Lucky Lynx, commonly known as Lucky, is the

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...

of Dutch football club

Ajax Amsterdam Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or commonly Ajax, is a Dutch professional Association football, football Football team, club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. ...

playing in the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

, a role he has filled since 2000.Lucky Lynx Bio
", Ajax.nl, accessed August 7, 2013. On 20 December 2015, he was replaced by his son ''Lucky Junior''.

Biography

Since the year 2000, Lucky Lynx has been entertaining Ajax fans at the

Amsterdam ArenA The Johan Cruyff Arena ( ; officially stylised as Johan Cruijff ArenA) is the main stadium of the Dutch capital city of Amsterdam and the home stadium of association football, football club AFC Ajax, Ajax since its opening. Built from 1993 to ...

as well at any Ajax Kids Club events, school events as well as charity events in and around the city of Amsterdam. Lucky is a

Lynx A lynx ( ; : lynx or lynxes) is any of the four wikt:extant, extant species (the Canada lynx, Iberian lynx, Eurasian lynx and the bobcat) within the medium-sized wild Felidae, cat genus ''Lynx''. The name originated in Middle Engl ...

, who according to his fictional biography was born on the top of

Mount Olympus Mount Olympus (, , ) is an extensive massif near the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, located on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia, between the regional units of Larissa (regional unit), Larissa and Pieria (regional ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, has yellow eyes. Brown, black and white hair, is 1,75 meters tall, wears a size 58 shoe, and whose hobbies include playing football. As the face for the Ajax Kids Club, a fan club for children initiated on 6 December 2000, Lucky is the central character in the Fan clubs Kids magazine, and is a popular character amongst fans at games and social events. His name was derived from the Lucky Ajax team, which was created by "Mr. Ajax" Sjaak Swart, a beneficiary team consisting of ex-Ajax players who compete in at least one charity match a year.

Costume

The Lucky Lynx suit consists of a whole-body lynx costume made of black, brown and white fur with large yellow eyes, and a short tail. Over the suit, Lucky wears an authentic uniform (white/red/white home kit), an Ajax baseball cap of the same colors, and team-appointed athletic shoes. His jersey bears the name "Lucky" on the back.

Duties

In addition to photo opportunities and entertaining the crowd at Ajax games, Lucky also makes public appearances throughout the greater

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

area on behalf of the team. As the key figure of the Ajax Kids Club, he appears at schools to promote tolerance,

teamwork Teamwork is the collaborative effort of a group to achieve a common goal or to complete a task in an effective and efficient way. Teamwork is seen within the framework of a team, which is a group of interdependent individuals who work toge ...

and

companionship In social psychology, an interpersonal relation (or interpersonal relationship) describes a social association, connection, or affiliation between two or more people. It overlaps significantly with the concept of social relations, which are ...

and the importance of a good education. There is a monthly Ajax fanzine for Kids that comes with the kids club membership, of which Lucky is the main character. The magazine also features a comic strip starring Lucky Lynx, which is illustrated by Dutch cartoonist Maarten Rijnen. Lucky can also be booked for private events.

References

External links

Lucky Lynx profile on Ajax.nl
{{AFC Ajax AFC Ajax Association football mascots Cartoon mascots Dutch mascots Feline mascots Anthropomorphic felids Mascots introduced in 2000