The World Cup trophy was stolen on the afternoon of Sunday 20 March 1966. It had been on public display in a glass cabinet during the "Sport with Stamps" Stanley GibbonsStampexrare stamp exhibition at Methodist Central Hall in Westminster. The thief evaded the round-the-clock security, and ignored rare stamps with a value of £3 million to steal the silver-gilt trophy, which was generally thought to be worth far less. A telephone call from a man who called himself "Jackson" to Joe Mears, chairman of Chelsea F.C. and The Football Association, alerted him that a package would be left at Stamford Bridge the following day: it contained a £15,000 ransom demand, accompanied by the removable lining from the top of the trophy. The package was turned over to the police, who arranged to meet "Jackson". However, when they arrested the man who had mailed the package, whose real name was Edward Betchley, he claimed that he was a middleman, and the real culprit, a man he called "The Pole", was never identified. Betchley was eventually convicted for demanding money with menace, and sentenced to two years' imprisonment. If indeed there were other persons involved in the theft, no one else has ever been found.
Recovery
The rest of the trophy was found on Sunday 27 March, just seven days after it was stolen, wrapped in newspaper lying by the front wheel of a neighbour's car in Beulah Hill, Upper Norwood, South London, by the four-year-old Pickles, while taking a walk with his owner, David Corbett, who worked as a Thames lighterman. Suspicion of involvement in the theft was attached briefly to David Corbett. When England won the trophy, Pickles was invited to the celebration banquet as a reward. Corbett collected nearly £5,000 as a reward. He used the money to buy a house in Lingfield, Surrey, in 1967. Pickles was awarded the silver medal of the National Canine Defence League. The Football Association had a replica of the cup made in base metal, for publicity use, so the gold original could be kept safe. The original cup was awarded permanently to Brazil after the 1970 FIFA World Cup, but it was stolen from the headquarters of Brazilian Football Confederation in Rio de Janeiro in December 1983 and never recovered. The replica was bought by FIFA at auction in 1997 for £254,000, and it is held by the National Football Museum in Manchester.
Later life
Pickles starred with Eric Sykes and June Whitfield in the 1966 filmThe Spy with a Cold Nose. He also appeared on several television programmes, including Blue Peter and Magpie. He was also named "Dog of the Year", and awarded a year of free food by pet food manufacturer Spillers. Pickles died in 1967 when he was strangled by his choke chain lead that caught on a tree branch while he was chasing a cat near his new home in Surrey. He was buried in his owner's back garden, and his collar is on display in the NationalFootball Museum in Manchester. An entirely fictional version of the story was told in a 2006 ITV drama written by Michael Chaplin, called Pickles: The Dog Who Won The World Cup. He was voiced by Harry Enfield. A plaque was put up in September 2018, near the spot where Pickles found the World Cup Trophy on Beulah Hill, Upper Norwood.
