of it,? Marshall continued.

?Unfortunately a lot of teams that were around during those days have gone by the wayside or amalgamated with other clubs.?

The former top referee was referring to the likes of Academicals, Key West Rangers, West End Rovers, Pembroke Juniors, Wellington Rovers, Dock Hill Rangers and Devonshire Lions to name but a few.

?But it?s a pleasure to still be around to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the FA Cup and I am just happy with the little contribution that I?ve been able to make,? Marshall added.

?Sports in my life has made me what I am today. And I?m sure sports also had a profound impact on a lot of young people. So we all try to put back into Bermuda what Bermuda has done for us. And it?s good to see tradition being carried on.?

Marshall is a past BFA, BFC and Bermuda Referees Association executive who refereed locally for 48 years and was a FIFA appointed match official for 16 years.

Historian Zuill recalled the inaugural final played at the Old Prospect Field.

?The attendance was very good considering it was the first FA Cup competition,? said Zuill, grandfather of Devonshire Cougars? striker Aljame Zuill. ?The surprise team to reach the final was Southampton Rangers because those days the top teams were Key West Rangers and Pembroke Juniors.

?So it was a very good game and the goals were excellent. It was a very good competition.?

Rangers would have to wait another 28 years before they won a first ever FA Cup in 1984 under coach Rick Richardson who also coached Warwick United to the 1980 final at the former National Stadium.

PHC Zebras, who currently share the record for the most wins in the competition (nine) along with Somerset Trojans, became the first local black club to win the coveted showpiece in 1956-57 after defeating the mighty Pembroke Juniors 4-3 in a seven-goal thriller.

Zebras also became the first ever club to win the cup three times in succession in 1962 when they defeated West End Rovers in the final.

Since then only Social Club and Trojans have managed to hoist the FA Cup three times in a row. Trojans were the last to achieve the feat in 1970 when they defeated Academicals 3-1.

Over the last 26 years only four clubs have managed to win the FA Cup in consecutive years, eight-time champions North Village the last club to do so in 2003.

PHC were also the first club to win the FA Cup and be relegated from the Premier Division in the same season in 1980.