FA Cup Comes To Thomas Lyte

Following Manchester City’s win at Wembley on Saturday, the FA Cup was ceremoniously lifted aloft by the victors yet again – and every year before this tradition can take place, the FA Cup makes the trip to Thomas Lyte Silver in London for a repair and touch up before being handed over to the latest team to take the trophy home.

Kevin Williams and Tony Cimmering, of Thomas Lyte, have been restoring the cup for the past 12 years.

Williams said: ‘Each dent in a cup is unique, you might be lucky to find a took that fits it, or you might have to make a tool to fit that specific job’.

While the Cup was at Portsmouth, the cup fell from a plinth – the year before at Chelsea it fell from a bus.

Cimmering added: ‘It’s been repaired God knows how many times over the years, but you’d never know because each time it’s repaired it’s camouflaged, going through the processes of the silver plating’.

Thomas Lyte also built the Coca Cola Cup and golf’s Ryder Cup.

Images of the restoration process can be seen here.