At the time of writing, Celtic’s mascot is Hoopy The Huddle Hound, but what many fans won’t know is that the club used to have real dogs as mascots for several years.
Some great images can be found of Sean Fallon with an Irish wolfhound in the 60s. It was presented to the club by Aer Lingus in January, 1966.
The caption to this image is factually incorrect, however, as the club had a mascot in 1939, which was a border collie!
The following advert appeared in the Bellshill Speaker newspaper on 15 December 1939: “YOU MUST HAVE A CELTIC JERSEY – Mr Gallacher has for sale the Celtic FC mascot, a beautiful collie. This dog has never seen a motor car, has, in fact, never been out in the street, but with care could be trained into a fine companion. Mr Gallacher’s family of little fox terriers demand you pick them up.”
It’s quite extraordinary that these wonderful animals were part of the matchday experience at Celtic Park. In later years, the club started using modern mascots without real animals. The Hoops moved away from the dog theme for a while, going for Vince the Parrot!
The dog theme was then reintroduced with Hoopy the Huddle Hound and his female companion Hailey The Huddle Hound!