The Truth About Digger - From the Dog's Mouth

Who's That Man?
By BrianC
May 10 2006

If you have read the earlier interview with Digger you will probably be starting to have an insight into his character. To fully understand what makes our top mutt click you need to look inside the costume. Here we speak with Diggers, shall we say, manager?

How did you become Digger? Did you apply for the Job?
I actually worked for London Irish while we were at Sunbury and then the Stoop. My job was to just help out preparing the stadium for our matches. At Sunbury I also used to help behind the bars and be a general Gofer. You know, go for this go for that until one day the marketing department threw a big bag at my feet and said '' We want you to take the dog for a walk''. Great, I thought, I've always liked Jumbo but oh no, I opened the bag and there was Digger staring back. FANTASTIC, I thought this will be a scream. I'd always said that Mr. Blobby must love his job, being a loony all day and nobody knows who the hell you are. Ever since then I have been associated with Digger.

What are the best bits about the job?
The best bits are actually hearing people laugh at Digger as well as with him. This means he is doing his job properly. Most of all it is seeing the small children smile. The anonymity is great, I can walk past all these people I have just annoyed after the match when I am changed and no one bats an eyelid. So watch out, no one is safe, there are only the select few who know his real identity.

The worst bits?
The worst bits are actually very few. I hate losing, and I don't like a quiet stadium. It can also be quite scary when there are 50 or more 5 year olds grabbing your arms and legs and planting well aimed kicks at your butt (Christmas parties, don't you just love them!!). Having said that, overall there aren't many bad bits. The down side is the fact you get very very hot inside the head, I usually lose about 4-6 lbs every game. I drink about 3-4 liters of water during each game, so its great for losing weight. Macca keeps wanting to have a go so he can lose a bit, sorry Macca but you do keep going on about it!!

Any funny moments you want to tell us about?
Funny moments, how long have you got! Generally the funniest are when it involves ladies in the stands. They see you coming and you can see the fear on their faces thinking 'oh no please not me'! One of the funniest was when someone jumped out of the crowd dressed up as a dog as well. I can't even remember who we were playing but he was good fun and I got him onto the pitch at half time for his 5 minutes of fame.

How do people generally react when you tell them you are digger?
Generally peoples reaction is ''Are you really, oh my God''. Then they tell all their friends that are around them, which I think is funny because I didn't realise actually how popular Digger was. It is nice to know that people really appreciate your efforts. The strangest reaction for me was when I went to a Supporters club function in the Jazz Cafe as myself. Nobody knew who I was all night other than the select few that know my alias. It was time then for the raffle and Ryan was asking players to pull out tickets. I was standing at the front and he called me up to draw a ticket he then proceeded to tell everyone who I was. It drew the biggest cheer of the night and I spent the rest of the night signing autographs, very very strange feeling, rewarding but strange.