Mark Goldbridge: ‘It’s not acting, but I’m here to perform’

Polarising Man Utd YouTuber is unapologetic to those who question his authenticity and says match-going fans have no right to feel superior

It is the morning after Manchester United have drawn 0-0 with Aston Villa and Mark Goldbridge is on his third livestream since the final whistle. ‘Neville BACKS Ten Hag! Tuchel TALKS? Goldbridge BACKS INEOS!’ reads the headline. 
“Apparently Manchester United are in talks with Thomas Tuchel,” says Goldbridge. “They’re not, but that’s a big story, but we’ll talk about that, it’s a news show.” That description is misleading. Like most of what Goldbridge publishes, this is a Mark Goldbridge show.
The scale of his YouTube empire is intimidating. The United Stand channel which made him famous is approaching two million subscribers, another 1.26 million follow his generalist That’s Football and 375,000 more his personal account on which he streams himself playing EAFC and occasionally soliloquises into his phone while driving. Goldbridge is 45 but depending on what sort of video he is filming has the ability to come across as 20 years younger or older.
Despite such reach his style is not for everyone. Part classic YouTube shouter, part wrestling heel, part furious first-time caller to 606, it is a provocative and lucrative combination. Mostly it is no different tonally to traditional tabloid brashness but there is something about him which rubs people the wrong way. At times the feeling is mutual. “I’ve been to Old Trafford a few times and sat with people who go every week and I don’t know why they go,” he says. “Their opinions are awful, but that’s just the diversity of football, isn’t it?”
I join him during the recording of the Goldbridge Saves Football podcast with Will Brazier which takes place in a hospitality box at Solihull Moors FC, not far from Goldbridge’s house. The set is based on his favourite pub in Dublin, The Hairy Lemon. It is a loose review of the Premier League weekend which is scattershot and occasionally hard to follow. That need not be a problem in 2024, when a podcast is the YouTuber’s equivalent to a musician’s jam session. That might yield a song and if a podcast produces some social-media video clips it has served its purpose.
The output is relentless. How many days off does he have in a year? “Christmas Day? That’s the one day where I just won’t do any live content. I mean, there’ll be something that goes up on the channel that we’ve pre-recorded. But, yeah, even if I go on holiday, you’ve got your phone, haven’t you? Even on Christmas Day, I’m ready to do something on Boxing Day. It’s almost like a drug really.”
It is helpful to feel this way when your publisher of choice rewards continual new material. It is better, Goldbridge says, than his previous jobs in the police, insurance and a brief spell at a cheese factory. He was working for a bank when he decided to try YouTube full-time. He told his wife his boss had granted him a year off with a guarantee he could return to his old job if the new career did not work out. “There was no job to go back to, I just had to find a way to give this a go.”
So who is the real Mark Goldbridge? The obvious answer is Brent Di Cesare, his actual name. He adopted Goldbridge on the advice of police human resources, who suggested a stage name would be wise. There is some enduring controversy about this. No one minds when Reg Dwight puts on some big glasses and becomes Elton John, but on a platform which prizes authenticity, the revelation of the Goldbridge pseudonym is still used to taunt him. “I knew it would come out, because I don’t think there’s anybody in the UK called Goldbridge, it’s not even a real name.
“There are definitely days where something’s going off in your private life and you’re just not really up for it, and you have to take a deep breath and say ‘Hello. Welcome to The United Stand. I’m Mark Goldbridge’, and you take on that persona.
“I don’t think it’s like acting, but you’re there to perform, aren’t you? You can’t go on and go ‘My dog’s just died’ because people are going to say: ‘Sorry to hear that Mark. Now, when are you going to start talking about football?’”
It would be snobbish and inaccurate to deny his brilliance at doing this. He is a sparky, engaging broadcaster, operating without notes and freewheeling for hours in a way that demonstrably chimes with a huge audience. When not in livestream mode the volume is reduced by 50 per cent and the angry bloke from the viral video clips evaporates.
He strikes me as one of those otherwise reasonable people who is sent a bit mad by football. We’ve all known upstanding citizens who become weirdly aggravating during five-a-side and mild-mannered sorts who do all of their week’s swearing from the terraces. You could also place him in the lineage of a certain strand of British comedy characters. Basil Fawlty, Alan Partridge and Mark Corrigan, irredeemably irate men regularly pushed over the edge by petty things.
His output would be 15-rated by the film censors because of strong language. “If I’m kicking the ball around in the local park with my son and another 10-year-old comes up and says, ‘Can I have a photo?’ I’m like, ‘Why is he watching me?’ I don’t advertise myself as a Mr Beast [the monstrously popular, kid-friendly YouTuber]. I mean, I do the computer games, but there are times when I’m watching a Manchester United match and, you know, I grew up with swearing. I’ve tried for many years to try and tone it down, but when certain things happen, I can’t.”
The money is predominantly from a percentage of ad revenue, although Goldbridge also sells merchandise and offers brand partnerships. A Daily Mail article implied he had earned £4 million last year which he says was a “massive” over-estimation. “We’ve been doing it for 10 years and it is a successful business,” he concedes. “But in this country, if you make money, it’s the old Raheem Sterling effect, isn’t it? He turns up to Chelsea in a brand-new car. I think, well, he’s a professional footballer earning big money.”
United’s permanent crisis must be good for business? “I don’t want Ten Hag to get sacked. Even though it’s a little bit less sensationalist, I’d rather we just tried to work our way through this and got successful.” That seems as far away as ever. “I think I’ve become used to it. I’m not crying that Liverpool are beating us at Old Trafford any more, because it’s a regular occurrence. But there are certain results where you just look at it and, yeah, the drop-off has been incredible. Watching United over the last 10 years, it’s never a chore, because it’s your club, but it’s not pretty.”
He is one of very few YouTubers to make successful strides in traditional media, hosting a Talksport show for two years which concluded at the end of last season. The executive who recruited him left months after he arrived and his hopes of progression to a better slot and more collaboration with other shows did not materialise. It was suggested he could play some part in the drivetime show with Andy Goldstein. “I went down to have a chat with them and said, ‘Well, am I going on the drive show then?’ and they said, ‘No, Andy Goldstein says you’re a Forest fan.’
“The producer said, ‘Are you?’ and I went ‘This is just not going to work is it?’ If that’s your perception of me, from a rumour that started years ago from someone trying to cause trouble because I’m from Nottingham, I realised that this is just not a journey that’s going to go anywhere.
“I’m playing in the playground and whilst I’m more than happy to do that, we are not going to break down these barriers at this stage. Anybody who does what I do and goes onto that sort of platform, you’re doing them more favours than you’re doing yourself because you’re taking this audience that they don’t have to them.”
Goldbridge is quite used to having his authenticity questioned but does not pretend he has ever been a United season-ticket holder. Instead he interacted with football from the distance of TV, video games and Subbuteo as a kid. “There used to be a mirror in the hall and if I’d scored a good Subbuteo goal I’d walk into the hall and do the interview afterwards. After the game I’d take the best player and he’d do an interview as well. I don’t know whether that’s normal or not?”
Since Covid, he says “I think I’ve been once” to Old Trafford but wants to take his son this season. Being a regular match-attending fan is “an incredible commitment”, he adds. “And I do get why those fans feel that they’re more attached to the club because they’re giving so much of their time and effort towards it. But I don’t know why any match-going fan would think they were better than a normal fan, because for a club like Manchester United, you can’t be the financial powerhouse if you haven’t got the worldwide fans.”
When I get back to London I open YouTube and he is still going, sneaking past Fulham with United on FC25. There is still time for another seven o’clock news show: ‘Ten Hag SACKING Tomorrow?’ 
Ten Hag remains in, for now, but will surely be out in the not-too-distant future. Either way, Goldbridge will be there and shouting about it.