Thomas Balvay Thomas Balvay Thomas Balvay (2 February 1888 – 15 July 1945) was a football referee in the 1920s and 1930s and one of four European referees who participated in the first FIFA World Cup in 1930 in Uruguay. He was the only match official from France at the tournament. He had been an international referee since 1922 and twice refereed the Coupe de France (in 1926 and 1928). He travelled to Uruguay on the SS "Conte Verde", which also took Jules Rimet and the French, Belgian, Romanian and Brazilian teams to the first World Cup; picking up the teams en
Theft of the Jules Rimet Trophy the CBF in 1984. Theft of the Jules Rimet Trophy The Jules Rimet Trophy, awarded to the winner of the football World Cup, was stolen in 1966 prior to the 1966 FIFA World Cup in England. The trophy was later recovered. One man, Steve Crook of Bristol, was convicted for being involved but other possible culprits are still unknown. The Football Association had received the silver-gilt trophy in January 1966 before the scheduled World Cup tournament the next July. It was usually kept in their headquarters at Lancaster Gate apart from for a couple of publicity events. In February, Stanley