Everton Fan Who Helps Ukrainian Refugees Scores Penalty In Pre-Season Game, Celebrates Accordingly

Published|Updated

Everton fan Paul Stratton has been helping Ukrainian refugees fleeing the country amid the war with Russia. He was recognized for his efforts during Everton's friendly against Dynamo Kyiv in the coolest way imaginable.

While most sports teams would simply throw a picture of Stratton onto the jumbotron and have fans give him a round of applause, Everton took things to an entirely different level.

With Everton leading the match 3-0 at the time, Stratton had his name called to come onto the pitch and take a penalty. Before taking the field, he had a brief meeting and hug with manager Frank Lampard.

Stratton then stepped to the spot and confidently tucked home his penalty. He then ran over to the fans, dropped to his knees, and completely soaked in the moment.










Stratton's day job is working for Liverpool Council, but after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, he's taken time off from work to travel to Poland and hand out supplies to Ukrainian refugees.

It was an especially cool moment given that Dynamo Kyiv is arguably the most popular club in Ukrainian football.

Would the moment have been a bit cooler if the goalkeeper actually made an effort to save the penalty? Yes, but nevertheless, what a moment for Mr. Stratton.





Tags
Written by

Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.