EXCLUSIVE Revealed: Fan knocked out at West Ham vs Chelsea game is electrician who supports WIMBLEDON – as his boss reveals colleagues are trying to buy painting of the attack as a memento
- Bill Tarbuck is an apprentice at the Surrey-based Elite Electrical Contracting Ltd
- His boss says he is a ‘good egg’ who has been given ‘plenty of stick and banter’
A football fan who was knocked unconscious before the West Ham and Chelsea game is an electrician who actually supports AFC Wimbledon – as his boss says colleagues tried to buy him artwork of the punch.
Bill Tarbuck, an apprentice at Elite Electrical Contracting in Surrey, was involved in an altercation with a small group of opposing fans outside the London Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
He was punched to the floor after appearing to taunt the West Ham supporters, before being goaded as he was taken away from the scene in a wheelchair. The electrician later filmed himself laughing about the incident in hospital.
Mr Tarbuck’s boss today revealed he is an ‘all round good egg’ who has been given ‘plenty of stick and banter’ by colleagues following the incident, which his firm are treating as a ‘one-off he will learn from’.
Gregg Barnes, the firm’s owner, told MailOnline: ‘I have spoken to Bill. He has gotten a bit of grief and banter, but nobody condones what happened. Everyone is of the impression that he deserved it because he found himself in a silly position.
Bill Tarbuck was punched to the floor during an altercation with West Ham supporters outside the London Stadium on Saturday
‘In the four or five years he has worked with us, there has never been any sign he is anything like that. We have high hopes for him in the future and becoming a central part of our plans moving forward. He never has time off and is always on time.
‘The weird part is that he is actually an (AFC) Wimbledon fan. He just went with a group of mates and got in with the wrong crowd. He is very sorry for what he has done.
‘I have told him that he needs to move on from it and get his head down. He has been sent home for a week and has to be on light duties for a week when he returns. Hopefully he will learn from that and it will be a life lesson for him. Nobody has been hurt.’
Mr Tarbuck, who lives in nearby Worcester Park, was named junior apprentice of the year at Elite Electrical Contracting in April 2021.
In a post on the firm’s social media accounts, Mr Tarbuck is pictured receiving his award alongside the senior apprentice of the year.
It reads: ‘In what has been a difficult year for all, these lads have managed to complete all of their college work whilst working diligently on-site and making themselves available for whatever has been thrown at them showing huge commitment to the cause.
‘Well done boys keep up the good work and we look forward to you progressing and having long and meaningful careers with us at Elite Electrical.’
It comes as the incident has been immortalised into a canvas, named simply Chelsea Fan Gets Knocked Out, by an art studio in Canning Town, east London.
Canning Town Len is selling A4 glossy prints for £20 and a ’19″x13″ glossy print’ for £29.
The description reads: Chelsea Fan Gets Knocked Out is a painting depicting a young West Ham fan, lamping a Chelsea Fan at London Stadium on Saturday 11 February 2023.’
Mr Barnes said colleagues have tried to purchase the canvas for Mr Tarbuck following the incident, footage of which went viral over the weekend.
Mr Tarbuck (right), who lives in nearby Worcester Park, was named junior apprentice of the year at Elite Electrical Contracting in April 2021
The viral incident has been immortalised into a canvas, named simply Chelsea Fan Gets Knocked Out
Mr Tarbuck was taken away from the scene in a wheelchair with his teeth knocked out and blood pouring from his jaw
Shocking footage captured the moment a Chelsea fan was knocked out with a single punch after goading a rival West Ham supporter ahead of the team’s match today
The Chelsea fan took a video of himself laughing from a hospital bed following the incident earlier the same day
He added: ‘We were going to buy him the canvas but we couldn’t get hold of it.
‘Bill started with us around June 2019 and is 20 or 21 now. He has been a model apprentice. With the Covid times through college, a lot of lessons were online but he never fell behind like others did.
‘People want him on their projects as he is an all round good egg. He will get stick and banter, but that is what he deserves.
‘From our view, he won’t get any repercussions. We believe it to be a one off incident that he will learn from.’
It comes as footage emerged of Mr Tarbuck taunting a small group of West Ham fans before he was knocked unconscious with a single punch on Saturday.
The video showed the electrician and West Ham fans shouting and gesticulating towards each other as a lone security guard tried to separate the groups.
Mr Tarbuck could then be heard yelling: ‘You’re 50 years old’ before he was punched to the floor.
A second video then emerged of the apprentice electrician being taken away from the scene in a wheelchair with his teeth knocked out and blood pouring from his jaw.
One man, who approaches him with a camera, can be heard saying: ‘You’re still in Knightsbridge, son.’
Following the incident, the West Ham supporter was arrested and put in handcuffs as he was lead away by several police officers
Mr Tarbuck took a video of himself laughing in a hospital bed next to two women later the same day
Mr Tarbuck then took a video of himself laughing in a hospital bed later the same day.
A woman at the bedside responds to his laughter by saying: ‘It’s not funny, it’s not funny.’
He then looks at her and replies: ‘Sorry, sorry. You’ve got to have a laugh.’
A 22-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm following the incident. He has been released on bail to a date in mid-May, police have confirmed.
The incident happened before kick-off at the London Stadium as fans made their way into the ground.
Chelsea opened the scoring before West Ham equalised within the first 30 minutes. The game finished in a 1-1 draw.