The Concept and History of the Cup

The Chefs Soccer Charity Cup 2008 is an annual tournament, now in its fourth year. Robin Wickens, chef/owner of Interlude, was the driving force in establishing this event in 2005, rallying the Melbourne restaurant industry to get involved and support this fantastic cause. The inaugural event in December 2005 saw teams from eight of Melbourne’s top restaurants play a charity soccer tournament to raise funds for the Starlight Children's Foundation.

In 2006, sixteen of Melbourne’s top restaurants played in the annual tournament, with the addition of the inaugural Chefs Soccer Charity Chefs Dinner. This event, a sixteen chef dinner, was a fantastic complement to the tournament, with over 350 guests enjoying fabulous food and wine. 2007 saw the event continue to grow in size, with a key group of Sydney food industry leaders and chefs invited along.

As a result, this dedicated committee has raised over $320,000 in the first three years of this fantastic event.

In 2008, the committee plans to expand on their success with a bigger and better tournament and a fantastic themed Charity Cocktail Party in the following week.

The Heinz Charity Chefs Cocktail Party will provide guests with the opportunity to sample a knockout ‘grazing dish’ cooked by the assorted top chefs and restaurant teams. This format will enable guests to interact with the chefs and experience their chosen dishes in a sumptuous cocktail party format. Featuring an awesome live entertainment line up of Gentleman’s Swing Club, Georgia Fields and The Freeways, Dirty Laundry and DJ John Course, this is going to be the cocktail party of the year!

The 2008 Charity Cup will take place on Sunday 5 October 2008 with the Charity Cocktail Party on Sunday 12 October.