Heads & Tales

The World Cup was the idea of a French football administrator Jules Rimet after whom the original trophy was named. During World War II, he kept the little trophy under his bed for the fear that the German occupation forces would steal it and melt it down.

On another occasion, the Jules Rimet Trophy was stolen from an exhibition at Westminster Central Hall, four months before the 1966 World Cup in England. After a nation-wide hunt, the trophy was found seven days later, wrapped in a newspaper, under a garden hedge in South Norwood, London. A dog Pickles, who was walking with his owner, sniffed out the trophy. Pickles was invited to the celebration banquet when England won the trophy and his owner got a 6000-pound reward.

Source: ‘Goal! Football World Cup Quiz and Fun Book’ by Austin Coutinho, Popular Prakashan, 2010.

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