The theft took place on 20 March 1966, four months before England hosted the tournament. The trophy had been displayed at Westminster Central Hall during a sports exhibition, inside a locked cabinet protected by uniformed guards, plain-clothes officers and a nearby security guard.
The report says the trophy vanished between inspections conducted from 11:00 to 12:10. Three days later, Football Association president Joe Mears received a ransom demand for £15,000. The letter included the removable top of the trophy as proof that the sender possessed the real prize.
A week after the theft, David Corbett was walking Pickles through Upper Norwood when the dog began sniffing around a package hidden in bushes beside a neighbour’s car.
Corbett initially suspected the parcel could contain a bomb. When he opened it, he found a smooth disc and inscriptions naming Brazil, Germany and Uruguay - clues that revealed the package contained the World Cup trophy.
He returned the silverware to police but briefly became a suspect himself. The report says he was eventually cleared, while Pickles became a national curiosity.
Inspector Len Buggy reportedly posed as Mears’ assistant during negotiations. The planned exchange involved a suitcase supposedly containing the ransom, but it was packed with newspapers. Edward Betchley attempted to flee, was arrested and later regarded as an intermediary rather than the main thief.
A later reported family account alleged that gangster Sidney Cugullere organised the robbery, although he was never arrested and the claim did not produce a definitive resolution.
Four months after the theft, in July 1966, England won its first and only World Cup, celebrating with the very trophy Pickles had found. The dog received lifetime food, appeared in a film and died the following year.
The next time England lift major silverware, Pickles’ story will remain part of the ceremony’s history: a reminder that one of football’s greatest triumphs was nearly derailed by a theft - and rescued by an extraordinary dog.