Football has seen numerous characters invade the playing field in a bid to get their 15 seconds of fame. However, it’s not just overzealous fans who have invaded football’s hallowed 90 yards. From the chicken at Blackburn to the cat at Anfield we take a look at 5 of the the best critters who’ve invaded the pitch.
5) Pine Martin invades Swiss League match 2013
Unlike he usual funny stories, when the critters run around and are rounded up without any problem, this incident was not quite so funny. When a Pine Marten, a weasel like creature invaded the pitch during the match between Zurich and FC Thun, it bit a player – urich defender Loris Beneto. Beneto was trying to get the Marten off the pitch when the critter nipped him in the fingers and escaped again. Eventually Zurich keeper Davide Da Costa armed with his trusted keeping gloves safely managed to get the Marten off the pitch.
4) The Blackburn chicken protest, 2012
A chicken wearing Blackburn colours was released on to the Ewood Park pitch during Blackburn’s crucial Premier League match against Wigan as the fans protested the direction the club was heading towards under new owners, Indian poultry processing company Venky’s. Blackburn needed to win to remain in the Premiership, but they went on to lose 1-0 .
3) Police dog steals the ball, 2011
Brazil is known for its football crazy fans and its rather tough police force. Combine those to together and what you get is a football loving police dog. In a Campeonato Mineiro match between Ituiutaba and Uberlandia an overzealous police dog invaded the pitch and got a hold of the ball. After playing with the ball for a few moments, he was lead off on his leash by his handler
2) Canine duo invade friendly match between Galatasaray and VfR Allen, 2013
In what was probably the cutest invasionGalatasaray’s friendly against German second division club VfR Allen was brought to an absolute standstill when a pair of playful Labradors invaded the pitch engrossed in a game of tug of war.
1) Cat invades Anfield, 2012Liverpool and Tottenham played out a rather boring 0-0 draw. The crowd at Anfield though were kept entertained by a young cat by the name of Kenny who fearlessly strolled onto the pitch. The little cat then proceeded to take a walk along the ground and even took out some time to come and sit in front of his namesake, Liverpool icon and then manager of the Reds Kenny Daglish
