Best football mascots
Choosing the best football mascot is a bit like selecting your favourite child in amongst twenty best pals. You are going to cause upset. The mascot is at the heart of the fans love for a club, and to suggest that someone else has a better one is worse than criticising the famed centre forward.
We are going to enter this dangerous territory; we are that brave. Here are the top mascot efforts in the English Premier League – if you disagree – leave a comment; we can take it!
Gully the Seagull – Brighton
If you are looking for a clear connection with the club, The Seagulls, and a catchy name, then Gully wins out. It is also top fodder for sports headline writers who can celebrate Brighton soaring or criticising them for being in a flap, but can certainly find their place in the pecking order. (See what we did there!)
The good news for the children of Brighton fans, this is one of the less sinister-looking mascots – and it offers some great merchandise opportunities for the club in a seaside town.
Bertie Bee – Burnley
We have no explanation why Burnley would be represented by a Bee – other than the whole alliteration thing. You would think this would relegate Bertie to the bottom of our list. However, Bertie got himself in some bother when he rugby tackled a fan that encroached onto the pitch. You just can’t ignore this level of entertainment – especially when the only other option is to watch Burnley play football!
Gunnersaurus – Arsenal
Even though we are attempting to avoid the obvious big team choices, we could not ignore The Gunners dinosaur mascot. The costume is fantastic – entirely made for those classic mascot hugs – and the cap is a classy choice.
Really, we chose Gunnersaurus because Arsenal played a fan blinder by runner a competition to design the mascot. This was the winner – and a worthy one too. Great merchandising and an excellent symbol for a family football club.
Pete the Eagle – Crystal Palace
Yeah, we chose Pete because of the sunglasses. This cool dude Eagle always looks enthusiastic – although strikingly similar to an aforementioned seagull. The other mascot is the real eagle, Kayla. However, we are pretty sure the kids don’t want to be encouraged to give this one a hug. Both mascots tend to go out into the community to represent the club – making for a unique fan experience – which is what we really love.
Filbert Fox – Leicester
The Foxes have done well with the whole fox motif over the years – it is undoubtedly one of the best-known nicknames beyond The Gunners and The Red Devils. Filbert has been around for over 25 years and attended over 1000 games. If endurance was the key feature of the best mascot, then Filbert certainly deserves a vote or two.
Hammerhead – West Ham
Hammerhead nearly never made this list, then it was put at the top of the list as the most original. In other words, the West Ham mascot divides opinion. It is original – no cute creature here. It is a sort of robot, some kind of stone-headed stormtrooper, a square-shaped… thing. Well, it is grey and wears a Hammers shirt. For its innovation, we include it on the list, even though this mascot scares us a little bit.
Moonchester – Man City
We were going to avoid the big clubs, but then we remembered Moonchester, and as we were on a ridiculous and utterly unexplainable track we couldn’t resist. Unlike West Ham who went for the whole hammer thing and missed the point a little, Man City have almost been a little too clever. The “moon” comes from the clubs anthem Blue Moon. The “chester” well, from Manchester. And, if you say the name dead quick in a northern accent, Moonchester sounds like Manchester.
When you have moon in the name, then you must go for an alien as a mascot. Obviously.
So, in short, Man City are represented by a weirdly cute blue alien creature. The fact it took a short essay to explain why – yep – overthinking alert!
Our overall favourite?
For endurance in the face of farcical decisions, the Bluebird of Cardiff gets our nod. Even through the years of the red shirt in the Bluebirds history, this mascot remained. Not only does the return of the blue shirt in Cardiff prove the power of the fans, but that the mascot is owned by the supporters and not by the club!