A MAN has been charged after a protest during England’s quarter final victory over Spain.

Jack Cooper, 21, a sports coach, of Leylands Road in Burgess Hill, has been charged with going on to the playing area at a football match, contrary to the Football Offences Act 1991.

He will appear before Brighton magistrates on August 11.

The protest happened early in the second half of England’s 2-1 victory in the Women’s Euro 2022 tournament on Wednesday night.

The match was played at Brighton and Hove Albion’s Amex Stadium in Falmer.

BBC co-commentator Rachel Finnis-Brown retorted: “It’s the slowest attempt at a protest I’ve ever seen thankfully."

The protester made a slow jog to the South Stand goal and appeared to try to glue his hands to the goalposts but was swiftly tackled by stewards.

He was wearing a “Just Stop Oil” T-shirt, a group which made headlines earlier this month when people ran on to the race track at Silverstone during the British Grand Prix.

The Argus: Stewards tackle the protester in front of the south standStewards tackle the protester in front of the south stand

Albion’s chief executive Paul Barber told The Argus: “The stewards dealt with him absolutely superbly. They dealt with it according to the plan, which was to intervene as quickly as possible.

“The game was held up for 30 seconds at the most. The referee waited for him to get off the pitch and then restarted the game, with a minimum of fuss.

“I thought the referee was excellent, not just from the footballing point of view but also a game-management point of view.”

The protest group also made headlines earlier this year in March when a man ran on to the pitch at Everton’s ground Goodison Park in Liverpool and cable-tied himself to a goal post.

The Lionesses will face off against either Sweden or Belgium in the semi-final at Bramall Lane in Sheffield next Tuesday, July 26.

The final is at Wembley on Sunday, July 31.