When Good Celery Goes Bad

On Wednesday we brought you the inspiring true story of Mr. Celery, a mascot for the Wilmington, Del. Blue Rocks Single-A baseball club. But across the vast Atlantic, there are also various celery-related incidents in sports. Reader Jeff ("Tonker") reports:

Did you know that soccer minnows Gillingham F.C. (from Kent, in England) actually banned celery from their Priestfield stadium about 10 years back because fans were throwing it onto the pitch? The club became so concerned that a player was going to get injured by flying celery that they started subjecting fans to celery searches, confiscating the offending vegetable before it could have someone's eye out.

Gillingham fans also have a famed "celery song", including the lyrics: Celery!! Celery!! If she don't come, I'll tickle her bum, with a lump of celery.

Reuters reports that Gillingham began to crack down when a goalie was hit with celery during a match. But we're more concerned about the "celery searches." "Is that a herbaceous biennial plant in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?"

Stalked By The Fans [This Is True] Minor Enterprise: An Interview With Mr. Celery [Deadspin]