Premier League bosses left red-faced after thieves stole parts of £250k trophy

Half of the Premier League trophy was secretly replaced after it was stolen by thieves in Belgium, it has been claimed.

The Premier League have two identical versions of the trophy which are insured for a whopping £250,000, with one being given to the club that wins the league and the other getting toured around the globe.

The trophy is typically booked its own seat on planes and the subject of heavy security. However, according to the The Sun, the crown and base of the trophy were stolen at a corporate event in Belgium as thieves nicked the suitcase they were in.

The report states that the items have never been recovered and the Premier League ended up commissioning Asprey London, who made both trophies, to produce a replacement crown and base in 2022.

Back in 1966, the Jules Rimet Trophy was famously stolen months before the World Cup, which England went on to win by beating West Germany 4-2 in the final at Wembley. The trophy was missing for a full week before it was discovered hidden in some bushes by a dog named Pickles and his owner David Corbett.

“Pickles was running around over by my neighbour’s car,” Corbett explained. “As I was putting the lead on I noticed this package laying there, wrapped just in newspaper but very tightly bound with string.

“I tore a bit off the bottom and there was a blank shield, then there were the words Brazil, West Germany and Uruguay printed. I tore off the other end and it was a lady holding a very shallow dish above her head.

“I’d seen the pictures of the World Cup in the papers and on TV so my heart started thumping.” Corbett received a £5,000 reward for finding the trophy, while Pickles was given a medal by the National Canine Defence League.

However, after the trophy was permanently given to Brazil following their third World Cup win in 1970, it was stolen again from the Brazilian Football Confederation’s headquarters in 1983 and has never been recovered.

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