Henri Delaunay French Football Federation in 1919, he remained as secretary-general. As a member of FIFA, he sat on its board as deputy from 1924 until 1928. Along with Jules Rimet, he was an early architect of the FIFA World Cup. He was also a very early proponent of the European Champions Cup, as early as the 1920s. Together with Jules Rimet, he was largely responsible for the creation of the European Football Championship, the trophy of which is named after him, having first proposed it in 1927. The first tournament took place in 1960. He was General Secretary of UEFA from
Theft of the Jules Rimet Trophy 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 Gibbons' stamp company received