Manchester City and Arsenal head into the final day of the Premier League season with the title still on the line.
Reigning champions City are in pole position to claim a record fourth consecutive top-flight crown after Tuesday’s tense 2-0 win at Tottenham .
That put Pep Guardiola’s side two points ahead of Mikel Arteta’s men and means blue and white ribbons will remain on the trophy if they beat West Ham on Sunday.
Arsenal’s possible trump card is their goal-difference advantage, which has been whittled down to one but crucially remains. If City slip up with a draw or a defeat and the Gunners beat Everton, it will be party time at Emirates Stadium.
But what about those blue and white ribbons? More to the point, what about the trophy? If two teams can win it, where does it go on the final day? Is it with the favourites or is there a replica? And is there a helicopter involved to take it the length of the country?
As the Premier League prepares for its 10th last-gasp decider, allow us to unpack this famous piece of final-day mythology.
MORE: Has any team ever won four Premier League titles in a row?
Where is the Premier League trophy on the final day?
The Premier League trophy will be at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday. It will also be at Emirates Stadium. No, this isn’t a Spiderman meme joke.
It’s time to bust the first big final-day trophy myth, namely that there is a real trophy and a replica. The reality is that there are two identical Premier League trophies.
One resides with the league champions for the year of their reign while the Premier League keeps another for its own use and promotional activities.
The latter trophy will be at Emirates Stadium, with City’s existing trophy at the Etihad as the blue masses hope to see it unveiled again.
The doubling up does not end there. Each venue will have podiums and fireworks displays ready to deploy, along with a set of 40 medals to be distributed among the winning squad and staff.
Only once the eventual champions have lifted the trophy will it be engraved. As far as we know, the engraver won’t be travelling via helicopter — which brings us on to….
MORE: W here is Erling Haaland on the Premier League’s all-time top scorers list?
Is the Premier League trophy in a helicopter on the final day?
In 2009, paranormal researcher Fiona Broome coined the phrase “The Mandela Effect” to refer to a situation when a significant number of people believe an event occurred when it did not. The phenomenon was so named after Broom discovered that she, along with numerous others, believed Nelson Mandela died in the 1980s while incarcerated.
Mandela was in fact released from prison after being a prominent opponent of South Africa’s Apartheid regime, and became a unifying and inspirational president of his country before he died in 2013.
The Premier League’s version of the Mandela Effect comes around again this weekend. We’re sorry to break it to you, but the trophy will not be circling in a helicopter on Sunday as the pilot is kept abreast of events in Manchester and London.
This myth almost certainly has its origins in the 2005 final-day showdown between Celtic and Rangers in the Scottish Premiership. Broadcaster Sky Sports even dubbed it “Helicopter Sunday”. As the drama played out, there was a need for evasive action as the airborne trophy headed towards Fir Park, only for Motherwell to score an 88th-minute equaliser against Celtic to hand Rangers the title.
But when you remember the Premier League’s most dramatic finales — from Manchester United’s showdown with Blackburn Rovers in 1995 to City’s famous “AGUEROOOOOO” and beyond — there has never been a helicopter involved.
