Meet beloved UK football mascots - including Donny Dog, Crusty the Pie and the family behind Bloomfield Bear

In the brand new show Mascot Mania, some of the UK's most beloved football mascots take centre stage. In the episode, we meet Nelson in Portsmouth, Donny Dog in Doncaster, Bloomfield Bear in Blackpool, Deepdale Duck in Preston, and Wigan Athletic’s Crusty the Pie.

The secret identity of Blackpool Football Club’s Bloomfield Bear is revealed in an exclusive interview on the episode. The father in a family of four reveals that he, his two sons and his wife all take turns as the mascot. He then goes on to share his favourite part of the job and his biggest highlights so far.

“Over the years there’s been a lot of highlights. Getting into the Premier League. I’d never thought we’d get there in my lifetime. So to actually get there was a wonderful experience.”

The father explained that one of the sons had their year 11 school leavers ball just after the team won the Championship playoff final.

“We got to take the trophy to his leavers ball and all the kids managed to get a picture of the trophy, so I think he was quite popular that day.”

Dogs Nelson, the official mascot for Portsmouth Football Club is played by 30-year-old apprentice electrician and football enthusiast, Mitch. He says that on match days he comes in a couple of hours before kick off to soak up all the atmosphere, before changing into his costume and going out into the fan zone. Mitch said that seeing the many smiles on fans' faces makes it all worthwhile.

“You wouldn’t believe how many kids, even adults, actually come up and are like ‘Nelson, Nelson, can I get a photo with you?’ Or I’ll have parents showing a FaceTime of their kids at home, and they’re like ‘Nelson, can you wave, you’ll make my kid’s day.’”

You can watch the full episode to hear more stories from beloved football mascots. You can tune into Freeview channel 262 and Freely channel 565 for more true crime, football, and quirky UK content . Keep up with our latest episodes by signing up to Shots TV! Newsletter here.