Football
The World Cup was stolen from under the noses of the hosts. What were the organizers thinking?
The legendary World Cup trophy has disappeared under surprising circumstances.
In 1966, the World Cup was entrusted to the founders of football – the British. For them, it was an incredible holiday, which, however, was almost spoiled by a real crime. The entire tournament was in jeopardy.
And one very smart dog saved the British from shame.
Cup theft
Shortly before the start of the championship, FIFA brought the World Cup to London. The trophy was an octagonal cup with Nike, the goddess of victory, in the center. It was decorated with semi-precious stones, and it also contained gold. Nika appeared in 1930 and was awarded until 1970.
The main award of the world championships was bewitching. It is not surprising that thousands of football fans from the UK wanted to take a closer look at it. A few months before the World Cup, it was decided to place the cup on public display in Westminster, in the center of London. FIFA and the Football Federation of England took care of the security issue in advance, but the company, which was entrusted with protecting the main trophy of the tournament, treated its work irresponsibly. At least one scoundrel managed to deceive them: quietly enter the hall at the end of the exhibition, calmly take the cup and hide with it.
What a scandal! While six unfortunate guards were justifying themselves for their sloppiness, the London police got down to business. The trophy had to be found before the start of the tournament. However, the first progress in the case did not appear thanks to the defenders of law and order: shortly after the theft, the president of the English Football Federation, Joe Mears, received a call demanding 15 thousand pounds sterling in exchange for the cup. At the time, that was a lot of money. If there is no ransom, the criminal promised to melt down Nika.
This could not be allowed, so the Football Federation of England made a deal with the permission of the police. During the transfer of the ransom, only part of which was genuine, the intermediary Edward Bechley was detained, who came to the meeting. He did not fit the description of a thief, and it was not possible to discover his connection with the direct perpetrator.
After that, the thief no longer got in touch, and curses from all over the world fell on the English Football Federation: Brazil assured that this would never have happened in their country, and even the head of the Finnish Football Federation expressed his displeasure.
Curious Pickles
FIFA decided to make a new championship trophy, deciding that Nika had sunk into oblivion. But Pickles didn’t think so! It was an ordinary London dog who, while walking, became interested in an unusual object in the bushes. The owner of Pickles, fortunately, did not drive his dog away from the find, but came closer to understand what was there. And found a World Cup trophy wrapped in newspaper! All this happened seven days after the unsuccessful transfer of money.
Curious Pickles suddenly restored the reputation of England and became the most popular dog in the country, comparable in popular love with the national team. His collar, along with a copy of Nicky, is kept at the Football Museum in Manchester. And its owner received 5,000 pounds for the find. It is curious that Mears, the head of the English Football Federation, for some reason, also claimed the award for the found cup. He felt that because of the experience, he also deserves encouragement. But public discontent was so strong that he soon abandoned his claims.
And the found Nika eventually went to the British, who in a brilliant style outplayed the German national team in the World Cup final. Winning a tournament at home and getting the coveted trophy – isn’t that a fairy tale? Became a reality, including thanks to Pickles.
And who stole the trophy? The probable truth was revealed 52 years later. London gangster Sidney Cuguliere’s nephew Gary said his uncle stole the cup. According to him, he was driven by passion, and not at all by the desire to profit. Cuguliere came up with the plan alone, successfully implemented it, but he did not know what to do with the trophy. He understood that it would not be possible to sell the most recognizable figurine in the world, so he simply threw it into the street. By the time Gary told this story, the London gangster had already been dead for 15 years.
Source: Sportbox
Thomas Astudillo is a sports journalist and author who writes for Sportish. He has a deep love and knowledge of sports, and is known for his engaging and informative writing on the latest sports news and events.