If you commission a Turner Prize-nominated artist noted for his dark and bizarre drawings and sculptures to design a new football mascot, perhaps you should expect a little controversy.

Partick Thistle unveiled Kingsley, the new mascot designed by David Shrigley, and it sparked a series of appalled, amused, bemused and horrified reactions on social media.

His mascot design, a spiky yellow character with pale,vacant eyes and an ambiguous expression that could be read as astonishment or existential horror, has received mixed reviews.

The mascot was revealed after the club clinched a six-figure sponsorship deal with a California-based investment company ahead of the new Premiership campaign.

The new mascot, replete with three teeth and a single eyebrow, will replace Jaggy MacBee who has been championing the club since the 2011/12 season.

Mr Shrigley trained at the Glasgow School of Art and lived in Glasgow's west end for many years before recently moving to England.

A long time supporter of the team, as well as Nottingham Forest, Shrigley was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2013.

Fans complained about Kingsley's monobrow and also noted its resemblence to cartoon character Lisa Simpson.

Other noted that young children encountering the mascot may be scared witless.

Gartcairn Juniors tweeted: "OMG seriously? No way man! That monobrow alone is terrifying."

Paddy Boyle said: "Lisa Simpson really has let herself go!" while Adam Hunter tweeted: "I'm sure the weans will learn to love it after they have their therapy after the first meeting."

The journalist and writer Andrew Learmonth noted: "Can't quite work out if a David Shrigley designed mascot is genius or terrible."

Greg Hemphill, the noted Scottish comedian, tweeted a picture of the experimental pod from horror film The Fly and wrote: "Greg Hemphill Lisa Simpson in one pod, Bart in the other. Merge them...the result, Be Afraid."

Kingsford Capital Management will have their logo on Thistle's kits for the next two seasons and will have branding at Firhill after businessman Mike Wilkins pledged his support to the club.

Mr Wilkins, a shareholder in NBA side Golden State Warriors, became interested in Thistle after a meeting with artist David Shrigley at a dinner in San Francisco.

Mr Wilkins said: "I had been looking for an opportunity to get involved with something like this in the UK for a while but hadn't been able to find the right match.

"When I got talking to David Shrigley about Partick Thistle it seemed like it could be the perfect fit. The next step for me was to speak directly to the club."

He added: "It is very much like sport in that regard and, with David's help and genius, I hope we can bring something unique and new to an already fantastic club."