The Dog Who Saved the 1966 World Cup: Pickles and the Stolen Trophy

Ever wonder what a Sherlock Holmes and World Cup crossover would look like? Well, one essentially already happened back in 1966, with Geoff Hurst, Bobby Moore and a mixed breed collie named Pickles as the stars.

On March 20, 1966, four months before the biggest tournament in soccer kicked off on English soil, the World Cup trophy was stolen right from under the nose of the Metropolitan Police. What followed was a headline-grabbing investigation, a ransom note, an undercover mission and an arrest ... all without ever finding the golden trophy.

Panic started to build as the days ticked on without recovering the Jules Rimet trophy. The Football Association (FA) even secretly commissioned silversmith George Bird to make a replica in case the prize was lost forever.

A hero—with four legs and a curious nose—soon emerged that found the trophy hidden in the oddest of places, closing the case that threatened to paint a gloomy shadow over the 1966 World Cup.

A Thief Strikes at Noon

The story starts with a reasonable enough request: The FA was asked to display the Jules Rimet trophy at the Stanley Gibbons Stampex exhibition called “Sport with Stamps” at Methodist Central Hall in Westminster.

The trophy, valued at £3,000, would be surrounded by rare stamps worth an estimated £3 million in the centerpiece display of the exhibit.

Then-FIFA President Stanley Rous agreed to the request, but not without specific security guidelines. He demanded a reputable firm must transport the trophy to Methodist Central Hall, where it would be kept in a locked case and guarded round the clock. He also insured the prize for £30,000.

Yet for all Rous’s precautions, the actual security monitoring the Jules Rimet trophy was not in place 24 hours a day. There were gaps in the schedule, particularly when the exhibit was closed, which made it relatively easy for a thief to break in through the back door, snatch the trophy and get away.

Curiously, the perpetrator left the lucrative stamps and only took the golden trophy.

The Investigation Begins

Sport with Stamps exhibit — The trophy was on display at the Stanley Gibbons Stampex exhibition. | SSPL/Getty Images

It was nothing short of an embarrassment that someone managed to commit such a crime without the Metropolitan Police even realizing. Not to mention that they did so in broad daylight, sometime between 11 a.m. and 12:10 p.m., all while a church service unfolded on the floor below.

Police scrambled to put together a case, but there wasn’t a lot of evidence to work with. It didn’t help matters that they received two varying descriptions of the thief that they had to mold together.

A ransom note soon provided a break in the case. FA chairman Joe Mears received a note that read, “Dear Joe Kno doubt you view with very much concern the loss of the World Cup ... To me it is only so much scrap gold. If I don’t hear from you by Thursday or Friday at the latest I assume it’s one for the POT.”

The sender, who signed the note “Jackson,” demanded £15,000 in exchange for the stolen trophy. Posing as Mears’s assistant, Detective Inspector Len Buggy went to Battersea Park with a briefcase mostly full of newspapers to meet with the thief.

Except the perpetrator noticed a police car hanging around nearby and fled the scene, only to be caught and arrested. Edward Betchley was his name, but he turned out to only be a middle man. He did not even have the trophy in his possession.

Pickles to the Rescue

Pickles the dog — Pickles sniffed out the World Cup trophy. | Bill Rowntree/Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix/Getty Images

The case soon ran cold until the fateful morning of March 27. David Corbett left his house with his dog Pickles, intent to use the telephone box across the street to call his brother and then take his beloved collie on a walk.

On their way over, Pickles started sniffing around an odd package near a neighbor’s car. The box was wrapped in newspaper and bound with a string, laying in some bushes.

“I picked it up and it’s quite heavy, though not very big; it wasn’t a spectacular cup,” Corbett recounted to FIFA.

“At the time the IRA (Irish Republican Army) were at large, so I personally thought it was a bomb. So I put it down. Picked it up, put it down again. Then curiosity took hold. I tore a bit off the bottom and there was a plain disc. Then I tore around and there was Brazil, Germany, Uruguay. I ran back in and said to my wife: ‘I think I’ve found the World Cup!’”

Corbett took the trophy to Cannon Row police station, where he immediately became the investigation’s prime suspect. After all, it sounded like a unbelievable coincidence, that his dog just happened to find the stolen World Cup outside of his house.

Yet Corbett’s name was eventually cleared and just as quickly, he and Pickles became World Cup heroes.

What Happened Next?

The media couldn’t get enough of Pickles. The dog became a Hollywood star seemingly overnight, making appearances on TV shows and featuring in the movie, The Spy With a Cold Nose. He also received a medal by the National Canine Defence League (now the Dogs Trust) and a year’s free dog food.

Corbett, who received a £5,000 cash reward for finding the trophy, was happy to go along for the ride, although he did admit to wild embarrassment when Pickles relieved himself on elevator doors at the hotel hosting England’s World Cup winner’s banquet they’d been invited to.

That’s right, the Three Lions went on to win the World Cup that year, defeating West Germany 4–2 after extra time. Hurst became the first player to ever score a hat-trick in a World Cup final, a record that stood for 56 years until Kylian Mbappé did so for France against Argentina in 2022.

Bobby Moore holding World Cup trophy — England won the 1966 World Cup. | Getty Images

England captain Moore hoisted the Jules Rimet trophy four months after it was famously found by Pickles, who celebrated with the team after the monumental achievement.

The collie passed away just one year later, but his legacy as the dog who saved the 1966 World Cup lives on in England folklore.

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