West Ham fan Knollsy has become an overnight celebrity for his bravery at AZ Alkmaar, but he was already well known to Declan Rice.
Chris Knoll was filmed fighting off a hoard of Alkmaar ultras who stormed towards the section containing the families of West Ham players and staff after the away side reached the Europa Conference League final with a 1-0 win. The 58-year-old sustained injuries to his face while almost single handedly keeping the hooded Dutch fans at bay.
The electrician has since broken his silence to explain what happened in the Netherlands, insisting that he is not the hero others are making him out to be. But Hammers players may well be grateful to their supporter for protecting their families after the police and stewards failed to do so.
Knollsy is a new name to most football fans, but Hammers captain Rice was already aware of him. That’s because Rice sent him a video message in 2021 when he was in ill health to wish him a speedy recovery.
In the clip, which has been shared on Twitter, Rice said: "I just want to send you the best of wishes from me and everyone at West Ham and we're all fighting for you mate."
Explaining his actions at the end of the Alkmaar game, Knoll said: “I don’t like bullies. You could see they were intent on causing trouble and I did not want them to get to those behind us. 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.”
Knoll’s left eye is badly bruised and he has marks on the side of his face. He added: “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 hospital to get it checked out.”
