The Sidemen Charity Match is a recurring charity football match organised by British YouTube group the Sidemen. Founded in 2016, the event features two teams of influencers contesting a friendly match whilst raising money for various British charities.
The fourth charity match, held in 2022, is recognised by Guinness World Records for the highest live viewership on a YouTube charity sports match, peaking at over 2.5 million viewers. The events have raised over £8.5 million for various British charities.
Prior to the first Sidemen Charity Match, five members of the group—all except KSI and Vikkstar123—participated in the inaugural EE Wembley Cup on 8 August 2015 as part of Sidemen United, a team that was established for the match; they lost 5–2 against Spencer FC.[1] The Wembley Cup was held annually for three more years without Sidemen United, although Sidemen members W2S, TBJZL and KSI participated in the 2017 edition as part of Tekkers Town, who lost 6–1 to Hashtag United.[2]
2016: St Mary's
The inaugural Sidemen Charity Match was held at St Mary's Stadium in Southampton, on 3 June 2016, raising over £110,000 for the Saints Foundation.[3][4] Over 600,000 people watched the livestream on YouTube—a record for YouTube Gaming at the time—and 15,000 people attended the match;[4] the stadium only permitted the Sidemen to fill the stadium to half-capacity.[citation needed] In addition to the seven Sidemen members, notable players included grime musicians Jme and P Money, as well as fellow YouTubers Joe Sugg and ChrisMD.[citation needed]
2017, 2018, 2022: The Valley
The Sidemen Charity Match was held at the Valley three times between 2017 and 2022.
Three subsequent matches were held at the Valley in Charlton, London. The second and third matches, in 2017 and 2018, respectively raised £210,000 for the NSPCC and the Charlton Athletic Community Trust,[5][6] and £65,747 for the Young Minds Trust and the Charlton Athletic Community Trust.[7] After a four-year hiatus, the fourth match in 2022 raised over £1,000,000 for CALM, Teenage Cancer Trust, Rays of Sunshine and Miniminter's M7 Education.[8][9][10] The livestreamed match later secured a Guinness World Record for "most viewers for a charity sports match live stream on YouTube" with 2,558,501.[11]
2023: London Stadium
A fifth match was held on 9 September 2023 at London Stadium,[12] the home stadium of Behzinga's supported team West Ham United. Sidemen FC won 8–5 and retained the championship against the YouTube Allstars.[13] Rapper Aitch performed for the match's halftime show.[14] The match raised over £2.4 million for CALM, Teenage Cancer Trust, Rays of Sunshine and M7 Education.[13]
2025: Wembley Stadium
The 2025 edition raised over £4.5 million after selling out Wembley Stadium.
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65'
Miniminter
ChrisMD
Castro
W2S
Tareq Salameh
