Motherwell Football Club have launched a unique competition where school children across Lanarkshire are being invited to design the next mascot for the SPFL side.

The Scottish club hope to engage with tens of thousands of children across the county, with every child who enters receiving a free ticket to a match at Fir Park.

The initiative by the community driven club, aims encourage youngsters across Lanarkshire and beyond to come along and enjoy live professional football.

Marketing and Fan Engagement Manager Ryan Murrant said: “This competition is what Motherwell Football Club and the Community Trust are all about, engaging the community and creating pathways for young children to come to games.

“These children are the next generation of fans and what better way to engage with them than asking for their creative minds to design a mascot.

“Research shows that overall young children don’t remember the scores of games but they do remember meeting a player or high-5-ing a mascot.

“Those magical moments cost us as a club nothing but will be remembered by the children forever more. We encourage as many children to get involved and we are looking forward to seeing the designs and to welcoming the children to our games.”

Motherwell FC Community Trust General Manager Dawn Middleton said: “We are delighted to be working with the club on this exciting venture.

“Participants in our programmes, school children and youth groups will all be submitting entries.

“We always welcome groups of youngsters to matches and, if you are a group in need of inspiration prior to submitting entries, please get in touch and we will invite you to a game to experience the unique family atmosphere at Fir Park.”

Any child that enters the competition will receive one free ticket to a Motherwell FC game and the child who designs the winning entry will also receive an number of other prizes.