Corrimal Rangers unveil Dent Cup in honour of beloved club stalwarts

Peter and his wife Beryl had just arrived on Australian shores from England, and he was looking for a place to kick the football with his two young sons.

The field - home of the Corrimal Rangers - became so much more for the Dents.

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Over the next five decades, Peter and Beryl have done anything and everything to keep the Rangers humming off the field, both through the glory years and tougher times.

The Dents have fulfilled a broad range of roles within the Rangers since 1971, which included Beryl being treasurer and long-time canteen coordinator. As for Peter, he's done "everything in every position at the club - and sometimes all of them in one go".

Peter said the couple had "been welcomed with open arms" by the Corrimal club.

"I think they thought 'oh, there's some new Pommies around. I bet he's be a good soccer player'. But they got the shock of their lives because I was useless," Peter said with a laugh.

"But I joined the committee and here we are 50 years later. I had a bit of a spell, we went to the World Cup in Italy in 1991. And we came back and they had managed without us, so we left. But then they amalgamated with Russell Vale and I had to go back and get the Rangers back.

"I just love it at Corrimal."

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Peter and Beryl recently announced that they were ready to step down from club commitments, and the couple have now been immortalised with a very special honour.

The Rangers have introduced the Dent Cup, which will be held when the club annually hosts Premier League rivals Tarrawanna at Memorial Park. One of the key reasons why the Blueys were chosen to take part is because their club president is the Dents' son, Michael.

The new cup was unveiled when the two first-grade IPL sides met last Sunday, with the Blueys recording a 2-1 victory.

"Peter and Beryl been at our club through the good times and bad," Rangers president Maurizio Villella told the Mercury.

"We've only just recently just come back up to the Premier League, so they were while we were in the District League and trying to battle to come back up. And we had a few of seasons in the District League where we had no wins, but they still stuck it out and kept battling along.

"They're the backbone of the club, they kept it going. Honestly, Corrimal Rangers wouldn't be here if they weren't here through those hard times - the club would have folded."

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