UpdateThere was some confusion about who exactly is who, but in various English media and certainly on social media, there is praise for the few English fans of West Ham United who tried to keep the crazy horde of AZ hooligans out of their supporters’ compartment. One of them is known at West Ham as diehard fan ‘Knollsy’. Real name: Chris Knoll (58).
Various videos that are circulating show how a gang of AZ supporters, hidden in their hoodies, storm to the West Ham supporters section to deal blows. Relatives of West Ham players were also there. Some of the players therefore also got involved in the embarrassing violence. You then only see the riot police arrive after a few minutes to help the powerless stewards.
In the meantime, it is mainly some huge West Ham fans who try to stop the pack of hoodies with striking blows. One of those men is wearing a green shirt and knows how to literally knock a blown AZ supporter off the stairs with one punch after the other. The mob behind it meanwhile does not make any progress.
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On Twitter, the praise mainly goes to a West Ham fan known as ‘Knollsy’, but it isn’t. That’s not to say that Knollsy doesn’t deserve praise. After all, he is doing the same thing one flight of stairs away: holding back the front attackers with striking blows so that the rest cannot progress either. Until ME’s finally intervene.
“I thought: best defense is at the top of the stairs”
Anyway: Knollsy is the nickname of Chris Knoll, 58 years old. The English Daily Mail spoke to him today. He ‘did what he thought was necessary’: ‘I’m not a hero, and there was someone else who stopped them,’ says Knoll, referring to the other man who cuts himself off in videos. “You could already see that things would go wrong and that they were out for problems,” says Knoll about the hard core of AZ. “I didn’t want them to get to the people behind me. I just thought the best defense would be to get up there at the top of the stairs and try to stop them there. I just decided I wasn’t going to let them come up. But suddenly two were behind me and one hit me on the side of my head. That’s why I have that swollen eye.”
Knoll has been injured in his left eye. He rejects suggestions that he himself used to belong to the hard core of West Ham. ,,I’m just a regular season ticket holder who goes to every game. And regardless of what happened, this was a great night.”
The praise for Knollsy and that other guy go round on social media: ‘They should never have to pay again if they want to see West Ham’. And: ‘Give them a ticket for the final’. Fans from other clubs are also mingling: ‘Knollsy, the beer will be waiting for you when you come here’. A friend of Knollsy took to social media to say that the West Ham fan jumped in because he was concerned about the players’ families.
‘Big Mountain‘ Knollsy is well known in the stands of the illustrious London club. West Ham player and England international Declan Rice wished Knollsy well in 2021 when the West Ham fan had physical problems. Now it’s West Ham keeper Alphonse Areola who Knoll a ‘legend’ for his heroic actions.
‘Cowards would need an army’
Former keeper Craig Forrest is also heard on Twitter: ,,I do not condone violence, but in this case it was necessary! Protection of the West Ham family section. These cowards would need an army to take down Knollsy.”
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West Ham player Declan Rice’s 2021 video for Knollsy:
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Tags: Praise huge West Ham fans stop horde hooligans hero Interior
