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'Club gave me everything after I fled Ukraine'

Robin Grey & Gemma Sherlock
BBC News, Manchester
BBC A young man with blonde, short curly hair, wears an Altrincham football shirt, standing on a football pitch BBC
Vlad Shtyhilan moved to Altrincham with his family from Ukraine

A budding footballer has said he had lost all hope of realising his sporting dream when war broke out in his home country, Ukraine.

Vlad Shtyhilan's ambition to become a professional footballer seemed in real doubt as he fled Ukraine with his family when the conflict began nearly three years ago.

But the 18-year-old, who was 16 at the time of the Russian invasion, has since signed a youth contract at Altrincham Football Club and has played with the first team regularly.

He said the club had "given him everything".

Vlad, who lives in Altrincham, Trafford, recalls how his life was very different not so long ago.

Family handout A young teenager with blonde hair, wearing a green football kit, kicks a football on a football pitch Family handout
Vlad playing for his former team, FAPF Prykarpattya in Ukraine

"At the time the war started I wasn't at home, I was actually away with my team and then on the way back we just saw all the military go into the actual war zone," he said.

"The first few bombs that landed, landed near us, so we heard how it was all happening, it was just scary".

His footballing career with FAPF Prykarpattya, in Ukraine, and future dreams looked to be in serious jeopardy.

Family handout A woman smiles at the camera with her two sonsFamily handout
Vlad, pictured when he was younger, with his mother and younger brother,

"I lost all hopes of everything because I didn't know where I was going, what I'm going to do, how it was going to go, if I'm going to find my mates, get a new football team, get a school," he added.

"I didn't know where my life was at that point".

But nearly three years on, the striker said Altrincham had given him "everything".

He has scored important goals in youth competitions, as well as impressing club staff.

Vlad has been playing for the club for 18 months, making appearances in friendly matches and training with the first team.

Ross Speight, Altrincham FC first team and academy coach, said: "He's doing well, he works hard, he's got a great attitude and comes from a really nice family."

All of this was made possible when he and his family moved to Altrincham via Dublin.

A woman with long blonde hair, wears a navy apron which says 'laundry' on and stands in a laundrette next to her son, who is tall, with curly blonde, short hair, wearing a black coat with the Altrincham FC emblem on
Vlad's mother, Natalia, now works in a laundrette and washes the team's football kit

His mother, Natalia Shtyhlian, now works in a laundrette and washes the teams kit.

She said: "It was difficult for Vlad because it's a different country, different language and for him it was hard".

But she said that the coach and team had been really supportive and she hoped that one day her son would become a premier league star.

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