'Cuddly' Kingsley Makes His Point

'Cuddly' Kingsley Makes His Point

"Scary" new club mascot Kingsley was the star of the show as Partick Thistle unveiled their new home strip today.

The spiky yellow character was launched last week and quickly made an impression with football fans everywhere.

The Ladbrokes Premiership club said Kingsley - designed by 2013 Turner Prize nominee David Shrigley - has grabbed headlines across the globe for his angry demeanour but is really a "friendly guy".

Partick Thistle spokesman George Francis spoke about the mascot at the new strip launch in George Square in Glasgow, where Kingsley was swarmed by young fans.

He said: "I've got to know Kingsley really well over the last week and I can assure everybody that he is misunderstood and not really as scary as he looks. He's a friendly guy.

"The response to him has been incredible - we've had emails from CNN and Time magazine, we've been on websites in Australia and New Zealand, and somebody brought into the office the other day a newspaper from Cyprus with a story about Kingsley.

"We could never have predicted the extent to which it has gone global."

Kingsley has been introduced as part of a new sponsorship deal with US investment company Kingsford Capital Management and features on the new strip.

Mr Francis said: "Mike Wilkins, one of the founders, is a big fan of the artists David Shrigley and David, in turn, is a Partick Thistle fan. So he was really happy to get involved.

"David went ahead and designed what is now Kingsley."

Young fans of Partick - nicknamed the Jags - at the launch said they were happy to have Kingsley as their new mascot.

Cameron Calder, eight, said: "He's scary but he's friendly too, and I think he's quite a cool mascot."

Cameron Brown, also eight, said: "I think he'll scare off other teams."

Seven-year-old Emma Paterson said: "He's quite friendly and you can get a picture with him. I think he's quite cuddly and cosy."

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