The Jules Rimet Trophy, awarded to the winner of the football World Cup

FIFA World Cup

The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...

, was stolen in 1966 prior to the 1966 FIFA World Cup

1966 FIFA World Cup

The 1966 FIFA World Cup, the eighth staging of the World Cup, was held in England from 11 July to 30 July. England beat West Germany 4–2 in the final, winning the World Cup for the first time, so becoming the first host to win the tournament since Italy in 1934.-Host selection:England was chosen as...

 in England. The trophy was later recovered. One man was convicted for being involved but other possible culprits are still unknown.

Trophy placed in an exhibition

The Football Association

The Football Association

The Football Association, also known as simply The FA, is the governing body of football in England, and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. It was formed in 1863, and is the oldest national football association...

 had received the trophy in January 1966 before the scheduled World Cup tournament the next July. It was usually kept in their headquarters at Lancaster Gate

Lancaster Gate

Lancaster Gate is a mid-19th century development in the Bayswater district of west central London, immediately to the north of Kensington Gardens. It consists of two long terraces of houses overlooking the park, with a wide gap between them opening onto a square containing a church. Further...

 apart from a couple of publicity events. In February, Stanley Gibbons'

Stanley Gibbons Ltd

The Stanley Gibbons Group plc is a company quoted on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange and which specialises in the retailing of collectable postage stamps and similar products. The group is incorporated in Jersey but with offices in London, Ringwood in Hampshire and...

 stamp company received permission to place the Trophy in their Stampex

Stampex

Stampex is a twice yearly British stamp show held at the Business Design Centre at Islington, London, every Spring and Autumn. The show is organised by the Philatelic Traders Society through their company Stampex Limited and has been running for many years.- Elements of the show :The show...

 exhibition in March in condition that it would be under guard at all times. The trophy was also insured for £30,000 (despite its official value being only £3,000).

The exhibition was kept in the Westminster Central Hall

Westminster Central Hall

The Westminster Central Hall or Methodist Central Hall is a Methodist church in the City of Westminster. It occupies the corner of Tothill Street and Storeys Gate just off Victoria Street in London, near the junction with The Sanctuary next to the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre and facing...

 and opened on 19 March 1966, and the World Cup was a major attraction. Two uniformed officers guarded the trophy around the clock, reinforced by two plainclothes officers during the day. Additional guards stood beside the display cabinet when the exhibition was open, but nobody was watching the trophy all the time. On Sundays the Central Hall was used for Methodist services.

Theft

On Sunday 20 March, when the guards began a noon circuit, around 12:10 they noticed that someone had forced open the display case and the rear doors of the building and stolen the trophy. The wooden bar that held the door closed was lying on the floor; thieves had removed the screws and bolts that held it from the other side of the door. They had removed the padlock

Padlock

Padlocks are portable locks used to protect against theft, vandalism, sabotage, unauthorized use, and harm. They are designed to protect against some degree of forced and surreptitious entry.- History :...

 from the back of the display case, taken the trophy and left the way they came. None of the guards had seen or heard anything suspicious, though one of them reported that he had seen a strange man in a telephone box when he had visited the lavatory on the first floor.

The Scotland Yard

Scotland Yard

Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...

 took control of the case and gave it to the Flying Squad

Flying Squad

The Flying Squad is a branch of the Specialist Crime Directorate, within London's Metropolitan Police Service. The Squad's purpose is to investigate commercial armed robberies, along with the prevention and investigation of other serious armed crime...

. Officers interviewed the guards and two maintenance workers. One of the churchgoers had also noticed a man and gave a different description. The story went public across the world over the next day. Police had begun to look for two potential suspects but the description the newspapers gave did not correspond to the either one of the men the witnesses had seen.

Ransom demand

On Monday 21 March, Joe Mears

Joe Mears

John 'Joe' Mears was chairman of Chelsea Football Club and the Football Association.Mears was the son and nephew of Chelsea F.C. founders, Joseph and Gus Mears respectively. He was a goalkeeper for the Old Malvernians before joining the Chelsea board in 1931, in doing so becoming the youngest...

, the Chairman of the Football Association, received an anonymous phone call. The unknown man said that he would receive a parcel at Chelsea Football Club the next day. The parcel was delivered to Mears' home. It contained the removable lining from the top of the trophy and a ransom note that demanded £15,000 in £1 and £5 notes. The letter stated that FA should place a coded ad in the Personals Column of The Evening News

Evening News (London)

Evening News, formerly known as The Evening News, was an evening newspaper published in London from 1881 to 1980, reappearing briefly in 1987. It became highly popular under the control of the Harmsworth brothers. For a long time it maintained the largest daily sale of any evening newspaper in London...

. If they would follow the further instructions, they could get the trophy back by Friday. Otherwise, or if the FA informed the police or the press, the thieves would melt the trophy. Shortly afterwards Mears received another call – man who identified himself as "Jackson" changed the instructions to £5 and £10 notes.

Despite the warnings, Mears contacted the police, met Detective Inspector Charles Buggy of the Flying Squad

Flying Squad

The Flying Squad is a branch of the Specialist Crime Directorate, within London's Metropolitan Police Service. The Squad's purpose is to investigate commercial armed robberies, along with the prevention and investigation of other serious armed crime...

 and gave the lining and the letter to him. Police told Mears to place the ad on 24 March, and contacted a bank that created a false ransom payment out of bundles of ordinary paper, with real money only at the top and bottom, that were placed in a suitcase. Two police officers were to act as Mears' assistants in handing the money over and went to Mears' home to wait for the next call.

Futile pursuit

Mears was suffering from an asthma attack so his wife answered instead and gave the phone to the "assistant McPhee" (who was DI Buggy). "Jackson" was nervous but finally agreed to arrange a switch and told "McPhee" to come to the Battersea Park

Battersea Park

Battersea Park is a 200 acre green space at Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth in England. It is situated on the south bank of the River Thames opposite Chelsea, and was opened in 1858....

 to meet him at the gate.

Buggy drove to the Park, followed by a number of unmarked Flying Squad vehicles, and met "Jackson". Buggy showed him the suitcase and Jackson failed to notice that most of the money was scrap paper. Buggy insisted on seeing the trophy before handing over the money and said he feared that somebody would try to rob him. Jackson stepped into Buggy's car and agreed to lead him to the trophy.

On the way Jackson noticed the Flying Squad van that followed them and got nervous. At traffic light in the Kennington Park Road he told Buggy to stop and said he was going to get the trophy. When he walked away, the van stopped him and he disappeared around the corner. When Buggy intended to follow him, he reappeared and Buggy told him to get back to the car. Soon after Jackson jumped off the moving vehicle and ran away. Buggy pursued him first with a car and then on foot until he captured him in a house garden, revealed that he was a police officer and arrested him. Other officers came to escort Jackson back to Kennington police station.

At the station police recognized that 'Jackson' was Edward Betchley, a petty thief and used car dealer who had been convicted of theft

Theft

In common usage, theft is the illegal taking of another person's property without that person's permission or consent. The word is also used as an informal shorthand term for some crimes against property, such as burglary, embezzlement, larceny, looting, robbery, shoplifting and fraud...

 and receiving stolen goods

Possession of stolen goods

Possession of stolen goods is a crime in which an individual has bought, been given, or acquired stolen goods some other way.In many countries, if an individual has accepted possession of goods or property and knew they were stolen, then the individual is typically charged with a misdemeanor or...

. Betchley denied that he had stolen the cup and claimed that he could retrieve it if he was granted bail

Bail

Traditionally, bail is some form of property deposited or pledged to a court to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail...

, which was denied. He was formally charged with the theft of the trophy and breaking and entering

Burglary

Burglary is a crime, the essence of which is illicit entry into a building for the purposes of committing an offense. Usually that offense will be theft, but most jurisdictions specify others which fall within the ambit of burglary...

. Betchley claimed that someone he knew only as "The Pole" had offered him £500 to act as a middleman. Mrs Coombes, who had seen a strange man in the Central Hall, identified him but the security guard did not recognize him.

Recovery of the trophy

On 27 March David Corbett and his dog Pickles

Pickles (dog)

Pickles was a black and white Collie dog renowned for his role in finding the stolen Jules Rimet Trophy in 1966.- Overview :The trophy had been stolen during a rare public stamp exhibition at Westminster Central Hall, on the afternoon of Sunday 20 March, just four months before the 1966 FIFA World...

 were walking in the Beulah Hill district of South East London, when Pickles begun to sniff at a parcel that was lying under the hedge of Corbett's house. It was wrapped in an old newspaper, tied with string. When he opened the parcel, he recognized the trophy when he noticed the winner's names on the bottom. He handed the parcel to the police in the Gypsy Hill police station.

Police took Corbett and the trophy to Cannon Row police station where Harold Mayes of the FA identified the trophy. Police briefly suspected that Corbett was involved with the theft but he had an alibi

Alibi

Alibi is a 1929 American crime film directed by Roland West. The screenplay was written by West and C. Gardner Sullivan, who adapted the 1927 Broadway stage play, Nightstick, written by Elaine Sterne Carrington, J.C...

.

Police announced the recovery of the trophy the next morning but retained the Cup as evidence until 18 April. They returned it to the FA before the opening of the tournament.

Aftermath

Pickles briefly became a celebrity, and appeared on TV and in some movies. David Corbett attended the player's celebration dinner after the World Cup Final, and later received rewards totalling £6,000. The Football Association made a replica of the trophy for public celebrations.

Edward Betchley was convicted of demanding money with menaces with intent to steal, and received concurrent sentences of two years. He died of emphysema

Emphysema

Emphysema is a long-term, progressive disease of the lungs that primarily causes shortness of breath. In people with emphysema, the tissues necessary to support the physical shape and function of the lungs are destroyed. It is included in a group of diseases called chronic obstructive pulmonary...

in 1969.

Brazil received the Jules Rimet Trophy in perpetuity in 1970. It was stolen again in 1983, and as of 2010 it has not been recovered. It is believed but unconfirmed that the gold trophy was melted down. According to the Visit Brazil web site (
http://www.v-brazil.com/culture/sports/world-cup/1970-Mexico.html ) the story of the final fate of the Jules Rimet trophy is faintly farcical, being an opportunist theft by "three low class thieves, who made their planning around the table of a bar". Apparently CBF, the Brazilian Football Confederation, had ordered a replica of the trophy; however, in 1983, the replica was guarded in a coffer, and the original was put on show to the public. CBF had ordered a bullet-proof glass box to protect the trophy; however, the box was simply nailed to the wall. One thief, while drinking some cachaça in a bar, invited two partners for the robbery. The three invaded the CBF headquarter one night, overcame the sole guard, unnailed the glass box and run away with the trophy. The 1.8 kg of gold of Jules Rimet was broken apiece before being melted and turned into gold bars.