Barton and former Burnley striker Lukas Jutkiewicz surprise local pupil

Fleetwood Town head coach Joey Barton and former Burnley teammate Lukas Jutkiewicz came together to surprise Red Marsh student Theo Haslan, with a signed picture of his favourite player.

Back in December, some of the Cod Army’s first team staff and players went to Red Marsh School in Thornton to spread Christmas cheer to the pupils and members of staff.

After seeing Fleetwood Town’s head coach Joey Barton walk into his classroom, Theo ran to his locker to grab a picture of his favourite player Lukas Jutkiewicz – who had previously spent time with Theo in hospital – to see if Joey could help him get it signed.

This week, Joey went out of his way to send the picture to Jutkiewicz, and asked him to personally sign the picture and send it back for Theo to have back in his possession.

Fleetwood Town Community Trust went back to Red Marsh to surprise Theo and give him back the picture with the message from the striker.

Joey Barton added: “It was the least we could do for Theo. I remember seeing how happy he was to see the Fleetwood team in his school and once he gave me the framed picture, I had to make sure I could get it to Lukas.

“I’d like to thank Lukas for helping us and Theo out, and I hope Theo is happy with the surprise.”