West Ham fans clashed with riot police in Prague after setting off flares as they celebrated successful the Europa Conference League on Wednesday night time.
Fans poured into the streets of the Czech capital following the Hammers’ victory over Fiorentina, with many already in town centre after 1000’s of supporters travelled from the UK with out tickets.
But a scuffle broke out after police officers tried to confiscate a lit flare as fans gathered in the Old Town space of town.
Riot police stormed a bunch after they lit a second flare, with fans responding by pelting the officers with bottles and missiles.
Earlier in the day Czech police mentioned they’d detained a minimum of 16 Italian fans after they attacked West Ham supporters exterior a bar, with movies shared on social media exhibiting chairs and fireworks being thrown.
Celebrations have been initially good-natured after the match, with revellers hugging and kissing one another and dancing on tables in bars.
Chants of “2-1 to the cockney boys” and “Irons” additionally broke out because the Londoners welcomed the membership’s first trophy in greater than 40 years.
The closing occurred on the Fortuna Arena, which has a capability of round 19,300, with West Ham receiving an official ticket allocation of 5,000, though many extra travelled from the UK to be in town in the course of the sport.
Supporters watched in bars across the metropolis, together with a bunch who went wild at McCarthy’s Pub in the Old Town space from the second Jarrod Bowen gave the crew the lead in the ultimate minute of the second half.
West Ham fan Aaron, 18, mentioned it felt “unreal” to win.
“(I’ve) never felt like it in my life,” he mentioned.
He mentioned his plan for the remainder of the night time was to “stumble back to the hotel”.
“How we get there I don’t care,” he added.
It got here hours after West Ham fans have been attacked by Italian supporters in town centre, prompting police to detain 16 folks.
Czech police mentioned three folks have been injured in the course of the incident, with one police officer being attacked.
One witness mentioned fans of the Italian facet have been armed with “chains and belt buckles”.
There was additionally controversy in the course of the match as Cristiano Biraghi of Fiorentina was seen bleeding from the again of the pinnacle after he appeared to have been hit by an object thrown from the West Ham stand.
Shortly earlier than the top of the match, the English membership put out an announcement condemning the behaviour of a “small number of individuals”, including: “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 membership mentioned it might work with police to overview the incident and take motion towards offenders, together with implementing lifetime bans.
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