As Arsenal had been reeling in the dying minutes of the Carabao Cup ultimate, questioning how that they had managed to let their Quadruple possibilities slip away after an unexpectedly toothless efficiency in opposition to title rivals Manchester City, Arsenal Fan TV had been simply getting began. In the subsequent 24 hours, the notorious fan channel had posted 22 movies.
Ranging from the vox pops that made AFTV well-known to podcasts and post-mortems, each attainable side of Mikel Arteta and Co’s misstep at Wembley was dissected, earlier than, with out a beat, consideration switched again to the predominant occasion, the Premier League title race.
For AFTV, profitable the league will signify the excessive watermark of their 14 years of protection. The channel have coated each season since their launch in 2012, however the manufacturing round their newest will bear little resemblance to their first.
From founder Robbie Lyle ready by the statue of Tony Adams exterior the Emirates Stadium with a microphone has sprung a YouTube behemoth, with 1.8million subscribers and an eye-popping again catalogue of 28,000 movies – that is just below six per day. And that is not to point out the unending service for his or her 1.3m Instagram followers and 1.1m extra on TikTok.
The first movies again in 2012 picked up round 5,000 views every, however now the hottest figures – Lyle himself, Ty, Lee Judges and extra – soar effectively previous 100,000. But regardless of its standing as one of the largest fan channels in the world, AFTV’s historical past has been plagued by setbacks, with Lyle fighting to keep control of his empire in the thick of messy expertise exits and controversial decision-making.
For Troopz (actual identify Aumar Hamilton), one of the extra well-known former contributors whose star rose with the channel’s, success has warped Lyle’s inventive and collaborative roots. Troopz left AFTV in 2020 for a profitable cope with American platform Barstool Sports, however returned to creating independently in 2023. Since then, Lyle has left him out in the chilly regardless of, Troopz alleges, his previous pal figuring out he has skilled hardships.
ArsenalFanTV founder Robbie Lyle (centre) at 10 Downing Street with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Gunners legend Tony Adams
Troopz (actual identify Aumar Hamilton) has fallen out with Lyle after leaving the channel in 2020 and not being invited again
A quantity of well-known Arsenal followers have been on the present, together with former House of Commons speaker John Bercow
‘That man has been corrupted by, I do not know what,’ he instructed occasional AFTV contributor Matisse Armani on his podcast Branching Out. ‘I do not know if it is model offers. I do not know if it is bread (cash).
‘I do not know if it is he offered AFTV… He do not personal (the full) shares how he used to. I do not know if persons are behind the scenes. He’s a puppet, and they’re simply pulling his strings, as a result of this ain’t Robbie, bro.’
If not, who is Robbie Lyle? In the late Eighties, he was trying to construct a profession as a reggae DJ and performer underneath the identify Crucial Robbie, releasing the anthem Proud To Be Black – though for extra amusing causes, AFTV followers are extra possible to convey up his 1989 tune Don’t Sniff Da Coke. Four a long time on, he’s Don Robbie, a media mogul.
Not stopping at the administration of one channel, Lyle has since created GFN (Global Fan Network), an umbrella media firm creating YouTube content material for a quantity of totally different Premier League golf equipment and soccer markets, which purports to have a listing worth of £8.6m per season. Although he heads up the conglomerate, Lyle is a director alongside Randhir Singh Heer and Brett Lotriet Best.
While the former seems content material to keep a decrease public profile, Best is a extra outspoken media veteran, who beforehand ran a weblog the place he dubbed himself ‘the Mad Dwarf of immersive storytelling’ and shared his experiences from working in the business. Best additionally loved a sprint of private web fame when he briefly went viral after utilizing a message from Sir Ian McKellen to suggest to his long-term companion.
But AFTV has remained the jewel in the crown of the platform, and 62-year-old Lyle is undoubtedly nonetheless its face, overseeing a raft of characters who pepper its fan reactions and podcasts and are virtually as acquainted as his personal picture. Keeping them out of scorching water, nevertheless, may typically really feel like a further job.
Among them is Judges, a pundit whose most up-to-date venting-of-his-spleen after Arsenal’s draw with Wolves went viral for calling upon Arteta to have ‘a little extra f***ing b****cks’ about himself. No stranger to controversy, he discovered himself in scorching water in December 2024 for saying that he needed to ‘shoot’ Martin Odegaard after the membership drew 0-0 with Everton.
AFTV later edited out the clip of Judges’ bad-taste outburst amid a fan backlash, however they had been unable to control the narrative in a related method in 2025, when it was one other of their recurring personalities, Julian Becker, who attracted followers’ ire for making an attempt to direct Lyle out of an interview with fellow creator Saeed of Saeed TV.
AFTV regulars Ty (again left), Lyle (centre), DT (second proper) and Lee Judges (proper) react angrily on a stay stream throughout a defeat at Everton
AFTV’s post-match movies typically descend into fiery battles between contributors
In the viral clip, Becker was seen asking Lyle if he needed to do the interview with Saeed carrying a badge that includes his assist for Palestine. In the footage, Lyle tried to dampen the potential for controversy, however it was too late, with Lyle compelled to make a public assertion as the furore grew louder.
‘I’ve spoken to Julian at the moment, spoken to him about his actions,’ he mentioned soberly to digital camera. ‘It’s been handled.’ Lyle additionally used the second to underscore that the incident was why he tried to keep his channels fully free of politics. This difficulty is believed to have come to a head for AFTV earlier than, with the departure of former pundit Moh Haider in 2021.
Haider had been a vocal supporter of Palestine and typically wore his personal pin. After his exit, he alleged on social media that the channel had proven ‘pure cowardice’ and a ‘lack of class’ in utilizing his public assist of Palestine as a purpose to take him off the air.
AFTV mentioned at the time that these claims had been ‘baseless’ and ‘unsubstantiated’, however its then-head of enterprise improvement Sartej Tucker did trace at the channel’s want to keep staunchly apolitical with a put up that reiterated: ‘We do not interact in geopolitical conflicts.’ Daily Mail Sport has contacted Lyle for remark.
The most high-profile exit got here in 2021. Liam Goodenough, self-styled as Mr DT, was a frequent contributor till he was sentenced to three years in jail, after beforehand being given 12 months and a 10-year restraining order for stalking and kidnapping an ex-partner.
Goodenough was one of AFTV’s most watched stars, showing in by far the most watched video in the channel’s historical past – a typical ‘Arsene Wenger is completed’ rant after shedding 4-0 at Anfield in 2017, which drew 4.6m views – and seven of the prime 10.
The channel issued a assertion following his conviction saying it was ‘completely appalled and disgusted’ by his actions, earlier than confirming he would now not seem on the outlet.
In an interview with The Athletic that yr, Lyle admitted it had been a ‘studying second’ for the channel however was eager to stress that it was ‘a difficulty for the particular person, not for us. ‘That was a very tough second,’ he mentioned. ‘I knew he was in some issues, however I did not know the full extent. I discovered at the identical time as everybody else. And it was stunning.’ This account was later disputed by Goodenough.
Mr DT, actual identify Liam Goodenough, was one of AFTV’s hottest stars – however in 2022 he was banned from the channel after being jailed for 3 years for violent stalking and kidnap
While that case was cut-and-dried for AFTV, extra thorny was the departure of a contributor referred to as Turkish, the on-line persona of Bilal Aydin. Turkish left the channel final autumn, as did one other common, James Bayliss, however whereas the latter stays concerned in GFN, the former has appeared to counsel that inside conflicts compelled him out, providing a related view of his former employer to ex-colleague Troopz.
‘I do not imply nothing by it, however I simply did not care by the finish of it,’ Turkish mentioned when requested on the Branching Out podcast if he felt his followers deserved ‘closure’ following his abrupt departure from the channel. ‘I do not imply (that in the direction of) the neighborhood, however I simply look again and it ended the method it ended.’
He added: ‘I do not hate anybody, I do not maintain on to grudges or something. In phrases of Robbie, we simply have not spoken, and that is not because it’s occurred, that is earlier than it occurred. There’s nothing there that I see will flip round. He’s cussed, I’m cussed, that is it.
‘In phrases of usually, there’s a lot of folks at that organisation that I’ve received love for. It did not finish effectively, however two, three, 4 weeks, no matter it is, I’ve moved on. There are nonetheless open ends, however perhaps it is by no means going to shut.’
Not for nothing is Robbie referred to as ‘the Don’. With his personal look on the identical podcast, he was fast to snuff out any suggestion of dangerous blood, whereas demanding focus be shifted.
‘In companies, folks transfer on, naturally,’ he mentioned on the identical podcast at the finish of final yr. ‘In soccer, you may have a participant, (they’re going to say) you have been nice at a membership. Look at Mo Salah at the second. He’s nice at Liverpool. He’s shifting on at the finish of the season, that occurs all the time in enterprise, in soccer, in sport. But for some purpose, it occurs with me – it is a drawback.
‘I perceive why a lot of folks might be like, “Oh, what happened there?” Man, no matter. It’s not as deep as what they’re considering. Unfortunately, nothing’s without end. And folks do transfer on. I’d transfer on someday.
‘You do not see a soccer membership and even a lot of companies, come out and provide you with the entire ins and outs of the (resolution). People want to perceive that you simply received to stay skilled in this stuff. And simply transfer on. Everybody will get on and strikes on. You do not actually see me on the market speaking. I’ll simply keep it to myself.’
Troopz and Lyle with Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette in 2019
AFTV have struggled to hit their earlier heights in recent times, since Mikel Arteta turned Arsenal’s fortunes round on the pitch
Casting himself as a social media kingmaker, he added: ‘I need to give attention to what I’m doing. I’ll by no means cease serving to folks. I’ll by no means cease serving to folks. And you realize, if folks really feel that they had been exhausting performed by, that is their opinion. I’m not this man that is on the market, again and forth, again and forth. I have never received time for that. I actually do not. I’m making an attempt to develop issues. I’m making an attempt to construct issues.’
If Lyle is shedding his grip on his empire, it may need much less to do with inventive infighting and extra with what is taking place on the pitch. AFTV – which was compelled by the membership to rename itself from its unique Arsenal Fan TV moniker in 2018 – got here of age throughout the Gunners’ years in the wilderness, the WengerOut period. Their movies had been divisive, with many Arsenal followers believing that they had a unfavourable affect on the membership and even chanting for his or her contributors’ elimination from the stands at the Emirates.
But the crash-outs and criticisms made for compelling, cross-supporter viewing. It’s no coincidence that their most-viewed video in latest weeks was Judges’ expletive-laden dissection of Arsenal’s 2-2 draw with backside membership Wolves, with a staggering 645,000. The figures for the extra mundane victories that see Arteta’s facet marching in the direction of a potential first league title in 20 years? Fewer than 10,000.
Of the channel’s 28,000 posts, 51 of them have greater than a million views – and none of these 51 had been posted in the final 5 seasons, as Arteta turns the membership’s fortunes round.
Arsenal have been eager to keep their distance from the channel of late, however could not go so far as wanting one of their largest social media offshoots to develop into a sufferer of their success on the pitch. But if Arsenal are shocked by Championship facet Southampton in Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final, there could possibly be no less than a couple of Arsenal followers secretly completely happy.
