It’s a quintessential true crime story that left detectives scratching their heads for greater than 50 years.
Soccer’s final prize was snatched from beneath the noses of the host nation in March 1966, with the World Cup as a consequence of kick off simply three months later.
Weaving a story from the spivs of South London to the higher echelons of excessive society, the theft of the Jules Rimet trophy is a narrative that is stranger than fiction.
The incident sparked a manhunt, led by Scotland Yard’s high detectives, and induced panic contained in the halls of Westminster with an election simply weeks away.
The riddle behind the theft was lastly solved greater than 5 many years on – with a south London gangster named as the person behind the notorious heist.
With Lionel Messi’s Argentina lifting the long-lasting trophy in December, MailOnline has revisited the astonishing saga that quickly gripped the world:
The riddle behind the theft of the Jules Rimet trophy was lastly solved greater than 5 many years on – with a south London thief named as the person behind the notorious heist
Soccer’s final prize was snatched from beneath the noses of the host nation in March 1966. Pictured: The Each day Mail’s entrance web page after the Jules Rimet trophy was discovered by Pickles the canine
England’s World Cup-winning hero Bobby Moore is rightly revered within the annals of footballing historical past and the long-lasting picture of the captain being thrust into the air by his proud teammates stays ingrained within the minds of Three Lions’ followers.
Greater than 30million followers watched Moore’s beaming smile as he gripped onto the gleaming gold trophy after conquering Germany 4-2 within the 1966 remaining at Wembley.
However he wasn’t the primary Englishman to raise the well-known trophy.
Because it seems, Moore and his teammates weren’t even celebrating with the actual Jules Rimet trophy after they left Wembley immortalised as champions of world soccer.
That honour belonged to a shady south London gangster who stumbled throughout the chance of a lifetime when he realised the Jules Rimet could be placed on public show at a uncommon stamp exhibition in Westminster.
The enduring {photograph} of Bobby Moore holding aloft the Jules Rimet after England beat West Germany 4-2 within the 1966 World Cup remaining at Wembley – however it was later revealed how he was not the primary Englishman to raise the trophy
Sidney Cugullere (pictured proper, together with his brother Reginald) stumbled throughout the chance of a lifetime when the Jules Rimet was placed on public show at a uncommon stamp exhibition in Westminster in March 1966
Sidney Cugullere, dubbed ‘Mr Artful’ by associates and associates, honed his methods alongside his youthful brother, Reginald as they grew up on the robust streets of south east London.
Sid, who was the quicker of the 2 brothers, would spark a chase with the shopkeeper whereas his sibling wandered inside took his choose of the shop’s items.
Born in 1926 because the eighth of 9 siblings, he grew up by East Avenue market close to Walworth Street.
The world was dwelling to a string of high-profile criminals together with the Richardson gang and Hatton Backyard heist mastermind, Brian Reader.
The brothers rubbed shoulders with all of them.
Sid loved a journeyman’s profession having educated as a carpenter, served within the Military and labored at Man’s hospital.
However his true ardour was discovered in the dead of night underbelly of the felony underworld.
Petty crime had been embedded of their lives from the second they have been born, however the brothers would stumble throughout the chance of a lifetime in 1966.
On March 20, Sid and Reg drove from Walworth in south east London to Westminster Central Corridor, the place a uncommon assortment of stamps from the Stanley Gibbons firm was on show.
The Stampex exhibition, estimated to be value greater than £3million then, would have netted a considerably bigger haul than the trophy hoisted by World Cup winners, which on the time was insured for simply £30,000.
However on the Sunday morning, with the principle exhibition closed to all however Methodists gathering within the corridor, Sid’s felony eye saved wandering again to the unguarded attraction resting atop a close-by plinth, the Jules Rimet trophy.
On the time of his heist, the safety guards on the exhibition tasked with guarding soccer’s grandest prize have been sat within the basement having fun with a tea break.
The trophy had been on mortgage from the FA headquarters for under 24 hours – leaving Sidney with a brief window of time to make his transfer.
Geared up with bolt cutters and all of the instruments required for a heist, Sid was left shocked when he observed the Jules Rimet trophy had been left in a cupboard protected by a sequence and tiny padlock.
Guards have been tasked with maintaining an in depth eye on the trophy – however had nipped downstairs on a tea break when Sid arrived.
Seizing his probability, Sid shortly snipped the lock and grabbed the 14in cup, stuffing it beneath his brown trench-style coat as he made a break for the exit.
A triumphant Sid stepped outdoors the place Reg had been ready, the place he lifted their prize out from his coat.
His incredulous brother had only one reply: ‘What the f*** do you assume we’re going to do with that?!’
Information of the theft unfold like wildfire, with journalists swarming the Methodist Central Corridor. Quickly after, Scotland Yard have been tasked with monitoring down the thief.
Sidney Cugullere was recognized amongst underground circles as liking to boast of being the primary Englishman to life the trophy – lengthy earlier than a victorious Bobby Moore (pictured) received his arms on it at Wembley in 1966
David Corbett (pictured) briefly grew to become the chief suspect when his canine Pickles uncovered a crudely-wrapped package deal containing the Jules Rimet trophy, however fortunately had an alibi for the theft
Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson was additionally left with a headache with months earlier than the World Cup kicked off, having thought bringing the world well-known trophy to Britain could be a serious political win simply weeks earlier than an election.
With the FA fearing the cup was gone for good, and regardless of FIFA’s protests, a silversmith was secretly tasked with making a like-for-like reproduction.
Regardless of the Flying Squad main the manhunt, brazen thief Sid positioned the Jules Rimet on his mantelpiece for all to see – a tongue-in-cheek riposte to the elite detectives who have been desperately making an attempt to trace him down.
The cheeky thief solely eliminated the cup after the total power of the regulation descended upon him when his spouse, Nell, furiously ordered him to do away with it.
Reg, his reliable right-hand man, was informed to take the trophy in a automobile to Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, the place officers virtually stumbled throughout the trophy they’d been looking for.
One supply informed the Mirror: ‘Reg had it [the trophy] beneath the entrance seat. He received pulled at a basic cease by police they usually searched the automobile, however did not discover it’.
The brothers might have efficiently made off with their glittering prize, however they quickly came upon how difficult it might be to claw again cash for it.
They shortly devised a tough and prepared plan to pay money for a ransom for the cup, demanding £15,000 from the-then Chelsea and FA chairman Joe Mears.
With the trophy too sizzling to promote on, the Cugulleres determined to do away with it shortly and quietly. Pictured: Chief District Detective John Edwin Bailey with the recovered Jules Rimet trophy
A be aware, penned by Cugullere utilizing the pseudonym ‘Jackson’, mentioned: ‘Pricey Joe Kno (sic) doubt you view with very a lot concern the lack of the world cup … to me it’s only a lot scrap gold.’
The ransom demand threatened the cup could be ‘for the POT’ if their requests weren’t met in full, and requested Mears to position a be aware within the weekly Night Information Private Column, stating he was ‘prepared to do enterprise’.
The criminals organized to satisfy Mears in Battersea Park, nonetheless the FA chief’s place was taken by Flying Squad chief DI Len Buggy.
Edward Betchley, 46, a former police officer and good friend of the Cugulleres, was arrested however insisted he was simply the intermediary, paid £500 for his half, and was jailed for simply two years.
With the trophy too sizzling to promote on, they determined to do away with it shortly and quietly.
For some time, the Jules Rimet discovered its dwelling in a dank coal bunker in Luton, till Sidney panicked and dumped it beneath a hedge only a week later.
Cugullere, was by no means caught after his half within the Jules Rimet heist, however he was jailed for greater than 25 years for a string of different offences – together with a 1971 plot with Reg involving £100,000 value of faux 5 pound notes.
However maybe he received the final chortle in spite of everything.
After Sidney died of prostate most cancers in 2005, a Jules Rimet formed flower association was fittingly made up for his funeral.
As any fervent pub quizzer is aware of, the trophy was ultimately uncovered in a backyard in southeast London by a curious canine, Pickles, and his proprietor David Corbett (pictured collectively, above in March 1966)
The Jules Rimet trophy (pictured) had been on mortgage from the FA headquarters for under 24 hours – leaving Sidney with a brief window of time to make his transfer on the Methodist Central Corridor in Westminster
Met Police detectives welcome the protected return of the Jules Rimet Trophy after Pickles discovered it
Bobby Moore and supervisor Sir Alf Ramsey holding the Jules Rimet Trophy at a reception following their historic victory over West Germany – little did they know that this was pretend having been swapped by a rookie Met Police officer within the dressing room after their 4-2 win
As any fervent pub quizzer will know, the cup was ultimately present in a backyard in southeast London by a curious canine, Pickles, whose proprietor David Corbett rushed off to the native nick.
The trophy had been bundled right into a makeshift parcel, its glimmering husk coated by scraps of an outdated newspaper crudely tied along with string.
Mr Corbett, petrified of it being a bomb planted by malign actors, solely recognised the Jules Rimet when he noticed the previous winner’s names had been painstakingly etched onto its base.
When he arrived at Gipsy Hill police station the desk officer uttered the immortal phrases: ‘It does not look very “world cuppy” to me, sonny.’
Mr Corbett briefly grew to become the chief suspect however fortunately had an alibi for the theft. He claimed the £5,000 reward and purchased himself a home in Surrey.
Pickles, having cemented himself because the true definition of man’s finest good friend, grew to become a nationwide hero and widespread pub quiz query over time.
The combined breed Collie starred within the 1966 movie, The Spy with a Chilly Nostril and was be awarded with a silver medal by the Nationwide Canine Defence League.
However the beloved pooch’s life would come to a tragic finish.
Chasing a cat up a tree, Pickles was strangled by his personal choke chain lead.
The trophy had been named after the third president of FIFA, who served from 1921 till 1954.
Born in 1873, Rimet had been the longest-serving president within the governing physique’s historical past, and was an octogenarian by the point he lastly hung up his boots.
The Frenchman had been influential in organising the inaugural World Cup, which was held in Uruguay in the summertime of 1930.
In recognition of Rimet’s contribution to the sport, the World Cup trophy, which had initially been known as ‘Victory’, was renamed in his honour in 1946.
Remarkably, the Jules Rimet hit worldwide headlines once more in 1983 when it was grew to become the prize of yet one more heist, this time in South America.
After Brazil’s all-conquering sides of the Nineteen Sixties and 70s dominated soccer’s grandest match for a whole decade, they have been awarded the trophy in perpetuity.
However this choice would come again to hang-out soccer’s governing physique, with the trophy stolen from the Brazilian Soccer Confederation’s (CBF) headquarters in 1983.
Banker and soccer agent Sergio Peralta was later named because the mastermind behind the heist.
He employed ex-police officer Chico Barbudo and decorator Luiz Bigode to case out the job. Safecracker Antonio Setta was sounded out, however is claimed to have refused out of patriotism.
Unperturbed, the trio ploughed forward with their plan, incapacitating the guard on the CBF and stealing the Jules Rimet and two different trophies.
Though Peralta and his band of criminals have been later arrested, all of them fled from Brazil when their sentences have been handed out.
In the end, the Jules Rimet was by no means recovered after its theft in Brazil, with thriller nonetheless swirling across the iconic trophy.
Rumours persist that it was melted down by an Argentinian gold vendor, maybe bitter over his South American neighbours’ outstanding success on the World Cup.
And what grew to become of the plotters who helped steal soccer’s glittering prize?
Two of them met a grisly finish, with Chico Barbudo gunned down whereas consuming in a bar in 1989.
In the meantime, Setta is claimed to have died after a ugly automobile accident in 1985 whereas he was reportedly heading to the native police station to testify about his previous crimes.
