West Wallsend SFC have the chance to return to the top flight of football in Northern NSW for the first time since 2012 when they challenge Valentine FC in the highly-anticipated promotion/relegation play-off series final from 2pm at Magic Park this Saturday.
The Bluebells are ready to leave it all on the line for a spot in the NPL Men’s NNSW competition for 2026, and their skipper Bryson Cox is determined to lead from the front in what could be a defining moment for both his career and the club’s future.
The 2025 campaign has been Cox’s 11th at the club since arriving at Johnston Park in 2015.
The near 200-gamer has experienced the highs and lows of being a Bluebell, copping a wooden spoon finish in his first campaign and being the driving force of the turnaround in the heart of their defensive line to eventually captaining the club to a championship in 2023.
That penalty shootout grand final victory on home soil just over two years ago was one of his most special footballing memories, but his ultimate goal has always been to play at an NPL level with the Bluebells.
He and his teammates have the chance to finally turn that dream into a reality on Saturday.
“We’ve come right from the bottom to be here. My first year at Westy, we were dead last,” Cox said.
“It would be nice to finish that turnaround off with a promotion. The goal has always been to play an NPL game with West Wallsend.
“This club means a lot to me. I’ve been there for so long and seen the struggles and the changes to the quality in the team and the personnel behind the scenes to pull the club from where it was to where it is now.
“Our standards and expectations have lifted. This year, for there to be so much pressure on us when we were running fifth, it speaks volumes of how far we’ve come when previously we were just happy to not come last.”
Cox, his brother Bailey who is the club’s first grade coach, and everyone else involved in the playing group at the Bluebells were disappointed with their regular season results in 2025.
It was not too long ago there were question marks around whether they would even make the top four.
But a late surge in form and plenty of internal drive and belief have brought them to the brink of a return to the top flight for the first time in 13 years.
They are now ready to aim up against a Valentine FC team that they know will bring plenty of intensity and enthusiasm as the Phoenix battle to remain in the NPLM competition.
The Bluebells’ skipper is confident that they can get the job done, especially having learned plenty of lessons after crashing out of last year’s inaugural play-off series in an extra-time semi-final loss against Adamstown Rosebud.
“This weekend, if we aim up and play with the enthusiasm we did against Toronto, we’re going to be very hard to beat,” Cox said.
“Against Adamstown last year, we showed them too much respect in the first leg and we didn’t back ourselves. We went after them in the second leg and we were unlucky in the end. This year against Valo, we’ll be going at them right from the start.
“We’re a fitter side now than we were last year. We’ve worked hard on that. I personally went off with a cramp in the last minutes of that second leg, and I won’t be letting that happen again this year.”
