1 England finds a new way to lose the World Cup

Trivia question: Who was the first Englishman to lift football's World Cup?

Answer: David Corbett.

Corbett's dog Pickles found the stolen $100,000 Jules Rimet cup before the 1966 World Cup kicked off in England.

England, who was to win the trophy that year, had displayed it at a rare sports stamps exhibition in a Methodist Church Hall where it disappeared.

Presumably, the security had been distracted with a nice cuppa and a couple of well-buttered scones.

One thief was snared attempting to collect the $50,000 ransom, but the trophy remained at large ... until Pickles discovered it under a hedge, wrapped in newspaper.

The stress of it all led to the fatal heart attack suffered by the head of English football soon after.

Pickles, an instant celebrity, quickly perished when choked by his lead while chasing a cat, and the ransom villain died a couple of years later.

A curse was born, but Corbett lived on to tell the tale every World Cup year.