Play was brought to a halt during Everton and Newcastle's Premier League match on Thursday (local time) after a protester tied themselves to a goalpost.
An individual entered the field shortly after the half-time interval at Goodison Park and fastened themselves to the woodwork, forcing an intervention from staff in order to remove him.
The individual was sporting a shirt for the protest group Just Stop Oil, and subsequently saw their thoughts laid out in a pre-prepared statement posted to social media.
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe was left shocked by the incident as his side went on to concede a late goal in a 1-0 loss.
"I've never seen anything like that," Howe told Sky Sports post-match.
"At first, I didn't realise what was happening to start with. It was a big delay.
"I'm not using it as an excuse, but I don't know if that affected us, because certainly we weren't the same team in the second half."
49' A delay in play as an Everton fan has come onto the pitch and tied themselves to the post.
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) March 17, 2022
[0-0]#EVENEW // #NUFC
What did the protester say?
In a thread posted to Just Stop Oil's social media, the individual who tied themselves to the post laid out their reason for doing so, stating: "It's 2022 and it's time to look up, time to step up and not stand by. It's time to act like it's an emergency.
"Report after report is telling me that my future is going to be dire, and my government is telling me not to worry and pay into a pension.
"But we have a choice. We can choose to highlight that our climate is breaking down, we can choose to resist this government that is betraying us, we can choose to step up and not stand by."
Is this an isolated incident?
This is the second time this week that a protestor has been involved in a match on behalf of Just Stop Oil.
An individual attempted to glue themselves to the posts during Liverpool's win over Arsenal on Wednesday.
