It's just a bit of fun. Well it's fun if you're geeky enough.

Hi again. 

Apologies as always for not blogging more often but I have been focusing on getting the site up to date and apart from anything else I hate the verb "to blog". The site is now as up to date as it can be for now and I've had a chance to draw breath. It's given me a chance to write up an idea I've been knocking about in my head for a while - stupid tournaments based on team names.

Firstly we have the Peloponnesian War Cup final:

Spartans vs Corinthians

Now I know that technically the city states of Sparta and Corinth were nominal allies during the Pelopennesian War but overlook that for the sake of a rather laboured little joke. Given that the conflict in question took place in Greece, admittedly 2500 years ago, it's unusual that neither side here hails from Greece but from Edinburgh and Sao Paulo respectively. Ah well they do say Edinburgh, home of "The Spartans" is the "Athens of the North". For the record Sparta won the Pelopennesian War although I suspect the Edinburgh based semi-professional outfit would be rather unlikely to beat the reigning Copa Libertadores and World Club Cup champions.

While we're in the classical world let's look at the semi-final draw of the Herculean Trophy shall we?

OFI vs Hercules

 

Hercules is the individual whom I believe has the most team named in his honour, even given that he's a mythical figure. OFI are based in the capital of Crete, Iraklion a small city which is named after Hercules while Hercules are from eastern Spain and have adopted the Latinised form of the demigod's name. I'd fancy the Spaniards to make the final where they'll play the winners of:

Herakles Almelo vs Iraklis

 

Herakles Almelo  from the Netherlands use a version of the her's namemore akin the original Greek while Iraklis, from Thessalonika use the actual Greek for obvious reasons. Iraklis even have picture of Hercules and his famous brass bound club on the badge. This semi final would be too close to call but the winner of it would do well to beat the Spanish side from the other semi. 

I'm not finished with the classical world, not by a long way. Here's the final of the "I'm Spartacus" Cup: 

Spartak Moscow vs Roma

Spartak Moscow are named after the Thracian gladiator Spartacus who led a rebellion against the Romans in the First Century BC. In this particular scenario the Roman legions are represented by Roma, obviously. I suspect that, just like the original Spartacus the Russians would lose to the Romans although with a lot fewer crucifictions afterwards.

OK, this is the last one form the ancient world I promise. How about the Trojan War Cup semi finals?

Paris (St Germain) vs Achilles '29

Paris, as I'm sure you know was the Trojan prince who kidnapped/ran off with Helen of Troy to trigger the Trojan war. Achilles was the preeminent Greek (or Achean to be more correct) warrior leading the attack on Troy. In the legend Paris killed Achilles with a poisoned arrow wound in the heel. I suspect PSG would heavily beat the amateur side from the Netherlands who would have more than an Achilles heel to worry about.

Ajax vs AEK Athens

Ajax was a Greek warrior who went mad with anger and hung himself after not being awarded Achilles armour after Achiulles funeral. Athena, the eponymous deity of the city of Athens meddled in the Trojan war all through the legend. all things being equal I suspect the Dutch giants would beat the Greeks in this one but PSG would win overall.

I could go on and on with these things related to the classical world like Sparta Rotterdam vs Sparta Prague but I promised I'd stop with them. Let's move onto the Historical Monarchs Cup Final shall we?

Willem II vs Dom Pedro II

There aren't many teams named after historical monarchs bet here's a couple of them. Willem II (1792-1849) was the king of the Netherlands and has the club from Tilburg named after him for some sort of tenuous reason. Dom Pedro II (1825 - 1891) was the Emperor of Brazil which is something of a surprise as most people outside South America probably don't even know Brazil had emperors. Put your money on the Dutch side to win this one as the Brazilian side are small fry.

Enough history for a while. Lets have a game between two big names of Scottish football shall we. I don't actually have shirts of the biggest teams in Scotland for my own reasons but we can still look at the semi-finals of the "Not The Old Firm" Cup:

Stafford Rangers vs Stalybridge Celtic

These two English non-league sides share names with the Glaswegian giants but as far as I know have no other affiliations to them. Stafford Rangers, hailing from Stafford surprisingly, would be the underdogs here against Stalybridge Celtic who are based in Greater Manchester.

Beijing Celtic vs Rangers De Talca

Beijing does not have any particular love for Celtic or indeed any other Scottish team but clearly has enough ex-pats to get some sort of team together. Rangers de Talca from central Chile were apparently named by a Scotsman so may well be named after the Glaswegian side. The Chileans would be very heavy favourites to win this one.

I'll stop there but I really could go on and on with these, in fact I might do some more some other time. Alternatively I might get myself a life but that's unlikely.