NOT THE FIRST CUP TO GO MISSING...

FA CUP (1895) ASTON VILLA’S FA Cup vanished from a Birmingham sports shop where they were displaying it for their fans. The crime was not solved until 1958 when Henry Burge, 83, claimed he had stolen it and melted it for forged coins. EUROPEAN CUP (1982) VILLA lost an even bigger trophy when Colin Gibson and Gordon Cowans took the European Cup to the pub and it went missing while they were playing darts. It was later handed in at a Sheffield police station. WORLD CUP (1966) THE Jules Rimet trophy was stolen from an exhibition at London’s Westminster Central Hall and was found seven days later in Norwood, South London, by David Corbett and his dog Pickles. Corbett was given a £6,000 reward and attended the players’ celebration dinner after England lifted the trophy.