There was unexpected drama from Greece in the now world-famous Roman Chalice cup last night.

Holders, Olympiakos, suffered defeat at the hands of the team with the longest name in the world (probably)

Panthessaloníkios Athlitikós Ómilos Konstantinopolitóà

It’s a name that just trips off the tongue. Incidentally, if it sounds familiar and you are wondering why, don’t be concerned – you’re not going mad.

Panthessaloníkios Athlitikós Ómilos Konstantinopolitóà, who have mercifully abbreviated their name to PAOK, were once holders of the Chalice. They would therefore have been mentioned on my blog in the not too distant past.

One thing is for sure, PAOK must be as proud as punch – or the Greek equivalent, Ouzo – to be getting another go at defending the trophy. They will certainly be hoping to keep hold of it for longer than last time, when they managed a pitiful ONE game (which they lost).

I am sure that they will do their upmost to do so, especially if the club’s owner takes a fancy to the Chalice – apparently he is know to be a tad volatile…

Who here remembers the Roman Chalice? Probably not many of you. Perhaps this will jog your memory…

I do worry about the theory of the Roman Chalice being somewhat of a curse and the possibility of it playing a part in coronavirus spreading across the entire globe! Probably just a coincidence, but best not mention it to anyone, hey? Just in case…

Anyway… clearly, the Roman Chalice could not be contested while there was no football. This meant that Greek side PAOK were able to keep hold of the trophy for 96 days – a record in Chalice history.

I would normally heap praise upon PAOK for retaining the honour for such a long period of time. However, they only played one game as holders. A game in which they lost. To Olympiakos. Ironically the team who they beat to obtain the Chalice way back in March. Never has the phrase ‘You had one job’ been more appropriate.

So, I am sure you will all join me in congratulating Olympiakos for their impressive display this evening – a 1-0 victory, in front of no spectators.

That’ll do, Kos. That’ll do.

According to Google, the Greek for ‘Short lived’ loosely translates as ‘Σύντομη ζωή’.

Σύντομη ζωή is the perfect way to describe the amount of time that Olympiakos managed to keep hold of the the Roman Chalice.

Despite only winning the trophy last Thursday, by beating Arsenal in the Europa League, they managed to lose it last night, to their fellow countrymen in the Greek Cup.

It would appear that up until yesterday, Olympiakos were unbeaten throughout this season in domestic competitions.

The aforementioned Arsenal, also broke an unwanted record in their defeat last week. In getting eliminated from the Europa League, the Gunners will spend their first March this century, without being involved in any European competitions.

This has made me wonder… does the recent bad fortune to afflict Olympiakos and Arsenal mean that the Roman Chalice is more of a poison chalice?

MAYBE STICK TO THE FA CUP, ARSENAL. THE ROMAN CHALICE IS TOO DANGEROUS.

We’ll have to wait and see what happens to the victors of Olympiakos and new new holders of the Roman Chalice!

Before I reveal who it is, I would like to warn you that this club has a really long name.

To put it into context, the English team with the most amount of letters is Wolverhampton Wanderers, with a pitiful 22 characters.

Inverness Caledonian Thistle, has a decent attempt, with probably the longest-named club in Britain – 26 letters. Although I am sure that there must be one in Wales eager to contest this. Does Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch have a team?

I CREATE WORDS LIKE THIS, IF I BASH MY FIST ON THE COMPUTER KEYBOARD WHEN THE PC FREEZES.

So, the new holders of the Roman Chalice and the longest ever name (maybe) is…

Panthessaloníkios Athlitikós Ómilos Konstantinopolitóà (51 letters, to save you counting).

Almost everywhere appears to refer to them as PAOK, which is most definitely what I’ll be doing from now on. Think of all that additional bandwidth required for those extra 47 characters (technically 50, with spaces). It would cost me literally fractions of pence in webhosting fees!

Congratulations PAOK!

All is not lost for Olympiakos fans, though. The Greek Cup is played over two legs. Yesterday was only the first of these. Both sides will meet again next month, so assuming PAOK keep hold of the Chalice until then, the trophy may yet end the season in Athens.

The challenge to become holder of The Roman Chalice has now turned international.

Thanks to Brexit and the Coronavirus, many Brits are now petrified of anywhere, anyone or anything overseas, which isn’t the Isle of Wight.

Not the Roman Chalice. It shows no fear. This trophy was once the pride of a number of famous British football clubs, such as Arsenal, Newcastle and Slough.

The Roman Chalice has now packed up and emigrated to Greece!

FT: Arsenal 1-2 Olympiakos (2-2 agg).

It’s over! The Emirates is stunned. Mikel Arteta’s side have been dumped out of the Europa League on away goals in the last 32.

 

This is how BBC Sport broke the news to the world, using Twitter.

Olympiakos will be happy to have progressed in the Europa League, but they’ll be ecstatic to be returning home to Greece with the Chalice.

As you can see, the fans were dancing in the streets of Athens.

Congratulations, Olympiakos. Not only on winning the Roman Chalice, but for coming second in the SEAN’S STORIES BEST FACE ON A FOOTBALL CREST COMPETITION. The winner, as I am sure you will agree, is Hemel Hempstead.

Sorry, Olympiakos, but nothing beats a royal, with a passion for gluttony and bigamy. At least you’ve got the Chalice, which, as Larry David would say, is “pretty, pretty, pretty good”.

All good runs must come to an end. They had a surprisingly good innings, but Newcastle United relinquished the Roman Chalice yesterday.

The Magpies took the honour from Rochdale in an FA Cup tie, before managing to keep a tight grip on the trophy for 33 days. In this time, they successfully defended the Chalice against five teams.

This was until Sunday, when they travelled to London and faced Arsenal. While in the Capital, Newcastle surrendered the only trophy won by the club in 65 years.

You would like to think that the Georgies had put up a fight and bravely defended the Chalice right until the end.

For the first 45 minutes of the football match, they did. The scoreline was 0-0 at halftime. Sadly for the Toon Army, the valiant display didn’t last and they lost 4-0!

Arsenal are now the current holders of the Chalice. They are the first winners of the trophy to also compete in a European competition. On Thursday, Arsenal will take on Olympiacos in the Europa League.

Should Arsenal lose, the Chalice will leave English soil and be up for grabs by Greek football teams! Nigel Farage and Katie Hopkins will be outraged!