One act of heroism has propelled West Ham fan Chris Knoll, more commonly known as ‘Knollsy’ to the height of popularity amongst the football going fraternity.
Though violence in football has long been frowned upon, Knoll has been praised for his actions after the second leg of the Europa Conference League semi-final against AZ Alkmaar.
It appeared that the Alkmaar ultras had tried to penetrate the area of the stadium where the West Ham players families and friends were sat, and Knollsy was clearly not going to let their heavy handed tactics go unpunished.
Videos of him and other supporters fighting off a large number of Alkmaar supporters has gone viral, and he has been lauded by many for the courage shown in protecting as many people as possible.
The situation appeared to be so bad at one point that West Ham players themselves were seen to be jumping into the same section – actions that may well bring a UEFA ban for those involved after the final has been played.
In the meantime, an enterprising individual has made a one-off ‘action figure’ of Knollsy, wearing the same clothes as he had on during the incident.
At the time of writing, the online auction had seen bids for the figure of £6,000.