A medal for the second edition of the Torneo Internazionale Stampa Sportiva also known as the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy held in Torino in April 1909 a

A medal for the second edition of the Torneo Internazionale Stampa Sportiva also known as the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy held in Torino in April 1909 a tournament sometimes referred to as ''The First World Cup'', In gilt, the obverse struck with a football scene, signed with initials S.J., the reverse inscribed II TORNEO INTERNAZIONALE DI FOOT-BALL, INDETTO DALLA STAMPA SPORTIVA, TORINO, APRILE 1909 In 1908 the Italian sports magazine La Stampa Sportiva organised an international football tournament featuring teams from Italy, France, Switzerland and Germany. FC Servette defeated Torino 3-1 in the final. The following year Sir Thomas Lipton, the Scottish-born tea merchant, put up a trophy for the competition. This was competed for twice, in 1909 and 1911, with Torino hosting these international tournament. Italy, Germany & Switzerland sent their most prestigious professional club sides to the competition, but The Football Association refused to endorse it and declined the offer to send a team. Not wishing to have England unrepresented in the competition, Sir Thomas Lipton invited West Auckland FC, an amateur side from Co Durham, and mostly made up of coal miners to take part. West Auckland won the tournament beating the Swiss team FC Winterthur 2-0. The County Durham team returned to Italy in 1911 to defend their title. In this second competition, West Auckland beat Juventus 6-1 in the final and were awarded the trophy outright. In January 1994 the trophy, which was being held in West Auckland Workingmen's Club, was stolen and never recovered. An exact replica of the original trophy was commissioned and is now held by West Auckland FC. Tyne Tees Television produced a TV dramatisation of the story in 1982, ''The World Cup: A Captain's Tale'', starring Dennis Waterman.