Ellis Dunne has a special match day experience at the Cherries

Guest article
Written by Michael Dunne and Ellis Dunne, 

AFCB Season Ticket Holders - Family Stand

Ellis arrives early at the Goldsands Stadium and
is confident of scoring against Cherry Bear 

On Saturday 9 March 2013, Ellis was one of several mascots for the game against Doncaster Rovers. Ellis’s opportunity came as a result of his father doing a short stint as Cherry Bear when Steve Fletcher came to visit him at work.

Cherry Bear is ready to go to work

Father Michael with Steve Fletcher                

Ellis arrived at the Court at 1pm to begin his duties. This was unusually early because, despite living quite close to the ground, most weeks it is a last minute dash to make it into his seat just as the teams come out onto the pitch.

As a result, it was quite a surprise to see the amount of supporters milling around the ground two hours before kick off. Ellis waited outside the main entrance for a few minutes and joined some of the fans in wishing Marc Pugh, Shaun MacDonald and Wes Fogdan good luck as they arrived to begin preparations for the match. It wasn’t long before Ellis joined the other mascots and their excellent minders Lewis and Luke in following their heroes into the home dressing room.

Ellis joins the other mascots for a kick about

Ellis went from player to player collecting signatures with his complementary autograph book and pen. He had his photo taken with Marc Pugh for publication in the next match programme and all of the team were very kind to him. Emerging from the main entrance after half an hour, he reported that there was a lot of laughing and joking in the dressing room, and this despite the absence of Harry Arter.

Following a kick about with Cherry Bear in the Junior Fanzone under the family stand, Ellis was back on duty as kick off approached.

With the team warming up on the pitch, Ellis and his fellow mascots did some pre-match exercises in the shadow of the main stand and it was here that Ellis put three goals past Liam to record a hat trick on his Dean Court debut. The mascots were then called to the centre circle and introduced to the crowd before heading back down the tunnel once again.

All smiles for the photographs

Cherry Bear gets in on the action

Waiting in the tunnel for the match to begin, Ellis was playfully given a straight red card by referee Fred Graham. Captain Steve Cook gave lots of verbal encouragement to his players and then Ellis was lucky enough to join him in leading the team out onto the pitch. Ellis shook hands with Mr Graham and the other officials before doing the same with the Rovers players. He then made his way to the centre circle for a few more photos with the officials and captains before leaving the pitch to a standing ovation from at least one very proud parent.

If you have been a mascot or want to talk about a particular match day experience that was unusual or funny, get in touch with Cherry Chimes. Other Cherry fans will love to hear your unique story.