AFTV (formerly known as ArsenalFanTV) is a football fan YouTube channel and website directed at supporters of Arsenal F.C. Based in London, England, the channel was created in 2012 and includes fan interviews, previews and reviews of players. They have interviewed players such as Olivier Giroud, Ian Wright and Thierry Henry.
History
The channel was created in October 2012 and was founded by former BBC reggae radio host Robbie Lyle; Lyle had worked as a surveyor before quitting his job to work on ArsenalFanTV full-time. He created the channel with his cameraman "Tao" who had also quit his job to pursue a career on YouTube.
Their first fan interviews were conducted after Arsenal's 5–2 win against Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal's local rivals. When asked by Vice on why he created the channel, Lyle said that "we've all had enough of the so-called pundits, most of whom aren't even at the games. So I started my own channel to hear from the real fans, with real opinions. That was my aim with the site". ArsenalFanTV pioneered the concept of supporter-led TV or "Fan TV", which has led to other club supporters creating similar channels on YouTube.
Since its creation, the channel has continued to provide viewers with fan interviews and content about Arsenal on social media but its rise in the YouTube community occurred as a result of the many viral videos it had posted from fan interviews. The channel has uploaded several videos of angry rants from supporters directed at the club's ownership, some of which include Chris Hudson's rant after the loss to Aston Villa in 2013 and Troopz in 2017 following Arsenal's 5–1 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
Much of the anger from supporters on the channel was directed towards former manager Arsène Wenger, who many believed should have resigned following his long tenure at the football club, especially during the 2016–17 season in which there was a divide among Arsenal fans, with a minority being "Wenger In" and a majority being "Wenger Out". There has also been criticism towards major shareholder Stan Kroenke who many Arsenal fans believe should sell his shares to the next major shareholder Alisher Usmanov following claims of his lack of desire towards the club and comments made by Kroenke himself stating that he "didn't buy Arsenal stakes to win trophies". This was referenced on BT Sport by the former England international Rio Ferdinand when he mentioned the frustration of Arsenal supporters with Wenger on ArsenalFanTV in 2016.
On 20 April 2018, Channel 4 premiered a new late-night football show called The Real Football Fan Show hosted by Lyle and featuring many ArsenalFanTV regulars. In March 2020, Lyle was also the subject of an ITV documentary entitled Robbie Lyle: Football Fans Under Their Skin in which he discusses racism within football and the experiences of black football supporters.
Notable contributors
Although the channel interviews a variety of Arsenal supporters after every game, there are a few supporters who are regularly interviewed by Robbie Lyle and are well known by many of the channel's viewers.
Current
"Ty" (Taiwo Ogunlabi): Seen as optimistic and is well known for his support of Arsène Wenger. He constantly defended Wenger during his tenure as manager despite facing growing opposition from supporters and is often labelled as "delusional". Lee Judges: A lifelong Arsenal supporter, Lee has given several passionate rants about the demise of Arsenal under Wenger. "White Yardie" (Harry Gregory): A comedian originally from Black River, Jamaica, he joined the channel following Troopz's departure in November 2020.
Former
Claude Callegari: An outspoken critic of Arsène Wenger, he is famous for saying "It's time to go!" about Wenger. In July 2020, he was removed as a contributor after making a racist remark about Tottenham Hotspur player Heung-Min Son during a livestream. He died on 29 March 2021, aged 58. "Troopz" (Aumar Hamilton): Another vocal critic of Wenger, Troopz is known for his use of multicultural London English words such as "blud" and "fam". In September 2020, Troopz announced his departure from AFTV to join Barstool Sports in New York City although he continued to appear on the channel until November 2020. He has since made occasional appearances on AFTV. “DT” (Liam Goodenough): A vocal critic of Wenger, DT is also known for his angry rants whenever Arsenal lose and has been responsible for placing many "Wenger Out" banners at Arsenal matches. In January 2022, AFTV announced that he had been permanently banned from appearing on the channel after being sentenced to 3 years in prison.