Incredible story behind Porto creating a £300,000 trophy in Arsenal’s honour
PORTO commissioned a trophy called the “Arsenal Cup” after beating the Gunners in 1948.
Long before the Londoners played for its own Emirates Cup during pre-seasons, Arsenal had a trophy built in their honour by the Portuguese giants.
Having won the First Division in 1948, the Gunners travelled to Portugal under boss Tom Whittaker.
They defeated Benfica 4-0, before travelling north to Porto.
According to Arsenal’s club media, 20,000 fans packed in to watch the exhibition match.
The Gunners fell 3-0 down within the first-half, courtesy of an Antonio Araujo goal and Correia Dias double.
Whittaker’s side launched a second-half fight back, but couldn’t prevent a 3-2 defeat.
Excited by their win, Porto commissioned a trophy worth 70,000 escudos, around £300,000 in today’s money, to mark the occasion.
They asked all of Portugal’s major jewellers to chip in, with fans donating to help the project get done.
The design by Ourivesaria Alianca was built by master craftsmen Marinho Brito and Albano Franca.
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Standing at 2.8 metres tall, the impressive 250kg specimen contains 130kg of pure silver.
It is also composed of gold, enamel, crystal, fine wood, marble and velvet and stands proudly in Porto’s club museum to this day.
On their official website, the Portuguese giants say: “The 3-2 victory over Arsenal, at the time known as the best team in the world, was a proof of the blue and whites’ potential”.
The trophy features three women holding a cup, with a further trio of figures drinking “the wine of victory”.
Prior to this season, Arsenal and Porto had met each other six times in competitive games, all in the Champions League.
The Gunners had won three, drawn one and lost two of these clashes.
They are doing battling once again in the round of 16 of this season’s competition, having last met at the same stage in 2010.
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