The club has decided to introduce a club Mascot to our brand at Maidstone Rugby. As with many clubs, it allows a little fun and engagement with supporters as well as education for our youngsters.

Based on our history, there are two choices and we need the U11-U6 age groups to help! We need your drawings and designs for your favourite to be submitted to the club, along with their name. The top three will be presented to members and prizes given to the final 3 selected. Closing date for submittal is March 30th 2023 and you can take a picture of your drawing and send to maidstonerugby@outlook.com or pass along the actual drawing to the Youth Chair Pete Brown.

Why the Iguanodon or Lion?

First off is the Iguanodon that lived from about 139-138 million years ago, from the early to late Cretaceous period. Iguanodon was the second dinosaur ever discovered and it was one of the first dinosaurs ever to be named, preceded only by Megalosaurus. Iguanodon's name means "iguana tooth" due to its iguana-like teeth. It was the largest of its family.

Why the Iguanodon?
Did you know that Maidstone's coat of arms is the only one in England to display a Dinosaur? The reason being that in 1834 Gideon Mantell, a Sussex doctor passionately interested in the study of fossils was alerted to a find of a large fossil. It was found in a quarry near Queen’s Road, Maidstone, which was obviously the remains of a very large animal. The quarry’s owner, William Benstead, was also fascinated by fossils and excavated the fossil himself, recording his work with notes and sketches. Benstead’s find was widely reported, and he wrote to Mantell inviting him to view the fossil. Mantell recognised it as an Iguanodon, and the world’s first articulated bird-hip dinosaur specimen, and purchased it for £25.

Mantell’s attempts to reconstruct the skeleton and life of the Iguanodon marked the beginning of palaeontology – the scientific study of dinosaurs.
 

An internationally significant find, the Maidstone Iguanodon fossils proved crucial to paleontological understanding of the species’ skeleton, size and how the bones of an Iguanodon fitted together.

The Maidstone fossil is currently displayed at the Natural History Museum in London, but Benstead’s notebook with his reconstructions of the Iguanodon, and a cast of the fossil, are highlights of Maidstone Museum’s palaeontology collection.

The second animal of choice is the Lion (Panthera leo) which we all know is a large cat of the genus Panthera native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail.

Why the Lion?
Did you know that Maidstone's original shirt colour was dark blue? The first recorded team under the umbrella of Maidstone (Rugby) FC in 1880 wore dark blue jersey's with a Lion on the chest. The reason for this was that most of its members were based at the local Borough Arms public house, whose emblem was that of a Lion. In recognition of this, the Maidstone Lion has been on our chest ever since. The club went through some adaptive kits over the years, eventually settling on the red, white and black we know today in 1928.

So, the Lion or the Dino? The choice is yours!