A glory night for West Ham was mired in astonishing scenes of violence as host of hooded Alkmaar thugs stormed a VIP section housing family members of Hammers stars.
Scenes of jubilation following David Moyes' gutsy 1-0 win against AZ to book their place in the Europa Conference League Final were followed by sheer panic as a host of morons made a beeline for Hammers followers housed in the main stand. That sparked brave West Ham heroes into action as a host of key men tried to reach their loved ones amid a lack of security. One fan – named Knollsy – was credited with protecting the Hammers stars’ families.
The mania was halted due to the bravery of both supporters and members of the first team as sluggish security took an age to bring a halt to violence which erupted at the final whistle of the 3–1 aggregate win. Moyes was visibly distressed at the final whistle and let rip after on a night the Irons toasted a return to the days of Bobby Moore's era with an appearance in a European Final.
Moyes revealed his family – including 87-year-old father, David senior, were in the section affected. He confirmed: “Yes, but you hope they will to get themselves away from it. I was on the pitch at the end and security wanted to take me inside but I wanted to make sure the players didn't get too involved. We'll need to wait for the dust to settle but a lot of the players were getting angry because they couldn't see if their families were OK. We will have to wait and ask the officials what really happened."
You can watch the sickening scenes below...
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