West Ham fans clashed with riot police in Prague last night after their side won the UEFA Conference League.
Fans rushed onto the streets last night following the final whistle with some setting off flares in celebration at The Hammers first major trophy in 43 years.
Thousands of supporters had travelled to the Czech capital to soak up the atmosphere ahead of the match with Fiorentina. Many fans were ticketless with UEFA allocating just 5,000 to West Ham.
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Scuffles broke out when police attempted to confiscate a lit flare as fans gathered in the Old Town region of the capital.
Riot police stormed a group of supporters as they lit a second flare with fans responding by hurling bottles and other missles.
Czech police said they had arrested at least 16 Italian supporters after they had attacked a group of West Ham fans outside a bar. Video footage shared on social media showed fireworks and chairs being thrown.
Despite these incidents there were also scenes of good-natured celebrations with fans embracing and dancing on tables in bars. Familiar West Ham chants filled the streets as fans celebrated the club's first major trophy win since the FA Cup in 1980.
West Ham fan Aaron, 18, said it felt “unreal” to win.
“(I’ve) never felt like it in my life,” he said.
He said his plan for the rest of the night was to “stumble back to the hotel”.
“How we get there I don’t care,” he added.
There was also controversy during the match when Fiorentina's Cristiano Biraghi was struck on the head with a missile thrown from the West Ham section. He bled from the inflicted wound whilst the West Ham players urged their fans to calm down.
The London side released a statement shortly before the end of the match condemning the behaviour of a "small number of individuals". It read, "These actions have no place in football, and do not in any way represent the values of our football club and the overwhelming majority of our supporters, who have behaved impeccably in Prague this week and throughout our last two seasons in European competition.”
The club said it would work with police to review the incident and take action against offenders, including implementing lifetime bans.
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