The Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy was an association football competition that took place twice, in Turin, Italy, in 1909 and 1911. It is sometimes referred to as The First World Cup. However it is predated by the Torneo Internazionale Stampa Sportiva, which was hosted in 1908 also in Turin, as the first international competition and football tournaments at the Olympic Games, since 1900 (officially). Also as the World Cup features international teams from around the world, and this competition features club sides from only Europe, it is a misnomer. It would be more accurate to say that it was a precursor to the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.
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Italy, Germany and Switzerland sent their most prestigious professional club sides to the competition, but The Football Association of England refused to be associated with it and declined the offer to send a team. Not wishing to have England unrepresented in the competition, Lipton invited West Auckland FC, an amateur side from County Durham and mostly made up of coal miners, to take part. Though reportedly this was as a result of an administrative error as the FA intended to send Woolwich Arsenal but West Auckland were invited instead as they shared the same initials. West Auckland won the tournament and returned to Italy in 1911 to defend their title. In this second competition, West Auckland beat the then amateur team Juventus 6-1 in the final, and were awarded the trophy outright.
In January 1994 the original trophy, which was being held in West Auckland Workingmen's Club, was stolen and to date has not been 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.