WELCOME TO THE    

 Football Mascot Scrapbook -  Mascot News Section

This website is dedicated to all the Volunteers out  there that give up their time to entertain us, the fans. Any comments, queries please contact barry.kerr@sports-mascots.co.uk 

Yorkie the Lion attempts a dramatic entrance.

Mascots Parading for the Worldwide Press

Billy Brewer (Burton Albion) having a pre race Pint

Sixty-four mascots from all over England and Scotland (and notably one from Belgium) had reserved the right to start the race. This was slightly less than previous years. Jo Crawforth who organised this year’s race said that she could not publicise the event as much as she would have liked. Due to Ladbrokes cancelling the sponsorship (who had sponsored the race for the last 5 seasons)  the course could not send mail outs without the logo of the new race sponsor. By the time Totesport gratefully became the new sponsors of the event this gave the organizers not much time to spare. I hope that there is some continuity with the sponsorship which will enable next years race coordinator to contact as many clubs as possible in good time and with the relevant paperwork  - most of the mascots from this race came courtesy of the excellent official race website. There was again a sizeable media presence in the event with all the major English television stations and newspapers present as well as reporters from ESPN and a live showing of the event on SkySports. Even with the lesser numbers the entertainment from the larger than life ensured that it looked far more mascots ensured that it looked like far more - the BBC later reported that "one hundred mascots took part in the race."

Mascots are over the 1st Fence - Chaddy (Oldham) leading with Graham (Finedon) closely behind

The mascots had clearly different approaches to this race. A few wanted to win at all costs - a number of mascots claimed that Chaddy the Owl (Oldham) had indeed cheated to win the 5th Mascot Marathon. They state that he allegedly didn't jump over the fences and ran around the 5th fence, which gave himself an unfair advantage. But as the old saying goes the judges decision is final and he was the prior champion.  Indeed Chaddy was going for a third consecutive victory in the competition as was the race favourite. Other mascots tried to make an impact - Deepdale Duck (Preston North End) tried everything he could to make a dramatic entrance. One of his main plans was to do the race on a stretcher however this was thwarted by the safety conscious ground staff. Some just came for the fun of it - and some even wanted the record of being the last finisher. The mascots were the stars of the day and spent most of their preparation joking about posing for photographs and signing autographs. Although some mascots were missing from last year’s competition it was good to see some new entrants – Gunnersaurus Rex from Arsenal and Pilgrim Pete from Plymouth Argyle were notable new entrants who managed to cheer up the crowds. A mention also has to be made to the mascot Benny Buck (AFC Telford) who entered the race despite some adversity. Earlier on in the year his head was stolen during a charity event in Nottinghamshire – having no replacement he made a cardboard replacement and was “Benny the Box” for the race.

Hugo the Hound - Huntingdon's own Mascot

Jo Crawforth -Mascot Grand National Co-ordinator

Benny the Box  -with his DIY Head

The Mascot Grand National itself is run over a course of 1 furlong (220 yards) in which the mascots have to overcome 7 hurdles to complete the course. In order to be fair the rule for this race allows mascots with big feet to have a 1-hurdle handicap over their rivals. Before the race even started there was some controversy – whilst the mascots were lining up there was an altercation between Chaddy the Owl (Oldham Athletic) and Captain Blade (Sheffield United). It appeared that Chaddy believed that Blade was in his way this continued after the race finished where Blade pushed Chaddy and in return Chaddy ripped his head off. Blade in response punched Chaddy and told him in no uncertain terms that he was being out of order. On the incident itself Chaddy later remarked: 

 “It’s a bit sad that someone can build up that sort of anger and hatred against a big cuddly owl who he's never really met”

 “…At the end of the day, we're people who dress up in furry costumes to try and entertain kids, so it's beyond me how someone can get so serious and nasty about it. When I do Chaddy, I try to do the best job I can, but then I go home and forget about it. It's not something I dwell on, but some mascots are really quite serious about it."

 From a neutral perspective it was far less than it looked and was just the result of a longstanding feud – Chaddy two years previously had a very public row with the Blackpool Mascot (Bloomfield bear) who was good friends with Captain Blade which seemingly cemented this bad blood. Occurring after the race concluded this fight had no effect on the result of the race. As it turns out Captain Blade was disqualified for his underhand tactics to slowdown his archenemy Chaddy. The fight was broken up almost immediately with the help of Hugo the Hound – Huntingdon’s resident mascot.

Hugo calming down the Captain Blade/Chaddy dispute.

Graham the Gorilla Celebrating his 1st Place. 

This race was keenly contested from start to finish. Derek Thompson  (from Channel 4 and Talksport) wittily commentated the race and he was baffled with the sheer numbers and colours to keep up with what was going on. At one stage he asked the crowds to tell him who was leading.  Chaddy lead for most of the race but appeared to stumble over the last fence giving an opportunity for the chasing pack to gain advantage. Graham the Gorilla of Finedon Volta FC in his first ever Mascot Grand National sprinted brilliantly to the finish winning with a clear lead. Chaddy came 2^nd with Foxy the Kangeroo of Plymouth Tularoo Raiders 3^rd with Spytty the Dog of Newport County 4th. As the race continued many competitors were clearly struggling, with one exhausted mascot crying out for "oxygen." Elvis the Eel  (of Southend United) was officially the last to finish the race stumbling with what looked like some kind of sporting injury. The notable absentee from the finishing line was Yorkie the Lion (York City) did not appear to finish at all. Additional awards were given to the mascots from the racecourse. Billy the Brewer (Burton Albion) won a bottle of champagne award for best turned out mascot and Graham the Gorilla won yet another prize with the inauspicious ugliest mascot of the race award.

On finishing the race Chaddy the Owl, also known as Kevin Williams sportingly said:

“Good luck to the Gorilla, I hope I can race him again."

Joe Scanlon, Managing Director of Totesport, can best sum up the race:

“The Mascot Grand National is a fantastic spectacle and a great day out for all race goers. We want to encourage as many people as possible to attend racing and are pleased to be associated with events that do just that.”

Tippus Tailus (Tailus Industries) - winner of best turned out Mascot.

Graham the Gorilla Winner (Unmasked) Facing  the World Press.

Postscript:

The most celebrated columnist on mascots is Rick Minter who writes a column in the Guardian – has published an authoritative book dedicated to Football Mascots “Meet the Mascots.” He and his family were selling his excellent book during and after the race. Hopefully he will sell many copies of it – the details to obtain this can be obtained from: nhall@tempus-publishing.com

Due to the argument at the finishing post it brought the final race standings into confusion (different news agencies have reported very different results). In my opinion the first 7 were:

1^st Graham the Gorilla – Finedon Volta FC

2^nd Chaddy the Owl – Oldham Athletic FC

3^rd Foxy – Tularoo Raiders Plymouth

4^th Spytty the Dog – Newport County AFC

5^th Freddie the Fox – Halifax Town FC

6^th Peter Burrow – Peterborough Town FC

7^th Marvin the Moose – Cambridge United FC