Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
City derby mascots are brother and sister
WITH footba l l te n sion s rising across Dundee ahead of tonight’s derby, one family are feeling the heat more than most.
Gordon and Lorna Thomson, from Longforgan, are particularly looking forward to the game as their children will both be mascots.
And tonight’s match comes with a twist, as the family crosses the city divide since Gordon is a Dee while mum Lorna is an Arab.
Lorna said: “It’s got to the point where me and my husband don’t really talk about football around the house.”
And the rivalry is even stronger as the family’s two children are both football fanatics.
Isla, 7, is a mad Dundee United supporter while her brother, Adam, 5, loves Dundee.
The two kids will be the mascots for their respective teams.
Lorna said: “My wee girl had an accident back in the holidays, and when we got back we had to go to Ninewells a couple of times.
“While she was there the nurses were talking to her about what she likes and she told them she’s a United supporter.
“The hospital offered her the chance to be a mascot at a United game and we obviously said yes. They organised for her to be the mascot at the derby, which is perfect because it means both sides of the family will get something out of it.”
Adam was also desperate to be a mascot, so Lorna arranged for him to get involved in the game.
She said: “I got in touch with some of the people at Dundee. They said that they don’t usually have away mascots, but that they would be up for it as long as United were fine with it.
“United said it was fine, and both clubs have been really good about it.”
Lorna admitted that football causes a bit of teasing in the house, saying: “It’s not too bad, but there’s always a bit of banter about football between them, mostly about games.
“It’s usually not any more than Isla saying ‘Dundee are rubbish’ and Adam saying ‘no they’re not’ but there’s sometimes a bit of teasing about the league table.”