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NAME GILBERT THE GULL

TEAM TORQUAY UNITED

SPORT FOOTBALL

YEARS ACTIVE 1977–PRESENT

STYLE HAPPY-GO-LUCKY GULL, BUT WITH A BIT OF A TEMPER

FAMOUS FOR ALLEGEDLY CALLING HIS OWN FANS A VERY BAD WORD INDEED

On the face of things, there’s nothing that unusual about Gilbert the Gull, mascot of Torquay United, perennial strugglers in the lowest tiers of the English football pyramid. He’s a large, colourful, furry representation of the club’s nickname who goofs around on the touchline before games. So far, so standard.

However, this Gull apparently has a bit of … edge to him. In 2014 Torquay were playing Grimsby Town and the atmosphere among their fans wasn’t exactly convivial, given they were being handed a sound thrashing. Gilbert went over to ask where the noise had gone, one thing led to another and he – allegedly – ended up calling his own fans a bad word. The big, bad word. Yes, that big, bad word.

‘He called us a “bunch of c***s”,’ complained one fan, ‘and after a few words were exchanged he waddled off back to the Family Stand.’ Another fan added: ‘The mascot was – and no doubt about it – telling fans to come onto the pitch for a fight.’ Steve Jegat, the man who played Gilbert at the time, denied dropping the C-bomb, but he was temporarily suspended from duties by the club. ‘Gilbert has been spoken to,’ solemnly intoned the club’s chief executive, and the fact he said ‘Gilbert’ rather than ‘Steve’ conjures up the delicious image of the Gull, in full costume, sitting forlornly in an office somewhere as he’s being given a stern talking-to.

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