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Wales Online
Wales Online
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Glen Williams

Chelsea v Man Utd prank sees famous Welsh village sign hijacked

A famous Welsh village sign has been hijacked by Irish bookmakers Paddy Power in a stunt mocking Chelsea FC after their latest heavy defeat to Man Utd.

Paddy Power are known for their outlandish stunts and this time they have taken aim at Chelsea by adding to the sign for one of Wales' most well-known villages, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.

The bookies took the sign and 'twinned' it with Chelsea Football Club, stating that the Anglesey village is "the only place with more Ls" than the west London outfit.

READ MORE: Wrexham to face Chelsea before Man Utd in glamorous US summer tour

It comes after yet another heavy defeat for Frank Lampard's side, who were hammered 4-1 by United on Thursday night. The loss at Old Trafford represented Chelsea's 16th defeat of the season, with their final game coming against Champions League-qualifiers Newcastle United this Sunday.

Paddy Power hijacked the Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch to mock Chelsea (Paddy Power)

Stunt-pullers Paddy Power point out that Chelsea, who have 16 losses this season, have more Ls than Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll, whose full name has only 11 Ls in comparison.

In actual fact, Llanfairpwll only has one 'L' in its full name. In the Welsh alphabet, 'Ll' is a different letter with a different sound.

Spokesperson for Paddy Power, Rachael Kane, said: "Football is booming in Wales at the moment, with Hollywood A-listers catapulting local clubs to major success.

"Given it’s renaissance, we thought Chelsea might benefit from some Welsh magic, and with a population of just 3,000, they might need the support of every single one of them come Sunday. Chin up lads, Potch is en route!”

Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll, which in full has 58 characters split into 18 syllables, is famous because it is thought to be the longest place name in Europe and the second longest one-word place name in the world. It translates as 'The Church of St Mary in the hollow of the white hazel near to the rapid whirlpool of St Tysilio of the red cave'.

The story of how the village got its name back to the opening of the rail station at the village of Llanfairpwllgwyngyll in August 1848, as the temporary terminus of the new railway from Holyhead. The village prospered from its status and from construction works nearby on the Britannia Bridge.

Once the bridge had opened, in May 1850, there was no longer any need for long-distance trains to stop at Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll, which became a railway backwater overnight.

A local committee was convened to think of ways to encourage passengers to alight in the village, and came up with the idea of extending the village’s five-syllable name to create the world’s longest place name. The railway company went along with the ploy, and displayed the new name on the station.

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