ARSENAL FANS FUME AS GUNNERSAURUS LET GO!
ARSENAL’S loveable mascot Gunnersaurus has been sacked after 27 years of service as part of the club’s latest wave of cuts.
Jerry Quy, the man who has worn the costume since 1993 — three years before Arsene Wenger’s arrival — was let go yesterday much to the dismay of the club’s supporters and former players.
Arsenal announced they were making 55 redundancies in August because of the financial impact of the pandemic, a decision that was also met with hostility from fans.
While Arsenal’s finances have been hit by the pandemic, Mesut Ozil earns £350,000 a week, which is £18million per year, despite falling out of favour with manager Mikel Arteta. Ozil has not played a single minute for Arsenal so far this season.
The Gunners have also handed a bumper new contract to Pierreemerick Aubameyang worth £250,000 a week in September, and Willian was also given £220,000a-week deal after signing from
Chelsea. Because Quy’s role is part-time, his departure is not counted among the 55 redundancies but is part of the same cost-cutting process.
Former Arsenal Paul Merson midfielder said: ‘It’s unbelievable. There will be 30 and 40-year- old fans who have grown up with that dinosaur.
‘It’s disappointing, I think it’s poor by Arsenal, I really do.’
In response to the news, Arsenal supporter George Allen set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for Quy.
Last night the fund had tipped over £4,000. Allen wrote: ‘Gunnersaurus has been the Arsenal club mascot for 27 years. He’s a club icon and we cannot let him become extinct.
‘The mascot league is the only one we’ve consistently been on top of, let’s keep our all- time top scorer on top.’