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Belfast Live
Belfast Live
Sport
Gareth Fullerton

FIFA take delivery of "priceless" piece of Glentoran history

FIFA historians have described the Vienna Cup as "priceless" after receiving the trophy on a year's loan from Glentoran.

Glens assistant manager Paul Millar hand-delivered the famous silverware to world football's headquarters in Zurich this week.

FIFA will display the trophy in its museum after they were captivated by the story behind the success.

Read more: Dundela pay classy tribute to outgoing boss Niall Currie

Glentoran won the Vienna Cup in Austria on the eve of the First World War in 1914 after 13 footballers swapped their work boots for the red, green, and black shirts of their beloved football team to embark on an odyssey that has gone down in history.

It saw the Glens become the first British team to lift a European trophy, and is a story that has resonated with FIFA officials.

"Paul Millar is there now with the Vienna Cup. He flew out with it a few days ago and had a tour of FIFA's museum," Glentoran owner Ali Pour told Belfast Live.

"There is a lot of excitement and interest in this. They have a lot of football historians over there who are very excited about this trophy.

"The whole story and journey is fascinating. Paul messaged us and said FIFA actually described the Vienna Cup as 'priceless'. It shows the prestige of the trophy.

"FIFA will have the trophy on a year's loan, to display it at their headquarters. It opens it up for the story to be shared to a global audience. And it should be.

"Until now Glentoran has only been a Northern Ireland story. When you add the Vienna Cup it makes it of global interest.

"You won't see something like this ever again."

The story of Glentoran's Vienna Cup adventure was recently turned into a stage production (Gorgeous Photography)

FIFA's interest was sparked two years ago when its president Gianni Infantino visited the Oval for an Irish Cup clash.

The story has also reached a wider audience through the work of club historian Sam Robinson who also helped produce the recent stage production 'One Saturday Before The War' which Pour attended during a visit to Belfast.

"Gianni Infantino was fascinated by the Vienna Cup. And then we have a guy Sam Robinson who is our oracle of knowledge when it comes to anything to do with Glentoran," Pour added.

"He started researching more into it and found out the whole story, and the journey those players made.

"How they got there, the games they played, the victory they had, the goalkeeper going missing. And then the bittersweet ending of the war breaking out.

"So it is an unbelievable story about these unlikely heroes, who went on and helped Glentoran win the Vienna Cup, and become the first British team to win a European trophy.

"We actually think it is the first European trophy. That is something FIFA are looking into.

"We also have the star on the jersey, and we believe it is a story worth telling. It is something every football fan should know about."

Pour added: "Sam was involved in the stage production 'One Saturday Before the War' which I saw when I was in Belfast recently.

"I am not a huge theatre goer but it was amazing. Brilliant script and really well acted. They brought the whole story to life.

"I am pretty sure there is a film being made about the story which will be superb. Watch this space.

"This story warrants a big budget feature film."

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