Moyes, 51, allegedly erupted in a rage after he was subjected to a torrent of abuse as he arrived with friends. One drinker is said to have goaded him about his recent sacking by Manchester United.
Witnesses say Moyes suddenly turned round and lunged at Joshua Gillibrand, 23, grabbing a bottle from a table and hitting him on the side of the head.
There was a brief scuffle near the bar entrance, the pair were separated and Moyes was restrained by his friends who dragged him away until he had calmed down, they claimed.
Mr Gillibrand, a joiner, suffered a lump on the side of his head and a bruised shoulder and went to hospital. Last night police confirmed they had launched an investigation into the fracas and sources said they were set to speak to the former Premier League manager.
The incident happened at around 10pm on Wednesday after Moyes and friends – including Derek Shaw, former chairman at Preston North End, one of Moyes' previous clubs – had dined at Piccolino's in Clitheroe, Lancashire, before going to the nearby Emporium wine bar.
A group standing outside the bar began making abusive remarks when they saw Moyes, who was humiliatingly sacked as United manager last month after less than a year in charge and is understood to have left with a £4.5million pay off.
A witness said: 'Moyes started to head in with his mates but he was being barracked by drinkers outside. He was getting a bit of lip from a couple of blokes and then one guy, who was a bit drunk, said something about him being s*** and having never won anything.
'Moyes kept his head down and carried on walking towards the door with his friends and everyone thought he was just ignoring the banter. But then stopped, turned on his heels and quickly marched back.'
'No one could quite believe what had happened. We were stunned. He's obviously had enough of all the abuse he's been getting after his miserable season.'
Another witness, a 22-year-old man, said: 'Josh was giving him banter, I think it might have been a chant about him leaving Manchester United, nothing very offensive, and initially Moyes just walked past him into the bar.
'But moments later Moyes came back outside, squared up to Josh and just threw him across the table – we couldn't believe what we'd seen.'
The witness, an acquaintance of Mr Gillibrand, added: 'Josh is a well-built lad but he's not particularly mouthy, and he's not really a football fan at all. I think he was too stunned at what had happened to react.
'Afterwards Josh was really angry about it, he was saying he wanted to take it further.'He was saying, "Whoa, I was only joking". It's amazing to think that someone who a few weeks ago was managing one of the world's top football clubs was scuffling outside a bar on a Wednesday night in Clitheroe.'
Another friend of Mr Gillibrand said: 'He was quite drunk and went up and said something to him like, "What are you doing around here?"
'It didn't go down at all well with Moyes who started swearing at him, so Josh said something like, "Well get out of town then", and turned his back on him, which is when Moyes hit him in the back of the head.'
A police car was flagged down and officers dealt with the incident. Moyes was taken aside by the officers and spoken to.
Mr Gillibrand's mother Susan, 53, said her son had been shocked and had suffered a couple of bumps and bruises.
She said: 'Josh does not even like football.'
Last night Moyes, who lives near Preston, declined to comment over the incident.
A spokesman for Lancashire Police said: 'Officers attended the bar at about 10pm on Wednesday, May 21, and it was reported that a 23-year-old local man had been assaulted by a 51-year-old man.
'Inquiries are ongoing and we are speaking to a number of people to try to establish the circumstances. No one has been arrested at this stage.'
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