Story of heroic dog Pickles who found World Cup under car - tragic death to video game legacy

It has been exactly 60 years since a black and white collie dog called Pickles saved Englands blushes and found the stolen Jules Rimet Trophy.

The unlikely hero's discovery came after the trophy had been stolen from a public exhibition just a few months before the 1966 World Cup was due to get underway in England. The poochs heroics made him a superstar in the UK, but tragically the dog of the year met a premature end just a year after.

On March 20, 1966, the trophy was on exhibition at Londons Westminster Hall. At around 11am, a security guard checked the space where the famous silverware was being housed and noticed to his horror that the prize that was to be awarded at that years World Cup in England was gone.

The disappearance made national news and a huge trophy-hunt was launched. With the clock ticking until the competition got underway in the summer, FIFA members pulses were ticking when, after a week, the Jules Rimet cup still hadnt been found.

That was until the mighty Pickles stepped up as he sniffed around a neighbour's car in Upper Norwood, south London.

His owner David Corbett recalled in 2016: "There was a package by the front wheel. It was very tightly wrapped - the IRA was in action in those days and I thought to myself was it a bomb?

"So I picked it up. Put it down. Picked it up, put it down again. I tore a little bit off the bottom and saw a shield. I recognised it straight away and thought 'This is it!'"

Corbett was initially treated as a suspect before being cleared of any wrongdoing once the trophy had been identified as the real thing. As for Pickles, he was presented with a cash prize for finding the treasure and was photographed posing with a football.

Pickles was immediately catapulted into stardom, which was amplified when Bobby Charltons boys won the World Cup later that year.

If dogs could talk Pickles would tell one hell of a story. He was named Dog of the Year in both the UK and West Germany and was promised a years supply of free dog food. He also starred as himself in a biopic. For a while he became the Harry Styles of the canine world.

Celebrity, however, is so often stalked by tragedy. Shortly before his sixth birthday, Pickles died after his lead caught on a branch as he chased a cat.

He was buried in his owner's back garden and his collar is on display in the National Football Museum in Manchester.

The game Reverse: 1999 features Pickles as a playable character, with an interpretation of the theft of the Trophy as part of its storyline.

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