Twenty goals and a burning yellow card – the best bits from Sidemen charity match
A sold-out Wembley Stadium watched the Sidemen FC charity match on Saturday, which raised £6.2 million – and provided plenty of memorable moments.
The YouTube Allstars beat Sidemen FC in a penalty shootout, following a 10-10 draw at full-time.
It was the seventh edition of the exhibition and this year saw the teams mixed up with members of the Sidemen playing for both sides.
The Sidemen – a seven-strong group that includes content creators, musicians and boxer KSI – have more than 140 million YouTube subscribers between them.
Organisers say the money will go to Bright Side and M7 Education – charities linked to the group.
They added over two million watched the livestream on YouTube, less than last year, though it was the highest amount of money ever raised.
Speaking to BBC Newsbeat, Sidemen’s Ethan Payne feels the event is popular because it’s “so not serious”.
So from Tinie Tempah’s half-time show to a burning yellow card, here are some of the best, “not serious” bits.
Producing “magic on the pitch” is a phrase often used by commentators to describe the very best footballers.
Last year, YouTuber Max Fosh was given a yellow card, which he then shredded.
This year when he was booked, the 31-year-old wowed the 90,000 crowd by turning referee Mark Clattenburg’s card into flames – a trick he’s still yet to explain.
Magic.
Whether it’s the Super Bowl or the World Cup final this summer, a big sporting event and a half-time show tend to go hand in hand.
After AJ Tracey and KSI in 2025, this year was the turn of Tinie Tempah.
Walking from the dressing room to the pitch, the 37-year-old performed some of his biggest hits including Written In The Stars and Pass Out.
While the performance was a hit with some of the older fans in attendance, not everyone knew the songs, with one fan writing on social media: “My little brother watching the Sidemen match and not knowing who Tinie Tempah is…”
Scoring a goal at Wembley and not having a memorable celebration isn’t really an option if you’re a content creator.
Angry Ginge, real name Morgan Burtwhistle, copied a man who scored at Wembley plenty of times.
The I’m A Celebrity winner brought out his inner Wayne Rooney – and not just with his header to open the scoring for the YouTube Allstars.
He recreated Rooney’s boxing celebration, which the legendary striker did against Tottenham Hotspur in 2015.
Not to be left behind, Niko Omilana from the Sidemen team scored a volley and then performed the “surf celebration” made popular by Manchester United’s Matheus Cunha.
It included the signature tiny shades.
Cunha scored the winner against Chelsea later in the day and performed the same celebration – without the shades.
Managers normally prepare their players to be at their best in a high-pressure shootout.
But just picture Mikel Arteta, Pep Guardiola or Arne Slot adding to the stress of their jobs and stepping up for their team.
Well, keen to show leadership by example, the first ones to step up in this charity match were the bosses.
Calfreezy, whose real name is Callum Leighton Airey, from the Allstars and Jack Joseph of the Sidemen.
Calfreezy showed his team how it’s done, smashing his penalty into the net, while Jack Joseph hit the bar – which set the tone for his team as they lost 4-1.
Cue big celebrations.
The seven members of the Sidemen – Olajide ‘JJ’ Olatunji (KSI), Simon Minter (Miniminter), Joshua Bradley (Zerkaa), Tobit ‘Tobi’ Brown (TBJZL), Ethan Payne (Behzinga), Vikram Singh Barn (Vikkstar123), and Harry Lewis (W2S) – have had billions of views globally.
But the group don’t see fan pressure as a negative with Ethan saying “it’s good to live up to that expectation”.
“Because we do something great every year and it’s what motivated us to keep doing it,” he says.
Vik adds: “Pressure is nice because it makes diamonds.”
Some fans have also been wondering if this might be the last Sidemen charity match – with all that it takes to organise it.
“We built this all ourselves,” Vik says.
“We all started off as kids with an ambition and a hobby and this shows how far we can go.
“There will be more matches. That’s for sure,” he says.
Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays – or listen back here.
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