The night the FA Cup was stolen from a Birmingham shop window

The FA Cup is among the most well-known sports activities trophies on this planet, seen by thousands and thousands every soccer season and proven off by whichever workforce lifts it after the ultimate.

However, 130 years in the past, on a September night time, the primary incarnation of the cup was stolen and the identification of the criminals was a thriller for many years.

The story started when Aston Villa gained the cup last in 1895, beating West Bromwich Albion 1-0, and returned to Birmingham with the trophy.

This primary cup had been made for £20, by Sheffield-based silversmiths Martin, Corridor & Co, and was referred to as the “little tin idol”, in response to the Nationwide Soccer Museum (NFA).

Villa supporter William Shillcock, an area boot and ball maker, approached the membership and requested if he might show the cup in his present window, so followers might see it up shut.

However, after a few weeks on show, on the 11 September through the midnight, the burglars struck.

Discovering the trophy gone and with police struggling to seek out the culprits, a reward of £10 was provided however with none luck – it was by no means seen once more.

That final result was not a very good one for the winners of the cup last, Aston Villa – they had been fined £25 by the Soccer Affiliation (FA) because the prize was misplaced whereas it was of their care.

The stolen cup although wanted changing so a agency was sought to supply one.

The chosen enterprise, a Birmingham firm which had connections to Villa, silversmiths Vaughtons, had been commissioned to make the substitute.

The founder’s grandson, Howard Vaughton, had an in depth reference to the trophy, having gained the FA Cup with Villa in 1887 and, by 1895, he was a companion within the agency, the NFA mentioned.

Fortunately, three years earlier than, the corporate had taken a plaster solid of the trophy so as to make a miniature for Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The Birmingham-made FA Cup was used till 1910, when it was offered to the President of the FA, Lord Kinnaird and changed with a trophy made in Bradford.

However what of the stolen cup?

Nicely, we spin the clock ahead to the late Fifties and, in that decade, there got here an admission over the theft of the unique trophy.

A petty felony from Birmingham, by then in his 80s, claimed he and two others had stolen the silverware and melted it right down to make faux half-crown cash.

He even instructed among the counterfeit cash was spent at a pub run by former Aston Villa participant Dennis Hodgetts, who had gained the FA Cup with Villa in each 1895 and 1887, mentioned the NFA.

The aged felony was mentioned to have wished to get the theft off his conscience – however his confession to a newspaper journalist might by no means be proved.