A New Lease of Life for the Queen’s Park Shield

For over 100 years the Queen’s Park Shield has been the jewel in the crown of student sport trophies in Scotland.

Initially contested between the four ‘Ancients’ (the Universities of Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and St. Andrews) whose crests each feature on the shield, in recent years the competition has been dominated by other institutions. Wednesday’s meeting between Heriot-Watt University and the University of Stirling will be the fourth time in five years the two sides have met in the final.

So many years of being lifted and celebrated with by student footballers has clearly taken its toll on the old shield. Recent winners have been encouraged to take care when lifting as to not displace the solid silver figurine who was starting to show some wobble while stain marks were clearly present from years of silvo. So, where do you take a unique shield with over a hundred years of history to return it to its former best?

Step forward Will Murray from the Scottish Conservation Studio.

The objects Will has helped conserve are both historic and eclectic; his back catalogue a sign of the talents he holds. Recently from the world of sport he has been entrusted with a pair of Pele’s boots – complete with mud from 1969 – and an intricate model of Ibrox. Sporting artifacts are far from his only specialty. Also in the studio on the day of our visit was a shipwrecked sculpture from Shetland – admittedly a far more complex project than our wee shield!

Will was entrusted to strip the shield back into its many pieces and identify required repairs, which included:

• Fixing the footballer by re-threading a new rod and soldering a fresh pin to keep him secure
• Repair the chipped blue enamel on the University of Edinburgh crest
• Deep clean the wood to remove years of staining from polishing
• Carefully examine each silver plate and bring it back to life with some careful polishing
• Coat the shield with some light wax to offer future protection from tarnish, handling and the environment

As can be seen from the before and after photos the shield has been through quite the transformation! Its conservation, and careful management in the future, should hopefully leave the Queen’s Park Shield in good shape for many years to come.

Its first outing will come on Wednesday 1st April as its two most recent holders, Heriot-Watt University and the University of Stirling, battle it out in the Final at Oriam.