Most supporters are familiar with Cambridge United's Mascot, Marvin the Moose, but one of the most oft-heard questions is "why a moose?"

Marvin was born on the away terrace of Blundell Park, Grimsby at approximately 2.15pm on Saturday, August 19th 1989. This was the first League match of an amazing season for the Football Club; a season which was to culminate in triumph at Wembley in the Division Four play-off final against Chesterfield.

It all began when U's fan Dale Collett flew back into the UK from a holiday in Spain. Not wishing to miss the first game, he jumped straight into a car and drove up to the game without even stopping for shower.

On arrival in the away section, he warned fellow U's fans "Don't stand near me, I smell like a moose".

The travelling fans spent the remainder of what was a dull 0-0 draw, perfecting their moose impression by raising collective hands to the side of the head and imitating antlers.

For some reason, this caught on very quickly and within weeks the entire Newmarket Road end of the ground could be seen 'Moosing' visiting goalkeepers. Admittedly other animals were experimented with in the early days, but once established the Moose could not be usurped.

And from there, it was a relatively short step to Marvin, the world's first scratch and sniff mascot!

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