Sporting Trophies

Trophies can take the shape of two-handled cups, bowls, or mugs (all usually engraved); statues of people, animals, and architecture while displaying words, numbers or images. While trophies traditionally have been made with metal figures, wood columns, and wood bases, in recent years they have been made with plastic figures and marble bases. This is to retain the weight traditionally associated with a quality award and make them more affordable to use as recognition items. Recently trophies have also been made using a resin and molds.

Sporting

Some sporting trophies include:

Association football

The Copa Libertadores Trophy.

The European Champion Clubs' Cup.

The FA Cup.

Some of the world's most famous association football trophies are:

• FIFA World Cup Trophy — Awarded to the winners of the FIFA World Cup from the 1974 FIFA World Cup onwards. Previous winners were awarded the Jules Rimet Trophy (known simply as Victory until 1949), which was awarded in perpetuity to Brazil after their 3rd win in the 1970 FIFA World Cup. Both are referred to colloquially as the World Cup

• Copa Libertadores Trophy - known simply as Libertadores or Copa, awarded to the winners of the Copa Libertadores since 1960. It is the most prestigious laurel in the Western Hemisphere.

• European Champion Clubs' Cup - colloquially the European Cup, awarded to the winners of the European Cup (before 1992/3) and the UEFA Champions League (since 1992/3). It is the most prestigious trophy in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is affectionately known as "old big ears" due to its shape.

• The FA Cup- awarded to winners of the primary English association football domestic knockout tournament, officially The Football Association Challenge Cup, often referred to as just the FA Cup. The tournament is the oldest such in club football, being incepted since 1871.

• The Scottish Cup - awarded to the winners of the primary domestic knockout cup tournament of Scotland (the Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup, or just Scottish Cup) and the oldest national trophy still awarded in the world.

The original Jules Rimet Trophy was stolen in Brazil in 1983 and has never been recovered. Replicas were awarded to winning nations up to the retirement of the genuine trophy. However, prior to the 1966 final, The Football Association made an (unauthorized) replica in secret in gilded bronze for use in post-match celebrations due to security concerns – the genuine trophy was made out of close to 2 kg of pure gold. This has led to several conspiracy theories regarding which trophy was stolen – the FA replica, or the real trophy. FIFA purchased the replica for £254,500 (ten times the reserve price) in 1997, with the inflated price attributed to such rumours. This trophy is held on behalf of FIFA by the National Football Museum in Preston. The current FIFA World Cup trophy inscribe the names of the teams that won the award at the underneath the base of the trophy.

A club that manages to win the Copa Libertadores trophy three consecutive times retain the trophy permanently. The current trophy has been used since 1975. Like the FIFA World Cup trophy, the winners of each edition of the tournament has their name inscribed on the trophy; unlike the FIFA World Cup trophy, a pedestal contains a list of winners in the form of badges. The current pedestal is the fourth in the trophy's history, having being used since 2009. The original trophy was awarded to Estudiantes de La Plata in 1970 (after their third win) - the present trophy is the third, identical edition.

Clubs that win the European Champion Clubs' Cup three times in successive seasons, or five times in total, are permitted to retain the trophy in perpetuity. The present trophy has been used since 2005/06 after Liverpool FC's fifth win in 2005. The original trophy was awarded to Real Madrid CF in 1966 (after their sixth win) – the present trophy is the sixth (identical) edition.

Tennis

• Wimbledon tennis trophies - although having no formal name, a cup is presented to the Wimbledon Men's (Gentlemen's) Singles Champion (The All England Lawn Tennis Club Single Handed Champion of the World, as stated on the cup itself). The women's (Ladies) Singles winner is presented with the Venus Rosewater Dish. Other trophies are presented to the winners of the Doubles and Mixed Doubles.

Motorsport

• Borg-Warner Trophy — Awarded to the Indianapolis 500 Champion.

• Harley J. Earl Trophy — Awarded to the Daytona 500 Champion.

Rugby league

• Challenge Cup, rugby league's oldest knock-out competition. Notable for the wide range of teams which start, some taken from amateur ranks, "developing nations" and university teams.

Rugby union

• Webb Ellis Cup – Awarded to rugby union's World Champion

• Bledisloe Cup – Awarded annually to the winner between New Zealand and Australia.

• Calcutta Cup – Awarded annually to the winner between England and Scotland in rugby union

Cricket

• Cricket World Cup Trophy - Awarded to the Winners of the ICC Cricket World Cup.

• The Ashes Urn – widely considered to be presented as a trophy to the winning team of the biennial cricket test series between England and Australia. However, the urn itself was never a trophy and remains in the MCC Cricket Museum at Lord's Cricket Ground. Only from 1998–99 were the winners of the Ashes presented with a replica (not to scale) of the urn in Waterford Crystal.

Sailing

• America's Cup – Awarded to Yacht Racing Champion

Australian rules football

• McClelland Trophy – Awarded to the Australian Football League's Home & Away season / Minor Premiership champion.

• AFL Premiership Cup – Awarded to the Australian Football League's Premier/ Winner of the AFL Grand Final

Golf

• Claret Jug — Awarded to the winner of The Open Championship.

• Ryder Cup — Awarded to the winner of a biennial competition between Europe and the USA.

American and Canadian sports

The Vince Lombardi Trophy is awarded to the champions of the National Football League's Super Bowl

• Heisman Trophy – Awarded to the NCAA's Most Valuable Player in College Football

• BCS Trophy – Awarded to College Football's National Champion

• Vanier Cup – Awarded to the Canadian Interuniversity Sport football champion

• Grey Cup – Awarded to the Canadian Football League's champion

• Calder Cup – Awarded to the American Hockey League's playoff champion

• Stanley Cup – Awarded to the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup Champion

• Commissioner's Trophy – Awarded to Major League Baseball's World Series Champion

• Vince Lombardi Trophy – Awarded to the National Football League's Super Bowl champion

• Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy – Awarded to the National Basketball Association's champion

• MLS Cup – Awarded to the Major League Soccer's champion

• Mann Cup – An Indoor Lacrosse trophy awarded to the senior men's lacrosse champions of Canada.

• Steinfeld Cup – Awarded to the Major League Lacrosse champion

• Champion's Cup – Awarded to the National Lacrosse League champion

Many combat sports, such as boxing, mixed martial arts, and professional wrestling use championship belts as trophies; however, unlike most of the trophies mentioned above, a new one is not created every time a new champion is crowned; rather, the new champion takes the belt from the old one.