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Championship game halted due to squirrel pitch invasion as ground staff forced to intervene

Hull City played host to Bristol City in the Championship on Saturday afternoon, when a rather furry pitch invader stormed the turf twice and brought the match to a halt in hilarious fashion

[A squirrel runs near the goal net]

A squirrel wreaked havoc during Hull City's clash with Bristol City(Image: Greig Cowie/Shutterstock)

Hull City's game against Bristol City was forced to a halt after a squirrel decided to take to the pitch...twice!

The Tigers lagged 3-1 behind at the MKM Stadium as the game was delayed due to the cute critter making its presence known.

Hull were quick to announce the pause in play, writing on X: "A halt in play due to a disruptive squirrel," in one of the most unusual social media uploads of the 2025/26 season.

[Hull City and Bristol City players]

Hull City played host to Bristol City on Saturday(Image: PA)

While play resumed soon after, the squirrel returned to the pitch around five minutes later as fans inside the stadium, as well as some of the players on the pitch, thankfully saw the funny side of things.

Cheers of "whey," were heard as the squirrel made its way across the goal line, before a roar erupted as if a goal had been scored as it scurried into the back of the net.

Hull also saw the humour in the bizarre moment, returning to social media to write: "Play resumes after being 'mauled by the squirrel,'" in the aftermath, poking fun at their famous Mauled By The Tigers chant.

Ollie McBurnie opened the scoring for the hosts 24 minutes into the match, before Robert Atkinson pulled one back for the Robins nine minutes later.

Ross McRorie then turned the tide in Bristol's favour six minutes ahead of the interval to ensure the visitors headed into the second-half with the advantage.

Emil Riis Jakobsen added further misery to Hull fans just five minutes after the break, before the squirrel showed its face to lighten the mood.

January signing Kieran Dowell instantly proved his worth 78 minutes into the fixture to give the Tigers a glimmer of hope of taking something from the fixture.

However, it was a case of too little too late for the hosts, who dropped vital points in their push for automatic promotion.

As things stand, Hull now sit fourth in the Championship standings, four points shy of second-place Middlesbrough and five behind league leaders, Coventry.

Bristol, meanwhile, moved one step closer to a play-off place with the win, currently occupying eighth place on the league table and just a point off the top six.

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