Pickles the dog discovered the World Cup trophy 50 years later. The World Cup’s Rescue Dog Mixed Breed Collie.
Have you heard the story about the dog who helped England in securing the World Cup?
Triumphant on home soil in 1966, the Three Lions have yet to achieve such heights again, but they will get a chance to recall when they meet current world champions Germany in Berlin on Saturday, the defeated finalists at Wembley 50 years ago.
That iconic image of Bobby Moore hoisting the Jules Rimet medal, however, could have been quite different if it hadn’t been for the timely intervention of Pickles, a mixed breed collie.
This weekend fifty years ago, the Football Association was left in a panic after the World Cup was stolen less than four months before the event.
Pickles, please have a seat.
‘That was all Unprofessional.’
The Jules Rimet trophy was on display at a stamp exhibition in central London, but on Sunday, March 20, it was removed from its case at Westminster’s Central Hall.
The specific circumstances of how the cup was taken remain unknown because the security personnel were on break.
“The assumption that there were always people around the exhibition case is just not accurate,” stated Doctor Martin Atherton, author of ‘The Theft of the Jules Rimet Trophy.’
“The whole operation was unprofessional – the FA letting the trophy out, the security measures, and the entire trophy retrieval.”
“It turned out that one of the security officers was 74 or something. The security was horrible.
“We believe two guys broke in through an emergency escape, snatched the trophy, and then left.”
Ransom note
Scotland Yard took up the inquiry, but there were few clues.
“There were two distinct descriptions of two clearly distinct persons – a tall person and a small person,” Atherton explained.
“The description issued by the police was a combination of the two.”
Meanwhile, the FA covertly commissioned silversmith George Bird to create a copy of the trophy.
A ransom note for the trophy, signed by someone named Jackson and demanding £15,000, was received by then-FA chairman Joe Mears.
Mears, who was also the chairman of Chelsea, feigned to consent to the agreement on the recommendation of the police.
An undercover cop approached Jackson, who was actually a veteran soldier named Edward Betchley, in Battersea Park with a bag loaded with newspapers and a layer of £5 notes, and Betchley was finally detained.
A happy Incident
Despite Betchley’s arrest, the trophy was still missing when the decisive moment of discovery occurred on the evening of Sunday, March 27.
Dave Corbett left his Norwood, south London, flat to make a phone call and walk his dog Pickles. He had no idea they were going to make international news.
“Pickles was running around over near my neighbor’s car,” Corbett stated.
“As I was putting the lead on, I spotted this parcel resting there, wrapped in nothing but newspaper and firmly knotted with twine.
“I tore a piece off the bottom, and there was a blank shield with the words Brazil, West Germany, and Uruguay printed on it.
“When I ripped up the other end, there saw a lady holding a very shallow dish over her head. I’d seen photographs of the World Cup in the papers and on TV, and my heart began to pound.”
An bad conclusion
Corbett used his prize money to buy a property in Surrey and testified against Betchley, who was convicted and sentenced to prison.
Pickles, however, would not survive long enough to enjoy his newfound celebrity, dying in 1967.
“He was a great dog, except he didn’t like cats,” Corbett explained.
“He was outside with my son and was wearing a choke chain when a cat darted across the alleyway.” Pickles drew the youngster, let go of the lead, and the dog ran away.
“We looked everywhere, and there was a tree at the rear of the garden, and he was halfway up there.” He must have fractured his neck.”
Pickles was buried in Corbett’s backyard with a plaque that reads: Pickles – World Cup 1966 finder
The Jules Rimet trophy was awarded to Brazil after their third victory in the competition in Mexico in 1970.
It was, however, stolen from the Brazilian Football Confederation’s office in 1983 while on display and was never found. It is thought to have been melted down for gold.
The replica, which was returned to Bird and kept in a box beneath his bed until his death, was purchased at auction by Fifa in 1997 and is currently housed in the National Football Museum in Manchester.