BBC SPORT | Sport's greatest trophies



By Tom Fordyce BBC Sport Online

Australia want the genuine Ashes urn to reside in their country - but why?

Speaking entirely from an aesthetic point of view, the urn - small, fragile, lacking in precious metals - is a very average pot indeed.

You wouldn't look twice at the thing in a car boot-sale - if you were unaware of its historical significance, of course.

Compare it to the glory of football's European Cup, a splendid offering rendered in gleaming silver, graceful handles curving from top to bottom, a simple yet stunning design which is a credit to the game.

Sadly, for every European Cup there's a Premiership trophy, a tacky, out-sized horror-show that incorporates a random gold crown on the lid and was clearly designed by a cack-handed pal of Liberace.

So what makes a good trophy? A quick straw poll of the BBC Sport Online office revealed the following:

Size is crucial. The trophy should be big enough to hold the contents of a bottle of champagne, but not so big that you can climb inside it
Lids are good. Using the lid as an impromptu tin hat is a staple of any decent celebration
Handles are essential. Where else can you tie the ribbons?
Plinths are bad news. What's glamorous about a block of wood? Some poor bloke is always left lugging it around while his mates cavort with the trophy proper
Silver beats gold. There's something classy about silver pots - the FA Cup, the British Open jug - while the only decent gold ones are the World Cup and the Wimbledon ladies' "giant dinner plate"
Make it tough. Chances are someone will chuck it around at the post-victory dinner

Photo gallery: World's worst trophy

For most of us, our first experience of a sporting trophy was the classic "Most Improved Cub Footballer" variety - a plastic model of a footballer caught mid-volley, covered in a thin fake-gold lacquer and mounted on a black plastic base.

Tony Morley lifts the European Cup
The European Cup - as modelled by Aston Villa's Tony Morley
To be an eight-year-old boy and have one of those sitting on a shelf in your bedroom was to be within touching distance of heaven.

Unfortunately, in the professional world life is too often far less satisfying.

Rugby fans still shiver at the memory of the Tri-Series trophy, a precursor to the Tri-Nations.

The thing was a monstrosity, a gargantuan aberration that required three strong men to lift it and resembled a stone garden bird bath.

Rumour has it that the manufacturers mistook millimetres for centimetres on the blueprint and accidentally created something ten times the proper size.

Another whopper is the Davis Cup, which includes tiered plinth that looks like a Dalek made by Faberge.

In contrast, the FA Cup is an absolute beauty. The size is spot-on, the design classy and the materials a delight.

The Davis Cup - and the world's greatest plinth
From the same school comes rugby's Calcutta Cup, with one more handle but just the same amount of style.

And The Open's claret jug - while an unusual choice for a sporting trophy - is another aristocrat of the pot world.

Alas it seems to be the exception for golf - a sport that has allowed itself to be tempted by the glittering charms of crystal.

The Million Dollar Challenge in Sun City, for example, offers its winner a giant cut-class golf ball trophy in addition to a fat cheque.

It looks like a novelty piggy-bank and does no-one involved in the game any favours at all.

Sport's best and worst trophies: have your say


	Links to more Sport Front Page stories