The gold trophy awarded to the eventual winners of each FIFA World Cup tournament is the most prized award in football. But the trophy that will be awarded to whichever team ultimately wins in South Africa in 2010 will not lift the original trophy, first awarded in 1930, but a replacement that has been in use since the original was worn, the Jules Rimet Trophy. awarded in perpetuity to Brazil in 1970, in recognition of their third World Cup victory. But the story behind the fate of the Jules Rimet trophy is much stranger than you might imagine.

The trophy itself was first created for the first World Cup in Uruguay in 1930. At the time it was officially known as the “Victoria”, it was not until 1946 that the name was changed for the man whose vision had spawned the competition. first. It was a true work of art. Designed by Abel Lafleur, its blue lapis lazuli base featured a solid gold representation of the goddess Nike, the ancient Greek patron saint of victory.

In January 1966, the Jules Rimet Trophy arrived in London so that it could be displayed before the World Cup, scheduled for that same year in England. The trophy was left in the care of the English Football Association, who kept it at their headquarters at Lancaster Gate, displaying it publicly only on a few well-organized occasions.

However, in February, the Stanley Gibbons Stamp Company applied to the FA for permission to “borrow” the trophy, to be used as the central attraction for its Stampex exhibition the following month. The company promised it would be well guarded and covered it with a $30,000 insurance policy, even though it was only valued at $3,000.

In March the exhibition opened in Westminster’s Central Hall. Two guards were employed to stand near the trophy day and night, accompanied by two plainclothes police during the day. But still, it was later admitted that neither had their eyes on the prized cup at all times.

On Sunday March 20, security guards conducting their midday inspection discovered that the cabinet containing the Jules Rimet trophy had been prayerfully opened and the award was missing.

Scotland Yard took over the investigation immediately, but the first leads failed. Then, on Monday March 21, FA Chairman Joe Mears received an anonymous phone call at his office. The caller said Mears could expect a package addressed to him to be delivered to the Chelsea Football Club the next day.

But the package arrived at the Mears house. It contained the removable lining of the Jules Rimet trophy and a note demanding fifteen thousand pounds in small notes. The note further instructed the FA to place a coded advertisement in the personal contacts column of The Evening News. If subsequent demands followed, the note continued, they would retrieve the trophy on Friday.

The events of the following days seem like something out of an old gangster movie. Mears contacted Scotland Yard, who began to put a plan into action. Fake money packages were created and two officers were assigned to be with Mears at all times. Meanwhile, he was sent home to await another phone call.

When the phone call finally came, a terrified Mears was in the throat of an asthma attack. His wife handed the phone over to his assistant McPhee (who was Detective Inspector Buggy in real life). “McPhee” was instructed to proceed, cash in hand, to nearby Battersea Park.

Buggy moved forward, followed by several Flying Squad colleagues in unmarked cars. At the door he was met by a “Mr. Jackson” Buggy who showed the man the suitcase and did not realize that the coin was counterfeit. Buggy demanded to see the trophy before handing over the money. Jackson agreed, getting into Buggy’s car and promising to take him to the trophy.

Somewhere along the way, “Jackson” realized that they were being followed and became nervous. He motioned for Buggy to stop at the next traffic light so he could go get the trophy from his stash. After getting out of the car, he fled. Buggy gave chase and eventually found him hiding in a private garden. At the police station he was identified as Edward Betchley, a local car dealer and petty thief. He was charged with the robbery and the subsequent extortion attempt, but the Jules Rimet trophy was still missing.

On March 27 a local, David Corbett and his dog Pickles were walking around the Beulah Hill area of ​​South London, as was their custom. The dog discovered a package, roughly wrapped in newspaper. Corbett opened it and immediately recognized its contents. He immediately handed over the Jules Rimet World Cup trophy to the local Gypsy Hill police station. It is possible that his browser does not support the display of this image.

Although initially under suspicion, Corbett had an ironclad alibi for the time of the theft and after FA officials positively identified the trophy as genuine, news of his recovery broke and Pickles found himself hailed as a national hero. .

Corbett received a $12,000 reward, and Pickles even had a brief movie career. In the summer of 1966 England won the World Cup, so the Jules Rimet trophy remained hidden in England for another year. Immediately after the recovery of the original, a replica was created to display for public purposes.

In 1970, on the instructions of the man himself 40 years earlier, when Brazil triumphed in the competition he conceived for the third time, they were given the Jules Rimet trophy to keep. A new trophy was created to be awarded to future winners. Your browser may not support the display of this image.

In 1983, the Jules Rimet cup was stolen once again and has never been found. Investigators believe it was immediately melted down for its gold value, and Pickles the dog was no longer around to help them search for it.