A $5000 reward is now in play in the search for a World War I honour board naming Newcastle soccer players who fought in World War I.
Northern NSW Football, Merewether Advance Senior Football Club and Football Nation Radio are offering the reward to find the honour roll, which lists the names of 69 Advance players.
The Newcastle Herald reported this month that Melbourne football historian Ian Syson was in the city looking for the board, which was lost after the Merewether School of Arts on Glebe Road was demolished.
Mr Syson, who has documented Australian football's contribution to the war effort, said 500 of the city's 650 senior players had enlisted.
The Merewether club raised money for the honour board at a game on June 25, 1917, against Sydney visitors Annandale Altona FC in front of a crowd of 2000.
"After 102 years, this roll of honour board is missing and has not been seen by the club in decades," the three organisations said in a statement which described the reward as an Australian first.
"It is time to correct this injustice and return the board to Merewether Advance FC."
Anyone with information about the honour roll can call Syson on 0413 351 681.
