'Amused me' - League Two club owner makes stunning funding claim after protest at Everton game

Forest Green Rovers chairman and major shareholder Dale Vince has claimed that he is responsible for the funding behind a protest group that recently disrupted an Everton match at Goodison Park.

Everton's home game with Newcastle United last Thursday was brought to a long halt in the second half after a spectator ran on to the pitch and attached himself to the goal post in front of the Gwladys Street Stand.

The protestor attached a plastic zip-tie to the goalpost and tightly around his neck while wearing a T-shirt bearing the words, 'Just Stop Oil'. Similar protests have been attempted at numerous Premier League stadiums across the country in recent weeks.

Louis McKechnie, 21, of Claremount Road, Weymouth was charged with pitch encroachment and aggravated trespass and is due to attend Liverpool Community Justice Court on Tuesday, April 19.

However, speaking to talkSPORT on Wednesday, Vince claimed that he was the man who had offered the initial funding behind the 'Just Stop Oil' campaign, and admitted being "amused" to see the disruption to Premier League matches that had occurred.

He told Jim White and Simon Jordan's show: "It's (the funding) me, actually. I had a chat a few weeks ago with the people who founded this. They reached out and they said they were starting up a new campaign and needed help with a bit of cash, so I did.

"What they didn't say to me was that they were planning to disrupt football matches, which I find amusing. I only bumped into this story in the last couple of days anyway - the fact that disruption had taken place - because I'm more interested in League Two.

"But it's amusing to me that I actually seem to have my fingerprints on this accidentally. I'm accidentally funding the disruption of