New footage from Alkmaar shows West Ham midfielder Flynn Downes throwing punches at Dutch hooligans

  /  autty

New footage has emerged showing West Ham midfielder Flynn Downes throwing punches after the Hammers' Europa Conference League semi-final win over AZ Alkmaar descended into utter carnage.

A horde of violent Alkmaar fans, clad in all-black and hooded to hide their identities, forced their way into the away stands to trade blows with West Ham supporters at the final whistle.

The scrap quickly spiralled out of control as dozens of hooded hooligans flooded into the section holding the family and friends of West Ham's victorious players.

Without hesitation, West Ham's Michail Antonio and Flynn Downes leapt over the hoardings and made a beeline for the stands, closely followed by team-mates Lucas Paqueta and Said Benrahma in an attempt to stop the chaos.

New footage shows Downes was involved in a physical altercation as he delivered punches in the midst of the chaos.

The former Swansea midfielder is seen backtracking as several Alkmaar hooligans tried to attack him, with several stewards seen close to him.

Shocking footage from the stands also saw brave West Ham supporters desperately trying to hold back the stream of Alkmaar ultras from attacking the families, while others stood atop a stairwell duking it out blow-for-blow with the oncoming horde.

Just as it looked as though the violence was set to descend into an all-out brawl, security teams managed to force their way into the melee and separate the crews, with other guards jumping in to hold back the furious West Ham players.

After the game, manager David Moyes said: 'I can't explain what happened and why it happened.

'Players were involved because it was the family section… that was probably the reason for the reaction.

'I don't want that in any way to blight the night because the West Ham fans weren't looking for trouble. Hopefully they'll look into it.

'My family were there and I had friends in that section. You're hoping they would try and get themselves away from it… I didn't recognise it because I was too happy.

'Security wanted to take me inside but I had to make sure my players weren't involved.'

Related: West Ham United Paqueta
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