The Rise Of YouTube Fan Channels

Ever wanted to find football fans expressing how they feel after a matchday performance through video? Were you only seeing people's reaction on social media or messaging your friends whenever a team lost? Do you feel that certain TV pundits have differing opinions about football and you feel you need to find alternative opinions?

Welcome to YouTube Fan Channels whereby fans from respective teams voice their opinions about the latest news and analysis of a match. Even though many respective teams that have taken on the concept, there is one which stands out from the rest.

The most recognisable YouTube fan channel is ArsenalFanTV. As an Arsenal fan myself, I actually do enjoy this concept as it allows those to praise, rant or have mixed emotions about the teams performance from a different insight compared TV punditry. ArsenalFanTV seems to be the most popular one as fans from rival clubs love to see fans go into meltdown after an Arsenal loss. Amongst my friends who are not Arsenal fans, they always mention that they ready to watch ArsenalFanTV if Arsenal are losing and have YouTube ready. Social media seems to lively whenever Arsenal are on the verge of a loss as Arsenal Fan TV is always one the top trends during those hours.

Over the last couple of years on ArsenalFanTV, a particular trend was common on the channel which was #WengerOut. People on the channel were very divided on this situation with an opposition group of #WengerIn voicing their opinion on the channel. However, with Arsene Wenger announcing that this season will be his last, people have joked on social media that ArsenalFanTV will be "finished" as they only got views whenever Arsenal lost. Even though their most viewed videos contain the words 'Explicit Rant' 'Passionate Rant', that is not the case as they also gain views whenever Arsenal win a match.

Other fan channels that are worth a watch include Full Time Devils, The Redmen TV, 100% Chelsea, West Ham Fan TV and many others.

Channel 4 started a show called 'The Real Football Fan Show' hosted by Robbie from ArsenalFanTV. This show features fans from all 20 Premier League clubs getting the chance to voice their respective opinions about the current situation of their club. Being shown on terrestial TV has given fan channels a new platform to be heard on, as by getting the attention of a major terrestial channel like Channel 4, this shows that people are taking their opinions seriously and seeing them as popular as pundits that are on Sky Sports, Match of The Day, BT Sport & ESPN.

What could be the next step for fan-channels and can this spread to other clubs internationally?