'I’m trying to put eyes on the club' - Sidemen co-founder Tobi 'TBJZL' Brown issues honest statement on joining Crawley Town training

In a recent live stream, Tobi addressed the announcement that he’d attend an upcoming Crawley training session, with a view to playing in the club’s home FA Cup first round game against Accrington Stanley on November 5.

“I’m trying to put eyes on the club,” said Tobi. “WAGMI and Crawley Town made a big donation to our charity match to support the money we raised. I’m not trying to take anything away from them.”

Tobi was scouted by Crawley during a YouTube charity football match which raised over £1million. After scoring twice for the Sidemen, Tobi said, “They saw me in the charity match and were somewhat impressed. But obviously I was playing against non-pro footballers which you have to consider.

“But I’m not trying to get involved in the FA Cup game. I know how much that competition means to fans, players and myself. If I were a fan or player of Crawley Town and I’m seeing this stuff, I’d be like, ‘What’s going on?’”

“I’m happy to support the club by doing the publicity thing, joining in on a training session and having a kick about with their players. The only way I’d consider being in the squad for the FA Cup game is if the fans ask me to be in it.

“Even if the fans somehow voted me in to play, I’m only trying to come on if it’s the 89th minute and they’re 5-0 up. In that case, let me get on, have a kick of the ball and get a FIFA card.”

WAGMI United have wanted to turn Crawley into the ‘internet’s team’ since purchasing the club in February this year.

With the goal of attracting more attention to the Reds, Tobi said: “They want to get more of you guys online, involved in supporting their team. The more support they get for them, the more they can provide for the club.”

Tobi has over six million subscribers on YouTube whilst his online group, the Sidemen, have amassed over 4.5 billion views since 2015.

He said: “We’ve already achieved what we wanted to do. The whole country is talking about it. Myself, Crawley Town and the word YouTubers were all trending on Twitter. Whether it’s good or bad, they wanted eyes on the club.

“It’s smart move from them, imagine being the team that the whole internet is routing for.”

Tobi will join the training session alongside his two brothers, Manny Brown and Jed Brown. Manny, who has over two million YouTube subscribers himself, scored in the charity match.

However, on why Jed was selected despite not featuring last month, Tobi said, “My youngest brother Jed is actually really good at football, he could play at a high level.”

Crawley visit Bradford City today (Saturday) in League Two. The Reds entertain Accrington in the FA Cup opener next Saturday.