Mascots have a big role to play at football clubs, from making the game a bit more fun for the younger fans and getting the crowd to sing and cheer, to being a handy piece of advertising. It is every mascot’s dream to be the best mascot around and there is even a UK Mascot Grand National! As far as funny races go, seeing dogs, wolves and owls run in a race is pretty entertaining. However, some mascot costumes are clearly a lot easier to run in, unlike a big square boiler, for example.
West Brom appoint new mascot
"What are your mascots then?"
"Ours is a fox"
"We have a tiger"
"Lion. You?"
"Oh… ours is just a combi boiler with legs" pic.twitter.com/HpRFmgP2ye— Sean (@wolves_1990) August 4, 2018
As strange as it may sound, West Brom has appointed a new mascot and it is in fact, a boiler! No cute animals, just a big central heating system with legs. West Brom was relegated to the Championship last season and there have been some big changes at the club with some big names moving on. Former mascots Baggie Bird and Albi were amongst the list of departures.
Welcome to the championship…
Losing Bolton at home, and finding out that our mascot is a boiler…. 😄😄 #wba pic.twitter.com/LzJH2ig3ob— Jack Mitchell (@JackRubes93) August 4, 2018
Stepping into their shoes is the Boiler Man, West Brom’s brand new mascot. Now you could think that the mascot was chosen because they needed help with their warm-up routine, or maybe they wanted to encourage players to put their foot on the gas! Actually, the real reason they chose a boiler is purely commercial – their new shirt sponsor is Ideal Boilers.
One of the hardest consequences of relegation is the reduced revenue and sponsorship deals are not as lucrative when you drop out of the Premier League. So West Brom is starting the season with their shirt sponsor and mascot from a boiler company.
West Brom’s mascot today was a ‘boiler’ 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/cDDQypmCga
— Football Away Days (@footyawayday) August 4, 2018
West Brom lose first game to Bolton
Unfortunately for West Brom, their new mascot did not bring them much luck, as they lost 2-1 to Bolton Wanderers, with a last-minute goal doing the damage. At this stage in the season, they are still warming up and hopefully they will be all fired up for the next match against Notts Forest tomorrow.
