Football club mascots are a complicated thing. There are many that don’t like them, finding them inherently childish and silly. That, though, is because they are largely aimed at children. As much as us adults might wish that the young people in our lives would just get involved with our football club for the love it it, many need a way in that is about silliness and having something to look at and understand. That is what mascots provide, which is why so many clubs have them. Celtic is now exception on that front, boasting both official and unofficial ones for supporters to get behind.
Hoopy & Hailey
🐶📸 Hoopy & Hailey welcome fans of all ages to the @CFCFestival! pic.twitter.com/X4ZlsPW7hK
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) July 28, 2019
Celtic’s green and white hoops are a famous sight in football, having conquered Europe and become the most successful Scottish club ever over the years. The shirt is also what lends itself to the club’s main mascot, at least in terms of his name. Hoopy the Huddle Hound is a large dog creature, who wears a green hat to compliment the green and white hoops of the home shirt that he has on his chest. Add in the white club shorts and he could almost play up front, were it not for the fact that he is ridiculously oversized and obviously wouldn’t have been scouted for the position.
In 2019, the club decided that there should also be a female dog to join Hoopy in his pitch side antics, presumably feeling that young girls wanting to get into the football wouldn’t be able to do so if it was only a male dog who seemed to like the sport. Representation matters, of course, so there’s no slight from us around the club’s decision to bring a dog that they named Hailey into the fray. The pair have been inseparable ever since being reunited at the Celtic FC Festival in 2019. They aren’t boyfriend and girlfriend, however; Hailey is Hoop’s sister rather than romantic partner.
The Backstory of Hoopy
🍀🐶 During this October’s school holidays, Hoopy the Huddle Hound will be pitch-side at Paradise as a special guest on the Celtic Park Stadium Tours!
Find out more and book a Celtic Park tour ⤵
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) September 24, 2022
All good mascots have backstories that help to explain where they’ve come from. That is why Hoopy’s tale is one that will be familiar to many, thanks in no small part to the fact that the Huddle Hound was discovered in a manner not dissimilar to other club mascots. It was on the morning of the ninth of May in 1998 that a member of Celtic’s ground staff heard a rustling outside of Celtic Park. Upon closer inspection of the bushes there, he found a small puppy, just a few hours old, boasting long ears and big ears, looking weak and in need of being looked after by someone.
The member of staff scooped him up and took him into the stadium with him, keeping him warm by wrapping a Celtic scarf around his little body. The day itself was an important one for the Hoops, knowing that they needed to win in order to secure the league title and become champions. It was St Johnstone that they were up against on the final day of the season, with the newly named Hoopy the Huddle Hound proving to be a good omen thanks to a 2-0 win, securing the league title for the first time in a decade courtesy of goals from Henrik Larsson and Harald Brattbakk.
The joy brought to the club thanks to the league win was transferred into love for the dog, with everyone seeing him as a lucky mascot. The result was that he soon became an official one, sticking around and becoming a permanent fixture at Celtic Park every time the club is hosting a match. Once Hailey joined him, the pair have spent their days interacting with young Celtic fans and working to ensure that they all get to enjoy their time watching the Hoops. They also often get involved with fun antics with players, or simply kicking the ball around between them before a game.
Why Are Celtic Known as ‘The Hoops’?
Given the fact that the club’s mascot is known as ‘Hoopy’, it is worth asking the question as to why it is that Celtic themselves are referred to as ‘the Hoops’ from time to time. The answer, unsurprisingly, comes from their kit. When the club was first formed back in 1887, the home strip was actually a much simpler white top that was worn with black shorts. The socks were green and black hoops, but the top itself was actually stripes before it was hoops. That was in 1889, with the green and white stripes running vertically down the top and the colour of the shorts alternating between black and white.
It actually took until 1903 before the club adopted the green and white hooped tops that are now synonymous with it. It was the 15th of August 1903 when they wore it for the first time, coming in a match against Partick Thistle. The socks were black, which remained the case until the early part of the 1930s, when they switched to become green. In the 1960s, plain white socks where worn and they have been there ever since. It is, of course, the hoops of green and white on the top that explain why Celtic are known as the Hoops and Hoopy got his name, which tends to be used intermittently with ‘the Bhoys’.
The Club’s Unofficial Mascot
Happy Birthday to our very own, Jay Beatty, who becomes a teenager today! 🍀🎉🎂 pic.twitter.com/ODESjbjueI
— Celtic FC Foundation (@FoundationCFC) December 23, 2016
In the July of 2013, Jay Beatty, a young boy with Down’s Syndrome, was invited to train with the Celtic players ahead of their Champions League qualifying match against Cliftonville. A native of Armagh, the club asked him to join them because he was a ‘super fan’. He joined the players singing ‘Hail, Hail, the Celts are here’ when he was on the team bus. On the 11th of May a year later, Hoops player Giorgios Samaras picked Jay out of the crowd after the club had won the league title, carrying him around Celtic Park in front of around 52,400 supporters.
As the player gave his post-match interviews, Beatty stayed with him and when the players collected their winners’ medals, Neil Lennon, the manager at the time, gave him one of his own. In the January of 2015, he was invited to watch Celtic play Hamilton Academical by Hamilton, heading onto the pitch in order to take a penalty. He scored, with both sets of supporters celebrating. It was later nominated for the SPFL’s Goal of the Month competition, winning 97% of the vote. Ever since, he has been seen as an unofficial mascot of the Hoops.