West Ham fan ‘Knollsy’ insists he is no hero after footage showed him preventing AZ Alkmaar ultras attacking sections of the Hammers’ support.
Chris Knoll – a 58-year-old father of four – has been praised for his bravery in blocking Dutch hooligans from reaching the families of the West Ham players.
Chris put himself in harm’s way as a group of hooded AZ fans approached the stand after Pablo Fornals netted a last-gasp winner to book the Hammers’ place in next month’s Europa Conference League final.
West Ham players such as Michail Antonio and Lucas Paqueta rushed over to the disturbance only to find Chris battling to keep fellow supporters safe from harm.
Goalkeeper Alphonse Areola has since referred to Knoll as a ‘legend’ while his wife Marrion labelled him as the ‘biggest hero.’
But Chris played down his heroics and admits he did what he had to do to prevent what could have been a catastrophic situation.
“I’m not a hero. I just did what I had to do. There was another guy who was fending them off. I don’t like bullies and just had to try and stop them,” he told MailOnline whilst sporting a swollen left eye.
“I just thought the best form of defence was to attack. You could see they were intent on causing trouble and I did not want them to get to those behind us.”
Footage of Chris at the top of a stairwell fighting off the thugs has gone viral – leading to some fans insisting the club provide him with tickets to the final.
The lifelong West Ham fan was at the game with his son-in-law and a close friend and claims he knew what was coming as soon as Fornals scored his late winner.
“I saw them all congregate on the side of the pitch and then they broke down the barriers and headed to the first group of West Ham fans.
“I know what they were intent on doing and was not going to let it happen. It was fairly obvious what was going to happen because they were intent on coming to us.
“They were the ultras, you could see that from what they were wearing. I just decided I wasn’t going to let them come up.
“I just thought the best form of defence would be to get to the top of the stairs where they were coming up and just stood there and tried to stop them.
“I know they were swinging punches and I just did my best to stand there and take it.”
He continued: ‘If you’ve seen the pictures, there’s about five or six guys in front of me and I’m sort of trying to fend them off.
“Somehow, I don’t know how, two got behind me, right. And as I’m dealing with the other guys, there’s one guy who’s just constantly bagging me in the side of the head.
“That’s what caused the bruised eye. It’s not too bad, but I might go to the hospital to get it checked out.”
Chris spent the night in Amsterdam following the match before flying back to London on Friday.
Despite his act of bravery, Chris said he has not been able to get tickets for the final in two weeks time.
He said: “If I can get a ticket and a couple for the two who were with me in Amsterdam, I will be there to cheer on the Hammers.
“I’d love to be at the final. Hopefully it will be trouble free and we can just enjoy and fantastic match.”
Source link: https://talksport.com/football/1430014/west-ham-knollsy-no-hero-az-alkmaar/
